Annual Financial Review

The Annual Financial Review generates a comprehensive, section-by-section review of your organization’s finances for a selected fiscal year. It follows nonprofit best practices and produces a report that can be viewed in your browser or exported as a PDF to share with your board, audit committee, or membership.

Why Annual Reviews Matter

An annual financial review is one of the most important responsibilities of a PTA or PTO treasurer. It provides accountability to your membership, satisfies bylaws requirements, and builds trust that the organization’s funds are being managed responsibly.

Unlike a quick balance check, the Annual Financial Review walks through every major area of your finances: bank accounts, beginning balances, payments, deposits, pending charges, and budget compliance. It is structured so that even board members without accounting experience can follow along.

How to Access the Annual Financial Review

Log in to BeeKeeper.
Navigate to the Reports section from the sidebar.
Scroll to the Tools section at the bottom.
Click Annual Financial Review.

By default, the report loads the current fiscal year. To view a different year, use the Fiscal Year selector at the top of the page and choose the year you need.

Any user with access to your organization can view the Annual Financial Review.

What Is Included

Bank Reconciliation

All connected financial institutions and their current status. This section confirms which bank accounts are linked to BeeKeeper and whether those connections are active or disconnected. Auditors and board members want to see that your books are tied to real bank data.

Beginning Balances

Balance sheet accounts (assets, liabilities, and equity) with their balances as of the day before the fiscal year started. This establishes the financial starting point for the year and lets reviewers verify that the opening position matches the prior year’s closing position.

Payment Verification

A summary of all journal entries for the fiscal year with three key metrics:

Total journal entries – How many transactions were recorded during the year.
Entries missing receipts – Transactions without an attached receipt or supporting document.
Entries missing vendors – Transactions where no vendor was assigned.
Entries missing reference numbers – Transactions without a check number or reference.

These metrics highlight documentation gaps. A clean review has all four numbers accounted for.

Deposit Verification

A summary of income activity for the fiscal year:

Income entry count – The number of journal entries that include income account activity.
Total income – The sum of all income recorded during the year.

This allows reviewers to verify that all expected revenue (fundraiser proceeds, membership dues, donations) was recorded.

Bank Charges

A count of unreconciled pending financial transactions. These are bank-side transactions that have not been matched to journal entries in BeeKeeper. Ideally, this number should be zero at the end of the fiscal year, meaning every bank transaction has been accounted for.

Income and Expense Allocation (Budget vs. Actual)

If an approved budget exists for the fiscal year, this section compares budgeted amounts to actual amounts for every income and expense line item. It shows:

Each budget line item and its associated account.
The budgeted amount.
The actual amount recorded.

This is the section board members care about most. It answers the question: “Did we spend what we said we would spend?”

How to Generate the Report

Navigate to the Annual Financial Review page.
Select the fiscal year from the dropdown at the top.
The report loads automatically with all sections populated.

The data is pulled live from your BeeKeeper records. There is nothing to configure or set up.

How to Export to PDF

Open the Annual Financial Review for the fiscal year you need.
Click the PDF export button.
Your browser will download a file named financial_review_YYYY.pdf (where YYYY is the fiscal year).
Save or share the PDF as needed.

The PDF contains the same information as the on-screen report, formatted for printing and distribution.

Preparing for the Review

Before generating your Annual Financial Review, take these steps to make sure the data is as clean as possible:

One Month Before Year-End

Reconcile all bank accounts. Import the latest transactions and match them to journal entries.
Attach missing receipts. Search for journal entries without attachments and track down the documentation.
Assign vendors. Review entries without vendor assignments and fill in the gaps.
Add reference numbers. Check for entries missing check numbers or reference numbers.

At Year-End

Verify bank balances. Compare BeeKeeper account balances to your bank statements.
Review the budget vs. actual. Note any line items with large variances and prepare explanations.
Close out pending items. Approve or reject any outstanding expense reports. Resolve unreconciled transactions.

Before the Board Meeting

Generate the PDF. Export the report and review it yourself before sharing.
Prepare variance explanations. For any budget line where actual spending differed significantly from the budget, write a brief explanation.
Gather supporting documents. Have bank statements, budget approval minutes, and vendor W-9 files ready in case questions arise.

Sharing With Your Board

The Annual Financial Review is designed to be shared. Here are common approaches:

Email the PDF to board members before the meeting so they can review it in advance.
Present it on screen during a board meeting, walking through each section.
Include it in your annual report to the membership as part of the treasurer’s report.
Provide it to your audit committee as the starting point for their review.

When presenting to non-financial audiences, focus on the Budget vs. Actual section and the beginning and ending balances. These are the numbers that tell the story of the year.

Common Questions

Which fiscal year should I select? Choose the fiscal year you want to review. Most PTAs use a July-to-June fiscal year, so “2025” would cover July 2025 through June 2026. BeeKeeper uses your organization’s fiscal start month setting to determine the date range.

Can I generate the review before the fiscal year ends? Yes. The report uses data through the current date. You can generate a mid-year review at any time. Just be aware that the numbers will change as more transactions are recorded.

What if I do not have an approved budget? The Income and Expense Allocation section requires an approved budget. If no budget has been approved for the selected fiscal year, that section will not display budget comparison data. You will still see all other sections.

What do the beginning balances represent? They are the account balances as of the last day before the fiscal year started. For a July fiscal year, the beginning balances reflect account totals through June 30.

What should I do about entries missing receipts? Track down the original receipts and attach them to the journal entries. If a receipt is lost, document what the expense was for and attach a note explaining the missing receipt. Your audit committee will appreciate the transparency.

How is total income calculated? Total income is the sum of all credits minus debits on income-type accounts for journal entries within the fiscal year date range.

Can other team members see this report? Yes. Any user with access to your organization can view the Annual Financial Review and export the PDF.

Is the PDF the same as what I see on screen? Yes. The PDF contains the same data and sections as the browser view, formatted for print.

How often should I generate this report? Generate it at least once at year-end. Many treasurers also run it quarterly or before board meetings to keep everyone informed throughout the year.