Summarizes techniques for interpreting the balance sheet and the statement of revenues, expenditures, and changes-in-fund-balance sections of the comprehensive annual financial report required of all school districts. Uses three tables to show intricacies involved and focuses on analyzing favorable and unfavorable budget variances. (MLH)

In July 1984, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board began its "Measurement Focus/Basis of Accounting" project, which addresses measurement issues and revenue and expenditure recognition problems involving governmental funds. This article explains the project's background, alternatives discussed by the board, and tentative…

Increasingly sophisticated analyses of costs and revenues have contributed to more effective financial management in higher education, with attention focused on ways in which fixed and variable factors contribute to direct or unit costs; analyses of cost-revenue relationships; differential effects of one-time and recurring costs; variety of…

A National Association of College Stores (NACS) guide to practices is provided. These practices were designed to furnish administrators with data on store operations and to provide administrators and store managers with data required to assess the quality and effectiveness of store performance. (MLW)

Education is declared to be an investment in human capital. Reform in school finance systems is long overdue in many states, but much progress has been made, and will yet be made, due to far-reaching decisions in a number of relevant court cases in the 1970s. To provide practical guidelines and cost-effective decision-making techniques for…

Many university athletics departments are running significant deficits, making critical full reporting on all expenses, by sport. Anything less than full disclosure by sport of all related expenses misleads institutional leaders, students, alumni, and legislators into believing that football and men's basketball teams can bankroll…

Different kinds of financial data are needed by different levels of management and in different areas of support. Accounting principles for nonprofit organizations need to be determined. Accrual accounting principles, fund accounting, restricted and unrestricted funds, etc., are described. (MLW)

Modifications to current methods of calculating and reporting financial ratios are outlined for college managers. The modified ratios, felt to be more realistic, are illustrated with applications in three areas: (1) student revenues; (2) endowment and other investment income; and (3) public and private gifts, grants, and contracts revenue. (MSE)

Issues that colleges and universities must address in implementing the Financial Accounting Standards Board's Statements of Financial Accounting Standards 116 (concerning contributions received and made) and 117 (for nonprofit organizations) are outlined. The overall objective is to present a financial statement in a format that tells the…

An ongoing system of short-term budget controls that test actual performance against budget forecasts is essential for enrollment-dependent independent colleges. The budget control model presented here is a tool to inform the management continuously of changes in the all-important tuition revenue stream. (Author/MSE)

Common university budgeting practices are summarized, and the efforts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (New York) to develop an improved analytical method are described. The method, revenue and expense analysis, evaluates the university's financial operating performance by treating each school and program as autonomous financial organizations,…

Successful college and university investments hinge on an asset allocation strategy capable of meeting the institution's needs for income and growth in principal at the lowest possible risk. Periodic adjustments must be made when there is a shift in the institution's risk tolerance, modification in need for income distribution, and changes in…

Presents data on school district expenditures for budget years 1996-97, 1991-92, and 1986-87, gathered by the Educational Research Service (ERS). Provides information on budgets; intragroup variations; trends in allocation patterns; personnel costs; school district revenues; and trends in revenue available from local, state, and federal sources.…

This book sets out the British policy context and theoretical framework for income generation by institutions of higher education and provides practical guidance in this area. Income generation is defined as all income generated over and above the core funding provided by an institution's primary funding body. Chapter 1 offers an overview of…

This book is designed to serve as a comprehensive resource on all aspects of school finance for Pennsylvania educators. Chapter 1 provides a historical overview of Pennsylvania school finance. The next three chapters examine the local, state, and federal sources of revenue. The fifth chapter explains the components of Pennsylvania's mandatory…