Managing the Budget
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Managing the Budget |
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Monitoring Budget Balances FASRG stipulates that the Principal or Director has the responsibility 1) to prepare the budget for their jurisdiction, 2) to review and revise the unit budget as necessary, 3) to control expenditures within authorized limits, 4) to review and analyze budget status reports and related comments in order to ascertain the progress toward meeting planned objectives, and 5) to submit a report for variances when requested by proper authority. Various Lawson reports are available and can be printed directly from the General Ledger. For example, ZG298 and ZG299 are two reports that can effectively be used for daily monitoring of funds. Budget Amendments or
transfers exceeding $5,000 are required before encumbrances or expenditures are
made that will exceed the available appropriation balance of a functional
spending category, i.e. Instruction (11), Administration (23), etc. Budget
transfers between functional categories require Associate
Superintendent and Board approval. The Board of Trustees at their regularly
scheduled monthly meetings reviews these budget amendments. Funds may be
transferred from ‘regular’ program (PRM code 011) to a ‘special’ program
(Bilingual 025, Comp. Ed. 024, etc.) as necessary. However, special attention
will be made to decreases to ‘special’ program budgets to ensure that adequate
spending of State categorical funds is maintained. Managing the budget is a
continuing process. Therefore, when amending your budget try to anticipate
future needs in order to minimize budget transfers during the year. Coordination of Funds The principal should coordinate all funds at his/her disposal to accomplish the mission of the campus. This includes activity/agency funds. These funds include two types of resources - the principal’s ACTIVITY accounts and the AGENCY funds held in trust for the benefit of particular student groups, over which the students retain control under the guidance of the campus administration. The activity funds are in fact an extension of the general funds under the control of the principal, and are subject to the same rules as the general fund. In short, anything you can do with general funds, you can do with activity funds. PISD does, however, place restrictions on the use of these activity funds for certain items. Refer to the Business Office Procedures Manual for guidance on those restricted items.
Other funds available to the principal are the various
categorical funds that come from state, federal, and private sources. By all
means, if you have a need for funds in order to serve a special population,
contact the coordinator of that group’s program or your Associate Superintendent
for Campus Development and see if there are funds available for that need. The
coordinators will have limited coordination authority over these funds, and are
primarily charged to assist the campus as a technical advisor in the
administration of the special program. Accessing New Year Budget Obtaining items that may be
needed for the start of the next school year may cause current encumbrances
and/or expenditures to exceed your total budget. Principals have the
discretion to get an advance of the following year's budget and should direct
requests for an advance of budget funds to the appropriate Associate
Superintendent for Campus Development. After it is approved, the ASCD will
forward it to the Budget Department for posting. In order to prevent showing a
deficit budget, you will need to submit a budget amendment through your
Associate Superintendent by June 1st to cover any expected
overages. The Budget Department will then settle up the budget money the
following September 1 and your budget may be reduced as a result of "settle up"
for any overage. |
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