Monitoring your budget

The presentation--and remember, these are the finance people--started with this video:


"how many of you have felt like that about the Ch. 70 funding formula?"
"numbers are confusing, eyes glaze over"

Paul Schaefer (Business Administrator, King Philip Regional)
"Accuracy, clarity, transparency"
"I thought we could have a free-flowing discussion on budgeting"
encumbering funds that will already be spent: setting aside salaries, benefits to end of year
monthly going over where you stand on the budget

"set it in July and you freeze it in September" (that was sort of a joke. Sort of)
monthly, at least quarterly reporting to the School Committee
"I'd insist, that, at least through the finance committee, reporting on at least a quarterly basis"
quarterly reporting on school lunch operations
looking on where you are with all accounts: revolving accounts

(the room is mostly newer school committee members, with two new superintendents sitting in the back) 

Mary DeLai (Director of Finance and Operations for Reading)

 financial reporting is budget monitoring

"one of the most important functions I have" (after preparing the budget)
 "proactive rather than reactive approach to monitoring their budget"

 "it's one thing to dump the data out of your accounting system..but the piece that you don't get from YTD and encumbered is projection...projection is key. Projection is a risky business. It's assumption. That's not a reason not to do it."

"be very clear and transparent about what your assumptions are"

• Budgets are built on assumptions
• Assumptions are speculative
• Stuff happens
• There's nothing you can do about it

People can question your assumptions and you can change the assumptions which change the projections
"being willing to put out there what you're projecting"

Schaefer:
"regional world is a little bit different..has to be a clear and trustful relationship among the school committee, the superintendent, and the business administrator"
bad things happen when the superintendent is afraid to give the school committee bad news
"has to be a good working relationship among those three"
"some school committees are very comfortable getting quarterly reports; some prefer monthly; some don't care, but everyone cares when something goes wrong"
has a finance committee that he meets with "absolutely every month"
warrant approval at each meeting: great questions as a result
"it becomes an education by reading the warrant and knowing what you're paying for"
special education costs a lot; transportation costs a lot
"where ever you can, encumber funds"