Background: Research on principal preparedness for managing school finance is limited. Grounded in theory, principal preparation programs are without practical exercises for leadership readiness on budgets and finance. On its face, this topic is held the most responsible aspect of operations management, but the least studied in school leadership programs and sometimes the last facilitated in in-service professional development. Hence, a gap exists in both the theoretical and practical preparedness of developing effective financial stewards in school leadership. Method: Using Delphi, this research design is a hybrid that offered both quantitative and qualitative results providing data collection and analysis on the opinions of experts. Through an iterative process, a panel of experts identified appropriate knowledge and competencies necessary to manage school finance. This method consisted of sequential questionnaires (e.g., beginning with open-ended followed by a ten-point Likert-Type Scale), quick feedback, and anonymity for its participants. This method was purposeful for building consensus among diverse professional experiences seeking agreement on this topic. Findings: Upon converging agreements among panelists, there are nineteen (19) competencies that can be used as a baseline for developing effectiveness in managing school finance. Within these competencies are three domains as focal points, specifically (i.e., accounting, budgeting, and funding). Simply, principals do desire gaining knowledge and understanding. This study concludes that principal preparedness on school financial management is found to be without appropriate concentration within principal preparation programs as well as school district professional development. It validates previous theories in professional investigations and provides a contribution to this field of study. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]