Hello Carol,
I am the Executive Director of a 501(c)3 non-profit homeschool co-op. We have always had all parents pay teachers directly for classes. Of course the number of checks written by members each semester,and unraveling the missing/lost checks each semester along with the myriad of other payment mysteries has prompted to us to wonder if we can have all parents submit the teacher payments to our group, then we cut a check to each teacher.
We would essentially gather all the money and then direct it to each teacher. One check from each parent for all their children’s classes, and one check to each teacher for all the classes they are teaching.
Can we do this?
Holly
Holly,
Thank you for contacting me.
Yes, you can collect all the payments from parents and then pay the teachers. This is how many homeschool groups, private schools, and college operate. But there are some things to warn you about:
1. Managing more money means you need good accounting software (links to some of my blog posts with software recommendations), one that can invoice parents and track who has paid and who still owes.
2. Additionally, since you have a lot more income, you may have crossed an IRS threshold and now need to be filing the annual Form 990 or 990-EZ (YouTube video explaining which form you need to file).
3. Worker classification. You need to determine if the teachers are employees or Independent Contractors (opens a blog post series on worker status). This is not an easy determination to make. You need to consider many factors.
I also offer phone consultations to help you determine if your homeschool organization’s workers are employees or independent contractors. The phone call will be followed up with an email containing a fact-based determination and information to help you take the next steps. Worker Classification consultation.
