What a Board Treasurer Should Ask Their Bookkeeper Every Month (And Usually Isn't)

The board treasurer's role isn't to do the bookkeeping. It's to ask the questions that verify the bookkeeping is being done right. Here are five that separate a treasurer who's governing from one who's just present.

1. Are all our accounts reconciled and current?

This is the most basic question in financial controls, and you'd be surprised how rarely it gets asked directly. "Current" means reconciled within the last 30 days, with no unexplained discrepancies sitting open. If the answer is anything other than a clear yes, that's the conversation to have before anything else.

A bookkeeper who's on top of things will answer this easily. One who isn't will often give a more complicated answer — which tells you something important.

2. How much of our cash balance is actually available to us?

Your bank balance and your usable cash are often two different numbers. If $42,000 of your $58,000 balance is in a restricted fund — a donor's building gift, a program grant, a memorial endowment — then you have $16,000 to work with, not $58,000.

Ask for a breakdown every month: total cash, restricted cash, unrestricted cash available for operations. It's a simple report to produce and one of the most important numbers in your organization's financial picture.

3. Where are we against budget — this month and year-to-date?

Year-to-date comparisons can mask monthly problems. An organization might be 3% under budget for the year while running 18% over in a particular expense category that's accelerating. Asking for both month-to-date and year-to-date variance gives you the early warning the annual view misses.

Also useful: ask which line items are tracking significantly ahead of or behind budget, and why. A good bookkeeper will flag these proactively. Asking the question ensures it stays on the agenda in months when nothing gets flagged.

4. Did anything unusual come through this month?

This is the open-ended question that creates accountability. "Unusual" might mean a large unexpected expense, a vendor payment that looks different from usual, or a transaction that doesn't fit the normal pattern. It might also mean nothing — and that's a fine answer.

The value of asking isn't just the answer. It's the signal that someone is paying attention. Organizations where this question gets asked regularly tend to have cleaner books than ones where it doesn't, for reasons that aren't entirely accidental.

5. Where does our reserve stand right now?

Every organization should have a target reserve — typically three to six months of operating expenses held in a separate account — and the board should know at every meeting how close they are to it. A reserve that's been sitting below target for several months is a policy conversation waiting to happen. A reserve that's been drawn on without a replenishment plan is a risk that deserves explicit attention.

These questions take ten minutes

They're not adversarial. A bookkeeper who's doing the job well will welcome them — they're the questions that demonstrate the work is being noticed and valued. And they create the structure that lets your board govern with confidence instead of hoping everything is fine.

If you're not currently getting the information to answer them, that's the first thing worth addressing — either with your current bookkeeper or with someone new.