ACCOUNTING PROCEDURES FOR HANDLING STUDENT ACTIVITY FUNDS, STUDENT FEES AND FOOD SERVICE FUNDS

ACCOUNTING PROCEDURES FOR HANDLING STUDENT ACTIVITY FUNDS, STUDENT FEES AND FOOD SERVICE FUNDS Page 1 13

INTRODUCTION The purpose of this document is to provide accounting procedures for handling all school activity funds (SAF) within the Agency Fund in our schools and for handling student fees and food service funds. These procedures will: 1. Protect employees who properly handle funds according to policy and these procedures. 2. Provide guidance for the use of QuickBooks. 3. Provide procedures and timelines to review all SAF activity on a regular basis for use by advisors and others in charge of specific accounts. All school building personnel shall follow the same guidelines and procedures when handling SAF funds. These guidelines compliment Board policies and promote good business practices. IMPORTANT NOTES: 1. The counting of cash receipts for any purpose should at all times be done in the presence of two adults. Student counting of cash is not permitted unless they are in the presence of an adult i.e. school store, student council fundraiser activity, and the like. Student counting, however, does not replace the counting needed to be done by two adults as is stated above. 2. The building principal or athletic director (for gate receipts) is fully responsible to ensure the procedures prescribed herein are followed. 3. The principal is responsible to ensure that bank statements are reconciled monthly and that a copy of that reconciliation is sent to the finance manager at Bliss by the 15 th day of each month. 4. If you have any questions regarding these procedures contact the finance manager in the business office. 5. Food service funds include money collected for lunches, including á la cart sales, year and semester milk money, daily sales of milk, and all other monies related to the food service program. Page 2 13

Accounting Procedures 1) BANK ACCOUNTS a) Each school shall have its own bank account as designated and approved by the Board for the purpose of depositing and disbursing school activity funds (SAF). b) All SAF deposits into the school s SAF bank account must be made by the school secretary, principal, or his/her designee. District delivery services will not be provided for these deposits. c) The only authorized SAF signatures are those of the Principal, (Assistant Principal for Secondary), and the principal s designee (bookkeeper or secretary). d) Student fees and food service funds are District funds and are never deposited into an SAF account. They are only deposited into the approved District accounts as directed by the business office. 2) BOOKKEEPING SYSTEMS a) All SAF transactions will be recorded into QuickBooks and staff will follow accounting procedures contained in this document and contained in directives from the business office. i) Within each school s SAF, a separate account is used to identify each activity. ii) Reorders for bookkeeping supplies will be paid from the principal s District account. b) Skyward accounting software used by the District as its bookkeeping system is the software to be used to record all receipts and disbursements of student fees and of food service funds. 3) SCHOOL ACTIVITY FUNDS (SAF) a) QUICKBOOKS ACCOUNTING FOR SAF i) All deposits made into SAF accounts MUST be entered into QuickBooks within one week of the deposit. ii) SAF bank reconciliations should be completed monthly by the 15 th of each month following the statement along with informing the principal and the finance manager via email that the reconciliation is complete. iii) Each SAF account shall be set up to automatically email a summary of all activities for that month to the advisor or staff member responsible for that account. The secretary/s who makes deposits, pays the bills, and records the transactions in QuickBooks CANNOT be the person designated as an advisor or responsible for any Page 3 13

accounts. The teacher/advisor for that account must verify that all deposits and disbursements are accurate. iv) At yearend, a detail of every SAF account shall be provided to each responsible person to be reviewed for the accuracy of all deposits and all disbursements. One copy shall be signed, dated, and provided to the school office to be kept in the SAF account verification file. v) All SAF transfers between funds must be approved by the teacher/advisor involved and countersigned by the building principal. Supporting documentation describing which account is being increased and which account is being decreased along with the stated reason for the transfer must be provided. The Activity Account Journal Entry form (Form D Below) must be used in all cases for journal entries. vi) Accounts inactive for at least twelve consecutive months shall be closed out and any remaining balance distributed to other student accounts based upon the consensus reached by a student committee of at least five students convened by the principal for this purpose. b) ADVISOR RESPONSIBILITY FOR SAF i) Each advisor with an SAF account is responsible for keeping records that backup every deposit. They are also responsible for verifying that all deposits and all disbursements concerning their activity have been accurately recorded. ii) At the end of each month, each advisor should verify the SAF report they receive via email from the bookkeeper by signing and dating the document and returning it to the office for filing. iii) Under no circumstances is money to be kept in a classroom, kept on a person, in one s car, or in one s place of residence for future submission to the office. All money must be turned in to the office and deposited daily. Under some circumstances it may be kept in the school safe overnight. iv) The principal of each building is ultimately responsible that all the procedures herein are followed. Page 4 13

c) CASH COLLECTIONS FOR SAF i) Teachers/advisors should fill in the Cash Collection Summary Report form (Form A Below) noting the date each student pays, the amount paid, and whether it was a check or cash. This form can be used manually or downloaded from the business office web page and used in Excel, in which case totals will be computed automatically. The teacher/advisor should then complete a Deposit Voucher (Form B Below). The form must be signed by the teacher/advisor and dated. The principal or administrator s signature is optional. The school secretary must retain the Deposit Voucher and the checks and cash turned in should agree with any corresponding Cash Collection Summary Report. ii) The secretary will recount the funds in the presence of the teacher/advisor to verify the amount. The secretary will sign and date the Deposit Voucher and issue a prenumbered receipt to the teacher/advisor for the amount received. The teacher/advisor shall get the original and the copy shall remain in the receipt book. The total for that day s collection should agree with the receipt from the school secretary. In the case of a large amount of coins, an indication of the ToBe Determined (TBD) may be noted on the deposit voucher. iii) The secretary will deposit all funds daily and staple the bank deposit receipt to the inside of the Deposit Voucher. Deposits that cannot be made on the same day may be held in the safe in a locked bank bag ONLY. They are to be deposited the next day. d) CASH DISBURSEMENTS FOR SAF i) Check requests should be properly documented with invoices or sales slips and must be approved by the teacher/advisor and the principal prior to a check being written using the Check Voucher form (Form C Below). ii) All invoices and documentation for the purchase should be attached to the inside of the Check Voucher form. iii) Prenumbered checks with original signatures are required. No signature stamps are allowed and checks shall not be signed in advance iv) All voided checks shall be retained and accounted for. Page 5 13

4) STUDENT FEES AND FOOD SERVICE FUNDS a) RECEIPTS i) Prenumbered receipts MUST be used and accounted for in numerical order for all funds received. ii) Receipts may be printed out by using the Skyward software or at the elementary level, a hand written receipt may be used provided the receipt is prenumbered and a copy is retained. iii) All checks received and receipted shall be immediately stamped on the back, For Deposit Only. iv) All voided receipts must be kept. v) All funds must be counted at the time of receipt by the person issuing the receipt. In the case of a large amount of coins, an indication of the ToBeDetermined (TBD) should be noted on the deposit voucher. b) DEPOSITS i) Deposits should be made on a daily basis unless the amount is so small as to not warrant the action. ii) When it is not practical to make a daily deposit, the deposit must be prepared at the end of the day, locked in a bank bag, and placed in the school safe for deposit the next day. iii) Student fee deposits shall be separate from food service deposits, though they can share the same bank bag as both deposits go to the district s bank. iv) All student fee deposits must have a completed District deposit voucher. This voucher needs to summarize the deposit. For student fees, a reconciliation of the deposit MUST be stapled to the inside of the voucher. v) Stamped (yellow) deposit slips from the bank are delivered directly to the business office. vi) The cashing of personal or two party checks is not permitted under any circumstances. Page 6 13

c) DISBURSEMENTS i) Disbursement for student fee activity and food service items are handled via the district purchase order process. ii) All voided checks must be kept. d) SPECIAL SECTION REGARDING THE SPENDING OF STUDENT FEES i) Student fees collected for classes may only be spent for items outlined in the Fees Justification forms filed with the building principal. ii) Fees collected for specific classes cannot be used for capital purchases of any kind. iii) Fees shall be used for consumable items needed for the class or class project. iv) Workbooks are a permissible student fee expense. v) Fees for transportation or outside related costs for a class may be expended. For example, a fitness for life PE class that requires transportation to and from the bowling alley, as well as the bowling alley fee, is a permissible expenditure. vi) It is the building principal s responsibility per board policy to ensure that student fees are being expended for their intended purpose. e) UNCOLLECTED STUDENT FEES i) It is the building principal s responsibility per board policy to ensure that student fees are collected in accordance with established procedures. ii) In special circumstances per board policy, the principal may waive student fees. iii) If, because of waived or unpaid fees, an insufficient amount of money was collected to cover the intended purpose of the fee, the building or department budget, or donations, must make up that shortfall. Student fees cannot be increased in order to cover the loss of revenue from those not paying their fees or who have had their fees waived. Page 7 13

f) CASH BOX FOR MAKING CHANGE i) Each school shall maintain the cash box and the initial funds for making change that the business office provided. ii) The balance in the cash box should not vary. Receipts, checks, or any other paperwork should be recorded in the District s Skyward accounting software and not placed in the change cash box. iii) Cash in this box shall NOT be used to cash checks of any kind. 5) BOARD POLICIES RELATED TO THESE PROCEDURES a) 661.1 Authorized Signature b) 662.1 Management of Class/Club Activity Funds c) 664 Money Collection and Cash in School Buildings d) 665 Breakfast/Lunch Charges for Elementary/Secondary Schools Page 8 13

FORM A CASH COLLECTION SUMMARY REPORT School Class/Activity Teacher/Advisor Specific Activity Collection Dates Student Names Receipt Amounts Total Check/Cash Notes Total School Receipt # Disbursement Check# Total Paid Paid To Page 9 13

FORM B Front DEPOSIT VOUCHER Stevens Point Area Public School District Activitiy Fund Date Voucher Account Name Reason Funds Were Collected $ Amount in Checks Cash Coin Total Please prepare the money for deposit by sorting the 1's, 5's, 10's, 20's clip together in numerical order. Keep coins loose (unwrapped). They will be counted at the bank. Staff Signature Secretary Signature Administrator Signature (optional) Receipt Number(s) that correspond to this deposit Bank Deposit Receipt MUST be stapled to the inside of this Voucher Form Page 10 13

FORM B Back Deposit Summary Checks From Amount Total Checks 0 Cash Qty Total 20's $ 10's $ 5's $ 1's $ Total in Bills 0 Total in Coins $ TOTAL DEPOSIT 0 Totals should equal totals on the front of this document Page 11 13

FORM C CHECK VOUCHER Stevens Point Area Public School District Activity Fund Date Check # Amount $ Account Name Payee/Vendor Item(s) Funds are being Expended for Staff Signature Secretary Signature (optional) Administrator Signature Receipt(s) including date, time, and location of purchase must accompany this voucher. If a check is written in advance, it can only be done with a written quote and the purchase must be approved by the principal. A receipt is still required and should be attached to this voucher. Page 12 13

FORM D Activity Account Journal Entry Form Date DEBIT Take from / decrease Date Account Amount CREDIT Put into / increase Date Account Amount Explanation Teacher / Advisor Date Principal Date Page 13 13