QUESTION:
Our PTSA will be holding a major event in June. My husband purchases items for the event. This is a significant amount of money that comes
out of our pocket. I would like to know if there is a way that our PTSA can
issue us an advance on the money spent, and then we will turn in the itemized
reimbursement form. He shops for the best prices, therefore he is
shopping at more than one store.
ANSWER:
It is definitely not a best practice for the
PTA to advance cash to anyone, and we would highly discourage you from doing
this. This action would actually put both the PTA and your husband in a
vulnerable position. If something were to happen to the money, or if someone
were to question the way the money was spent, it could cause real issues within
the PTA. There are several things that you can do to help mitigate this.
The best solution would be to put a call out to the other
PTA members to see if anyone has a credit card that they would be willing to
use to pay for the food and then be reimbursed. This designated “purchaser”
ideally would be someone who enjoys shopping and has the ability to pay for
items and await reimbursement.
Another possibility would be to work with businesses like
Costco, Fred Meyer and/or Safeway that might be willing to take a PTA check
instead of cash. The difficulty with this possibility is that both signers
would need to go along on the shopping trip so that both could sign the check
after it is written.
