Financial Basics for. New Users. 125 North Court Street Westminster, MD Stephen H. Guthrie, Superintendent of Schools.

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Barrie Banks
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1 Financial Basics for New Users 125 North Court Street Westminster, MD Stephen H. Guthrie, Superintendent of Schools Updated 03/01/16

2 Table of Contents Financial Responsibilities 3 Revenue Sources Chart of Accounts...6 Understanding Your Budget (Fund 1).10 Understanding Your Budget (Fund 2). 19 Financial Information Center

Financial Basics for New Users The following pages are from a PowerPoint presentation that all principals and assistant principals saw in their initial financial training class.

3 Financial Basics for New Users The following pages are from a PowerPoint presentation that all principals and assistant principals saw in their initial financial training class. The purpose here is to give employees who are new to CCPS financial responsibilities a basic understanding of their responsibilities, a general understanding of the chart of accounts, how to monitor their budget, and how to monitor their school-based accounts. Financial Responsibilities 3

4 Revenue Sources 4

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6 Chart of Accounts The chart of accounts is a tool that allows management to track every revenue and every expenditure. Understanding the chart of accounts gives management insights into what they are spending money for and for what purposes. 6

7 So when an account says: 7

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9 The example in this slide breaks down the component structure of the chart of accounts for fund 2. 9

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11 The Board of Education approves the budget in total and by category. The example below shows the Approved Budget from a few fiscal years ago. Notice how it is approved by category. It is not approved on a school by school basis. 11

12 At the school level the administration does have a budget that they are responsible for. This slide shows where to go to get the information about the budget that they control and are responsible for. 12

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15 Where it says Period, always choose 13. Since there are 13 periods in a fiscal year, if you select 13 you are sure to capture all of the transactions. If you choose an earlier period you will only get the cumulative transactions up through that period. 15

Notice how the report shows the category subtotals. That is because school administrators are told not to overspend their budget category. An individual line item can be overspent.

16 Notice how the report shows the category subtotals. That is because school administrators are told not to overspend their budget category. An individual line item can be overspent. But the cumulative total for that category should not be. There will be unforeseen circumstances that may lead a school to overspend your category. When that happens it is important to let Drew Sexton (extension 3083) or Gwen Ruskey (extension 3084) in the budget office know. 16

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19 Understanding Fund 2 There are 3 ways to spend Fund 2 money: 1. Procurement card. 2. Check request form to the Finance Office 3. School-based check (least desirable payment method) 19

20 Report 27 shows all of your school-based accounts, such as the Band Club, Math Club, and Principals account. 20

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24 The report shows your revenues, expenditures, and balances for each of the school-based accounts. 24

25 Notice the 16 digit chart of accounts number. If the 5 th and 6 th digits (remember this is the Fund 2 chart of accounts, not the Fund 1 chart of accounts) are a 10 or an 11, then the funds are unrestricted. Unrestricted means the funds can be spent however the principal sees fit, as long as the purchases benefit the students. The other funds are called restricted. That means the money must be spent for the group for which it was raised. For example the Ski Club funds must be spent on ski club activities. Those funds should not be spent on another group. 25

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Financial Information Center (FIC) The Finance Information Center (FIC) is a web-based application developed by Technology Services that provides club account managers the ability

27 Financial Information Center (FIC) The Finance Information Center (FIC) is a web-based application developed by Technology Services that provides club account managers the ability to monitor the financial transactions regarding their club. This program provides real-time access to our internal financial system. FinancePlus, via an easy to use web interface. 27

28 FIC is where account managers go to check the school-based accounts that they are responsible for. For example the Class of 2018 account manager checks the account to make sure all of the revenues and all of the expenditures for that account have been properly recorded in our electronic financial system. It provides a check and balance and helps prevent errors and fraud. 28

29 Account managers get automatic reminders to check their accounts every 30 day. They do not get the reminders from July 1 st through approximately September 30 th each year because they are not required to check them during that period of time. 29

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33 If an account manager does not agree with a transaction he/she simply clicks the box next to that transaction. That indicates that the transaction needs to be researched to find out what the discrepancy is. 33

34 The internal audit staff reviews each account every month to make sure that the accounts are being verified. They put together a report that goes to the Assistant Superintendents and to the High School, Middle School, and Elementary School Directors. Schools that have a high percentage of unverified accounts will be contacted. 34

Use of Lottery Proceeds

8 Use of Lottery Proceeds The district has defined enhancement, allocates lottery proceeds to School Advisory Councils and charter schools as required by law, and reports the costs of specific activities