District Budgetary Overview - Research Paper Example

? District Budgetary Overview The district's generally accepted accounting practices of building a budget The Cartwright Elementary school District No. 83 is guided by the generally accepted accounting practices for disclosure of financial statements and providing the same to the State. The district lies in the state of Arizona which has passed the Arizona Constitution Article XI and Title 15 of the Arizona Revised Statutes to be followed by the schools and colleges of the district. The districts are bound to publish their budgets in the newspaper for public awareness as budgetary revenues include the amount paid by the tax payers. The schools in the district would require prepare a budget for the period of July, 1 to June, 30 and submit the same for sanction of the governing body by July, 15. The three generally accepted accounting practices include the incremental budgeting, the zero based budgeting and the planning, programming, budgeting system. The incremental budgeting is done the district school where they adjust the budget of the previous year to that of the next year (Hosted, 2012). The zero based budgeting includes starting he budgeting at the beginning of the year. The planning, programming and the budgeting system includes the cost on a per pupil basis. Due to this accounting practice, the fluctuation of the budget is eliminated due to change of demographics. The superintendent and school board responsibilities for building a budget The responsibility of the superintendent and the school board is crucial for building the budget. The responsibilities range from forecasting the enrolment for the next year as compared to the current years, take feedbacks from the supporting staffs and confirm the final budget. The actual enrolment figures are tallied against the projected figures to produce an error free budget. The feedback from the operational staffs is taken to make necessary adjustment for meet the unplanned expenses. The final budget is prepared and presented to the school board for approval. The school board cross checks the evaluations and finally approves the budget for implementation. Key budget terminology The budget is a plan for the financial year in order to meet the expected expenses from the anticipated revenues. The key budget terminologies range from the accounting terminologies to financial terms and accountability of the governing body. Specific terminologies like revenues, expenses, accountability, cash flow, control, fiscal, forecast, supporting schedule are important. The budgetary revenues are the anticipated sources of income for the school and the budgetary expenses are the anticipated usage of funds of the school. The cash flow is budgeted and is based on the difference between the budgetary revenues and the budgetary expenses. The budgetary expenses are prepared for a fiscal of one year based on the forecast of the events anticipated in future. A supporting schedule of revenues and expenses are attached in the budget in order to indicate the time line of the cash flows. How the funds in the budget are balanced and coordinated The funds in the budget mainly comprise of government funds and fiduciary funds used for the development of the district schools and its operations. The government funds are allocated as per the specification of the government. The fiduciary funds are the funds available from sources other than the government. The funds are balanced and co-ordinate through budgetary control. The budgetary control is implemented with the help of periodic reports. The reports help to understand the gap between the actual expenses and the budgeted expenses. Thus monitoring and control of budgetary expenses help to balance and co-ordinate the funds (Warren, Reeve and Duchac, 2008). The budget monitoring and control is a significant aspect for controlling the expenses against the budgeted figures and provide the direction to achieve the target budgeted plan. The district's budget timeline The timeline for the budget the district is for a period of one fiscal year. The budget is prepared by the school for an annual period of June, 30 to July, 1. The budgetary functions like forecast of enrolment, anticipated expenses and revenue earnings of future and meeting of the staffs to prepare a final budget is to be completed by July,5 for the current year. The final budget approved by the governing body needs to be presented for sanction by July, 5 of the current year. The budget is due for sanction by July, 15 for the next financial year. These are the timeline to be followed for the budgetary function in the district. The time lines are non-negotiable and are strictly to be followed by the district for timely implementation year after year. How and when enrolment projections are calculated The budget is prepared at initial stages by taking projections for enrolment of the next year. The process is started in the month of October. The figures are calculated with the help of past information and current trends. The work of the operating staffs in preparing the enrolment projections is important. The cost is allocated on a per pupil basis due to which the budgetary fluctuations are reduced. He effect on demographic changes on budgetary allocation is minimized with the help of this method. The tentative budget is prepared by the end of January. The enrolment projections are done in order to prepare a plan of the expenses to be met from the future revenues. Possible considerations of staff requisitions The inputs and feedbacks from the staffs are highly important in the preparation of the budget. The initial interaction between the staffs and the superintendent is arranged in the month of November and December. With the initial inputs and suggestions from the staffs, the tentative budget is prepared by the end of January. The staff requisitions are considered before the preparation of the final budget. A staff meeting is held before the final budget in the month of February. The final requisition of the staff and any information on unplanned expenditures are considered for preparation of the final budget. The final budget is approved in the month of May. The possible consideration of the staff requisitions is important for preparation of perfect budget by the district school in which the gap between the budgeted figure and actual figures would be minimal. References Hofstede, G. H. (2012). The Game of Budget Control. UK: Routledge. Warren, C. S., Reeve, J. M. and Duchac, J. E. (2008). Financial & Managerial Accounting. USA: Cengage Learning. Read More