The differences between decision making in public and private organizations are examined with particular attention to questions of educational costs. (MM)

It is argued that colleges and universities can use direct allocation costing to provide quantitative information needed for decision making. This method of analysis requires institutions to modify traditional ideas of costing, looking to the private sector for examples of accurate costing techniques. (MSE)

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has two major distinctions: national recognition for determining Generally Accepted Accounting Principles for state and local governments, including school districts, and its commitment to due process. This article urges GASB's 11,500 constituents to participate fully by responding to discussion…

Presents a roundtable discussion by five veterans of higher education--some of whom have served as trustees as well as corporate directors--with backgrounds in law, business, and nonprofit and corporate governance, to pinpoint lessons from Enron that might apply to the volunteer trustees who serve on college and university governing boards. (EV)

In response to the nationwide trend toward increased financial pressures and growing demands by state legislatures for accountability, several large universities (including Indiana University) have adopted various forms of "responsibility center budgeting" (RCB), which has fiscal implications for programs in speech communication and…

Designed to help college administrators read and understand accounting statements, this paper provides tips about danger signals that may be evident in financial statements and that may call for speedy action. The first statement examined is a balance sheet; i.e., a summation of all of the possessions and debts of a business or entity, which shows…

This paper presents an alternative to fund accounting by colleges and universities. Global accounting is intended to present an integrated view of a college's economic activities and financial status, by tracking planned and actual college income, college expenses, and effect on the institution's real wealth. Examples are given. (DB)

In addressing the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Board, the National Association of College and University Business Officers' president urged the accounting standards boards to work together to establish a multiyear accounting research agenda for higher education. (Author/MSE)

The Internal Revenue Service has begun to question more seriously the accounting methods used by universities to determine unrelated business income tax (UBIT). Current and future impact of the UBIT are discussed, and a method of calculating the tax is detailed. (Author/MSE)

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…

The specific responsibilities of the school business official can be grouped into five major categories: (1) educational; (2) fiscal; (3) employee; (4) support services; and (5) other. (Author)

Implementation of new college and university accounting standards for financial statements do not change the need for institutional accountability and, therefore, for fund accounting. The new standards will, however, change the level and appearance of external reporting. (MSE)

It is argued that recent changes in accounting standards only change the way in which institutions of higher education report finances, not necessarily the way transactions are accounted for. While fund accounting may no longer be an appropriate term for the accounting approach used, it represents appropriate concepts of stewardship and…

Colleges and universities historically have ignored the capital costs associated with institutional administration in their estimates of overall and per-student costs. This neglect leads to distortion of data, misunderstandings, and uninformed decision making. The real costs should be recognized in institutional accounting. (MSE)

Problems in educational cost accounting and a new cost accounting approach are described in this paper. The limitations of the individualized cost (student units) approach and the comparative cost approach (in the form of fund-function-object) are illustrated. A new strategy, an activity-based system of accounting, is advocated. Borrowed from…