A process developed by the Dallas County (Texas) Community College District allows simultaneous budget development and planning. All units are given a bottom line figure in the fall that is not changed prior to completion of the plan. Contingency plans are included in the total plan. (Author/MLF)

This article describes activity-based costing (ABC) and how this tool may help management understand the costs of major activities and identify possible alternatives. Also discussed are the traditional costing systems used by higher education and ways of applying ABC to higher education. (GLR)

This report provides an overview of educational financing in Minnesota. It describes how support for elementary and secondary education in the state comes through a combination of state-collected taxes and locally controlled property taxes. Revenue to the school districts is received in three major categories: state education-finance…

The Philadelphia School District has a five-step program of site-based-management prerequisites for schools: (1) absolute support from the top administration; (2) clear and fair allocation formulas on which each school's budget is to be based; (3) universal understanding of any restrictions, rules, or guidelines; (4) full explanation of budget…

This paper provides an update of the financial reforms that took effect in the province of Ontario for the 1998-99 year. During the 1998-99 school year, a student-focused funding model for the distribution of money to elementary and secondary education was introduced. The model was based on students' needs rather than the local community's wealth…

The issue of whether institutions of higher education should cost account space and physical plant operating and maintenance expenses to their academic programs is examined. Space costing is cited as a philosophical base for cost accounting space, operating, and maintenance expenses to the individual academic unit of an institution. (Author/MLW)

This primer introduces the basics of Program Management and Budgeting (PMB) in an effort to demonstrate how PMB can benefit school systems. Short quotes from previous publications on the topic are paired with cartoons designed to clarify the purposes and workings of the program. The publication begins by defining PMB as an alternative financial…

The value-added statement (VAS), relatively unknown in the United States, is used in financial reports by many European companies. Saint Bonaventure University (New York) has adapted a VAS to make it appropriate for not-for-profit universities by identifying stakeholder groups (students, faculty, administrators/support personnel, creditors, the…

This volume provides supplementary data to the annual report for 43 provincially assisted universities, colleges, and church-related institutions of higher education in Ontario, Canada. The information includes further details concerning various sources of revenue, including grants from the major funding agencies of the federal government, as well…

Findings are presented of a study begun in 1976 whose purpose was to examine the current and prospective application of management accounting in colleges and universities. The information was obtained through interviews, mail questionnaires and a literature search. The field study and mail survey were designed to serve as the fact-finding devices…

Since the Universal PreKindergarten (UPK) legislation was passed in New York in 1997, the Early Childhood Strategic Group has worked to support full program implementation including providing information to community-based organizations on combining funds from different funding streams to extend UPK services to a full day and to enhance program…

This annual report presents 1996-97 financial information on 20 degree-granting universities and related institutions in Ontario, Canada. The report first explains the general guidelines and reporting requirements used in compiling the report, including university accounting procedures, the principles of fund accounting involved, and definitions…

Guidelines for preparing year-end financial reports are provided for Alabama public university staff to insure that reporting formats produce comparable financial reports and to keep up with recent developments in college accounting and financial reporting. The public institutions comply with two publications issued by the American Institute of…

A series of tables display the appropriated reserves and unappropriated funds arising from university operating accounts during fiscal year 1981-82 for each of the 43 provincially assisted universities and affiliated institutions in Ontario. Data are given for opening and closing balances and basic fund activity during the year. The five…

In this essay, the author calls attention to a little-studied but critical aspect of school system reform: the nontransparent and sometimes illogical ways school districts allocate funds and personnel, especially teachers. Drawing on a series of studies produced by his Center for Reinventing Public Education, the author asserts that mayors who…