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Standard Operating
Section:Procedures
Date RevisedDate Reviewed
Page 1 of 5
Budget Management
A. Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to provide an explanation of Finance and Internal Support and its processes and procedures.
B. Persons Affected
This policy applies Budget Managers and staff of the Region One Education Service Center .
C. Policy
CE (LEGAL) Annual Operating Budget CE (LOCAL) Annual Operating Budget
D. Definitions
Budget Amendments- A budget amendment is defined as a transfer of funds across different
functions.
E. Responsibilities
Once adopted, the budget shall provide the authority to expend funds for the purposes
indicated and in accordance with state law, Board policy, and the ESC’s approved purchasing procedures. The expenditure of budgeted funds shall be under the direction of the Executive Director who shall ensure that funds are expended in accordance with the adopted budget. The Executive Director may enter into contracts for the expenditure of budgeted funds without additional authority.
F. Procedures
The proposed budget shall be prepared and adopted no later than August 31 of every year. The adopted budget must be filed with TEA on or before the date established in the Financial Accountability System Resource Guide.
2 Budget Management
An annual budget shall be prepared which will show an estimate of anticipated revenues for the ensuing year and shall include proposed expenditures according to categories as detailed in the TEA Financial Accountability System Resource Guide (FASRG).
Budget managers should be familiar with their program’s guidelines/regulations, adding line items, capital outlay requirements, etc.
Budget Process
Budgeting is the process of allocating resources to the prioritized need of the Center. The adoption of the budget implies that a set of decisions have been made by the budget review team. As such, the budget is a product of the planning process. The budget also provides an important tool for the control and evaluation of the center’s sources and other uses.
The budgeting process is comprised of three phases: planning, preparation and evaluation. An annual budget shall be prepared which will show an estimate of anticipated revenues and shall include proposed expenditures according to categories as detailed in the TEA Financial Accountability System Resource Guide (FASRG).
Budget managers should be familiar with their program’s guidelines/regulations with respect to the percent deviations in amendments, adding line items, capital outlay requirements, etc.
Each year, the Executive Committee, comprised of the Executive Director and three Deputy Directors formulate budget guidelines and assumptions that are to be followed when preparing the new year’s budgets. Included in the guidelines are revenue and expenditure guidelines, payroll benefit rates and
internal service charges.
Budget managers are charged with the responsibility of formulating a budget for their programs using the Program Budget form. These forms must be utilized for all budgets. The budget form should then be routed for approval/signature as listed below:
Administrator/Coordinator
Deputy Director
Executive Director
The budget forms should include the following information:
Program – Name of Program
Fund – Fund Number from FASRG 1.4.2
Org # - Prior year’s project number
Project Period – Starting and ending dates
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Program Intent Code – Indicate program intent code. See FASRG 1.4.15
Once the budget form has been approved and signed, it should be entered into the iTCCS budget system. Any budgets created after September 1, should be entered in the iTCCS as a budget change request (BCR)
The Business office staff will compile and evaluate the budget data for completeness and present it to the Executive Committee for review. Once any necessary adjustments are made and the Executive Committee determines the budget is complete, it is then presented to the Board of Directors for approval.
Budget Types Local Budgets
Local budgets are based on registration fees or other income that is confirmed or measurable on September 1st; amount on commitment letters signed by the district’s superintendent. The budget will be set up at not greater than the previous year’s collected revenues. This amount is determined from the realized revenues less any uncollected invoices.
State and Federal Budgets
Grant applications are submitted through the TEA eGrants System by the Program Directors. Upon receipt of the NOGA, the program manager will create a budget form (as described above) for each program according to the amount and regulations of the grant awarded.
Account Code Structure
Section 44.007 of the Texas Education Code (Code or TEC) requires that a standard school district fiscal accounting system be adopted by each school district. The system must meet at least the minimum requirements prescribed by the State Board of Education and also be subject to review and comment by the state auditor.
Additionally, the accounting system must conform to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
A major purpose of the following accounting code structure is to establish the standard school district fiscal accounting system required by law. Although certain codes within the overview may be used at local option, the sequence of the codes within the structure, and the funds and charts of accounts, are used by all districts in accordance with generally accepted principles
Allowable Expenses
The specific requirements for activities allowed or disallowed are unique to each Federal program and are found in the laws, regulations, and provisions of contract or grant
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the fiscal and program guidelines. Refer to Exhibit 1–Texas Education Agency Federal Cost Principles.
Budget Maintenance
Budget Access
Budget access is assigned to those employees who will be working with a particular budget. Access is assigned once the iTCCS Access Request (available on the Region One intranet) is submitted and approved by the Business Office. Once approved an employee is assigned a User Id. No and access to one or all of the following; Finance Inquiry, Accounts Receivable, Requisition (Warehouse) and Budget Change (Amendments).
Budget Amendments
General Fund budget amendments require board approval when transfers are requested between functions and when there is an increase/decrease in the projected revenues. All budget amendments are to be entered into the iTCCS budget change request. The iTCCS system does not allow a budget change request to be submitted if the balance has insufficient funds. The budget change request requires the following information in the form fields:
Fund – Enter the three digit fund code
Fiscal Year – Indicate the program year
Approval Route – Indicate employee program approval route
Account Code – List each budget line item to be amended. Include function, object, sub object, organization and program intent codes
To/From – TO increases the budgeted line item, or FROM decreases the line item
Change – Enter in whole dollar amounts only.
Comments – an explanation must be included for the budget amendment request.
Once the budget change request is saved, a BCR number will be assigned. When the budget change request is in balance, it can be submitted for approval indicated in the approval path.
State and Federal amendments must be submitted to the granting agency in accordance with the instructions for the grant. Amendment requests must meet the intent of the grant. Reasons for amendments include:
Addition of class/object code not previously budgeted on the budget summary
Increase or decrease the amount approved in any class/object code by more than the allowed percentage of the current amount approved
Addition of a new line item on any of the supporting budget schedules
Change in the number of positions budgeted on payroll costs
Addition of a new item of computer hardware/equipment approved on supplies and materials
5 Expenditure Reporting
Expenditure reports are submitted through the TEA Automated Grant Expenditure Reporting System by cumulative expenditure amounts or by class-object codes as specified by TEA, or by the paper-based system as specified by the agency.
The source records used to compile the date for the expenditure reports is the expenditure column of the detailed general ledger. The grantee is responsible for monitoring
expenditures and staying within the framework of approved grant expenditures during the grant funding period. When discrepancies or inconsistencies are identified in the expenditure report, the corresponding budget application is reviewed with the program director.
Budget Reviews
A monthly budget packet comprised of; the Statement of Revenue and Expenses by Programs, Outstanding Purchase Orders and Outstanding invoices is generated and
distributed to each division for distribution to their respective budget managers. The Deputy Director for Business Operations and Finance Support, using the budget packet, conducts budget reviews with budget managers, as deemed necessary.
