Coeur d'Alene School District Agency Fund Accounting

Finance Procedures ~ Overview of Agency Fund Accounting

This edited guide is a supplement to School District #271's "Guidelines for the Management of Student Activity Funds and Other Agency Funds" as amended August 2000. It is intended to provide a quick reference for the user to accurately and legally perform their responsibilities in the area of fund management. It does not replace the larger document and familiarity with more detailed explanation and information included in that document is still required.

It should be stated that the management of student and other funds is virtually identical to that required for district funds. The practices required are the same and are governed by state statutes, policies of the Idaho State Board of Education, policies of the Board of Trustees and our administrative rules and procedures. Individual building principals are charged with the responsibility to assure that these practices are followed in an appropriate manner.

Assistant Treasurers
The Board assigns one or more persons to be assistant treasurers. They are usually a secretary or bookkeeper in each building. For this purpose they are subject to the control, supervision and direction of the Treasurer of the district.

Idaho Sales Tax on Purchases
Generally speaking the District and its schools are exempt from Idaho sales tax on purchases made using district or school checks drawn on authorized accounts. (Please see guidelines for more detailed explanation.)

Idaho Sales Tax on Sales and Collections
Sales tax must be collected and paid to the state on any sale of any product, tangible property, admission charge, vending machine sales, concession sales and goods sold in conjunction with a fund raising event.
(Please refer to guidelines for examples of taxable and non-taxable sales.)

Student Activity Fund Management Board Policy 838

School District #271 Board of Trustees shall approve all student activity fund accounts and the purposes of each. Monies raised for these student activity accounts must be expended for the direct benefit of the students. The Superintendent must approve sources of student activity funds. The Treasurer of the district must authorize the establishment of new student activity accounts. The building principal shall be responsible for the management of the student activity funds in accordance with current governmental accounting procedures. The following minimum accounting procedures shall be implemented for all activity accounts:

All gate receipts, dance proceeds and other ticket sales shall be reconciled through a prenumbered ticket system.
All other cash receipts shall be documented with prenumbered receipts.
Two parties shall sign all checks. One of which will be an assistant treasurer and the second party is the board chairperson or designee (the principal) or the vice-chairperson of the board.
All checks are to be accompanied by a copy of the purchase order and an invoice.
Invoices or bills for services shall not be paid until the merchandise is received or the service completed.
A Report of all student activity funds will be presented the Board of Trustees at their monthly meeting. The report shall include a check register, bank reconciliation and a simplified revenue and expenditure report that is signed by the building principal.
The student activity fund shall be audited annually by an independent audit firm selected by the Board of Trustees.

Purchasing Rules and Procedures

(Please refer to Board Policy DJEG and Administrative Rules and Regulations or finance procedures manual for specific details.)

Purchase orders are required prior to all purchases. The purpose of using a purchase order system is to protect the district, school and our employees. It also is designed to secure the best possible prices for desired products and services. The following minimum procedures are required for either a district or school purchase order:

Purchases are made according to budget.
Verification the proposed vendor is on the vendor list. If not, a fully filled out Form W-9 is required prior to purchase.
The purchase order form is completed using (1) the correct IFARMS code, (2) the complete name and address of the vendor (3) the complete name and address of the person receiving items in the "ship to" box and (4) a complete description and price of the purchase in the body of the form.
The purchase order receives the appropriate dual signature authorization prior to the transaction being ordered or acquired.

Internal Control Policy

(See Guidelines for more specific descriptions of procedures.)

Revenue - This is a very sensitive area that is open to errors or abuse if controls are not followed. Everyone handling cash should be familiar with the following:

All cash and checks received should be reconciled and turned in to the assistant treasurer as soon as possible. Staff members or advisors depositing monies will prepare a deposit record sheet, sign it, retain the yellow copy and submit the deposit to the assistant treasurer.
Checks, upon receipt, shall be stamped "for deposit only."
The assistant treasurer will recount the deposit and provide a prenumbered receipt to the staff member or advisor who signed the deposit record sheet. This receipt, the deposit and the original deposit record sheet must reconcile.
Checks shall be for the amount of purchase only.
Cashing checks for staff or students is prohibited.
All collections should be recorded by prenumbered receipt, the copy of which goes to the purchaser or the student returning money from a fundraiser.
All cash receipts shall be retained in book.
All receipts shall be posted in a timely manner.
All gate receipts shall be recorded and reconciled through a prenumbered ticket system. Use of electronic cash registers is authorized and encouraged. (See Guidelines for specific steps to be followed.)
All gate receipts shall be collected and reconciled by at least two people.
Monies shall be secured in locking cash boxes, safes, locking vaults, etc.
No money shall be left unsecured in desks, file cabinets, etc.
No more than $1,000 shall be kept in the school overnight.
Night deposit procedures or courier services should be used whenever necessary. (See Guidelines for specific procedures.)
Interest earned on bank deposits shall be credited appropriately. (Refer to Guidelines.)
There should be a segregation of cash handling/check writing duties from bank reconciliation/account posting whenever possible.
Bank statements shall be reconciled monthly. (Refer to guidelines for procedures.)

Expenditures - Internal controls of expenditures are designed to protect staff and allow for the legal and orderly operations of the district. All persons involved with expenditure of funds should be familiar with the following:

Prenumbered purchase orders (school) are required prior to all non petty cash purchases.
Dual signatures are required on all purchase orders prior to purchases.
Void purchase orders shall be clearly marked "Void," secured and retained in the school business office.
Securing informal quotes and legal bids shall be done in accordance with district policy and procedures.
Purchases shall not be made from employees or their immediate family members.
Each building principal shall prescribe procedures for the verification of receipt of purchases.
Invoices for payment shall be checked for accuracy.
The principal shall approve only those expenditures that comply with the individual funds "statement of purpose."
Invoices shall be paid on a timely basis.
Expenditures shall be authorized only if they support the purpose of the specific fund. For secondary schools the student officers, ASB or club, should initial purchase orders expending their funds, whenever possible, prior to principal's signature.
All checks shall be prenumbered and kept in a secure location.
All non petty cash payments shall be made by check.
No check shall be made out to "cash."
All checks shall have dual signatures. One being the assistant treasurer and the other the building principal or designated administrator.
Checks shall be signed only after they have been fully prepared, use of signature stamps is prohibited.
Void check originals shall be clearly marked "Void," secured and retained in the school business office.
Supporting documentation shall accompany all checks when presented for signature.

Payment to Employees
Employees of the district are employees regardless of the duties they perform. All disbursements to employees shall be paid through the payroll department, no exceptions.

Outside Entities/Conflict of Interest
Monies collected by outside entities are not to be receipted, handled or expensed by school personnel. No district employee should serve as an officer in an outside entity without the written approval of the Superintendent or his designee. Examples of outside entities are athletic booster clubs and PTO's. It is prohibited to deposit funds from an outside entity into any school or district account.

Student Activity Funds
Money raised by the students and are owned and managed by the students under the guidance of the principal or his/her designee. These monies are to be used to the benefit of the pupils who raised the money. Student activity funds are classified by the state IFARMS system as agency funds. Student involvement shall be visible whenever possible.

Staff Activity Funds
Money raised by the staff and are owned and managed by the staff. These monies are to be used to the benefit of the entire staff who raised the money. Staff activity funds are classified by the state IFARMS system as agency funds. All purchases of personal items, such as flowers, cards, small gifts, etc. are to be made from the staff activity fund.

Special Building Funds
Money that is not raised directly by the students or which is directly under the control of the District Office. These monies are to be used to benefit the organization as stated in the statement of purpose. Special revenue funds are classified by the state IFARMS system as agency funds.

Accounting and Coding
Accounting shall follow generally accepted accounting principles and shall use the appropriate IFARMS classifications and codes. (Refer to guidelines for details.)

Student Meal Money
$6.00 per meal per student is allowed for overnight activity travel.

Extracurricular Travel Fee Collection Procedure
Every student participating in an activity that has extracurricular travel will be required to pay a one-time (once a year) travel fee of $35. If the student qualifies for free and reduced lunch the student will be exempt from the fee.

ASB Card Costs
Students with ASB cards are admitted free of charge to all activities.

Middle School ASB - $15.00
High School ASB - $35.00

Activity Admission Fee Structure - Middle School Level

Adults - $3.00
Students - $2.00
Seniors - $2.00

Activity Admission Fee Structure - High School Level

Adults - $5.00
Student without ASB - $5.00
Visiting H.S. Student with ASB - $3.00
Middle School Student with ASB - $2.00
Middle School Student without ASB - $3.00
Elementary Student Grades 1-5 - $2.00
Booster Club Pass (1 pass per person) - Free
Senior Citizens (60+ years) - Free

ASB Fundraising Procedures

All fundraisers must have written pre-approval from the principal (see Fundraising Activity Form in Forms section).
Fundraisers must be age-appropriate.
Parental permission for student participation must be obtained and documented prior to the event (see Parental Permission for Fundraising in Forms section).
Purchase orders must be fully pre-approved prior to using them to obtain fundraising products.
Funds collected must not be stored in classrooms or taken home by the advisor. Funds collected from fundraising must be submitted to the Assistant Treasurer on the same day they are collected.
Final reconciliation of funds raised must be performed after the fundraising event has ended. At that time, the Fundraising Activity Form must be finalized and submitted to the Assistant Treasurer.

Concessions and DECA Store Procedures

Receipt Procedures

During each shift, there should be one student assigned to each cash register. This student should be the only student that operates the register. The other students should retrieve and disburse the inventory upon purchase.
At the end of the shift, the student responsible for the cash register should run a z-tape. Documented on the z-tape should be the student name responsible for the cash register and the time period they were responsible for the cash register. The student responsible should count the till in the presence of the DECA/concessions manager or advisor.
The z-tape, along with the cash, should be placed in a bank bag and kept in the safe.
At the end of the day, the total deposit should be reconciled by the DECA/concessions manager to the cumulative z-tapes, with the supervision of the DECA/concessions advisor. Denoting their review of the reconciliation by their initials. At this time the DECA/concessions advisor or manager should complete the deposit record form, sign it, retain the yellow copy and submit it to the assistant treasurer. The z-tapes and reconciliation's should be attached to the deposit record form.
The daily sales should be submitted to the assistant treasurer intact. No cash should be retained except for the beginning change maintained in the tills.
The assistant treasurer should recount the deposit and compare the amount to deposit record form and to the reconciliation's and the z-tapes.
The assistant treasurer will then provide a pre-numbered receipt to the DECA/concessions advisor; which should reconcile to the deposit, the deposit record sheet, and to the total of the individual reconciliations.
Checks should be for the amount of purchase only and payable to DECA/concessions.
Cashing checks for staff or students should be prohibited.

Safeguarding and Monitoring

Cash and checks should be locked in the safe at all times. No one, other than the DECA/concessions advisor and assistant treasurer, should know the combination.
The DECA/concessions store should remain locked at all times.
Keys should be given to the DECA/concessions advisor, the assistant treasurer and possibly the DECA managers.
The DECA/concessions advisor and/or other advisors should be in the store at all times during operation in order to properly monitor and supervise the students to reduce the risk of theft.
Inventory should be counted monthly.
Gross sales, cost of sales, and gross profit margin should be calculated and reviewed monthly by the DECA/concession students and DECA/concessions advisor. Any significant fluctuations should be investigated immediately.
A log of cash over/short by till/student should be kept and reviewed so that trends can be identified.
Security cameras should be utilized and footage reviewed on a periodic basis.
Inventory should be in the view of the security cameras, eliminating any "blind" spots.
The district treasurer should perform a random audit of DECA/concessions store on a periodic basis. This audit should include a review of cash receipts, disbursements and inventory control.
A predetermined schedule should be maintained for each shift and only those students who are on the schedule should be allowed in the store.

Finance Procedures

Please send comments to: Barbara King
Last Modified 10/22/2008