BUDGETING AND FINANCIAL PLANNING
A School Business Official:
Has a shared vision for the organization and translates that vision into a comprehensive financial plan, based on integrity and commitment for the educational mission to inspire and motivate others to achieve a common goal.
Ensures that the financial impact of strategic goals are reviewed by analyzing and quantifying relevant data for optimal decision-making and leads to successful educational outcomes for the school authority.
Ensures that short- and long-term financial goals are developed by evaluating relevant data to support the school authority program needs, instructional objectives, and good stewardship of financial resources.
Ensures that financing options, including debt repayment strategies are evaluated to optimize funding for capital projects and other initiatives.
Effectively and efficiently allocates limited resources using all relevant economic and demographic data
Effectively plans for future resource requirements by using multi-year forecasts and historical data
Ensures that reasonable budget assumptions are used to align hum and capital resources with estimated funding levels
Ensures that instructional program costs are evaluated by reviewing financial data to determine if program outcomes have met desired objectives
Utilizes collaborative efforts to develop annual budgets that provide resources for student and program needs that are consisten with the assumptions, goals and objectives of the school authority.
Maximizes the expenditure of grant funds in compliance with grant regulations.
Knowledge of:
- Funding Model and the complexities of educational funding sources
- educational cost drivers
- public sector accounting standards and all legislative, regulatory requirements, provincial and federally
- provincial/federal taxing authorities
- budgeting and forecasting processes
- school finance
- sources of economic and demographic data
- debt financing
- banking industry
- strategic planning processes
- Communicate budget principles, priorities, revenue sources and expenditure plan to stakeholders
- methodology to monitor and communicate financial health
- budget process including software tools
- grant regulations and accountabilities
- organizations financial reporting systems
- auditing process
- financial planning
- analyzing data, investment and debt alternatives
- analyzing, summarizing, consolidating, researching and interpreting educational and economic data sets
- forecasting
- interpreting financial data
- collaboration
ACCOUNTING, AUDITING AND FINANCIAL REPORTING
A School Business Official
Maintains standards, procedures, and policies that preserve the integrity of financial data for reporting to all stakeholders.
Formulates and administers the chart of accounts based on provincial guidelines to document the consistent classification of balance sheet accounts, revenues, and expenditures, to enable comparison of financial data and to provide a framework for controlling budget expenditures
Analyzes the accounts using statements and/or financial reports to determine the accuracy of the general ledger and verify that all transactions have been properly recorded in the financial records.
Prepares and presents financial reports for internal and external stakeholders that accurately reflect the financial condition of the school authority.
Prepares for the annual audit by gathering organizational data, closing the books in a timely manner, and preparing reports to facilitate an efficient and accurate audit process.
Knowledge of:
- authoritative accounting and auditing standards
- internal policies and procedures
- government reporting requirements
- reporting requirements for internal and external stakeholders
- financial systems and effective internal control procedures
- compliance with finance-related legal and contractual provisions
- communicating the relationship between programs, revenues and appropriations of the school district to the stakeholders
- Preparing, analyzing and reporting financial statements and supporting discussion documents to the board throughout the fiscal year.
- preparing a corrective action plan from the information conveyed in the annual audit report to improve financial tracking and reporting and internal controls and guide the implementation of the plan.
- designing a chart of accounts and reporting structures to comply with mandatory provincial reporting requirements
CASH MANAGEMENT INVESTMENTS, AND DEBT MANAGEMENT
Involves assessing market liquidity, cash flow and investments.
