Conventional wisdom holds that colleges and universities heavily subsidize their students. This assertion seems correct, given that total spending per student is almost always in excess of per student tuition payments. However, as the authors show in this report, the conventional wisdom is wrong because it inappropriately compares only one revenue…

A child care center's financial health depends on collecting and processing payments. It is one of the most time-consuming and unpleasant administrative tasks. Fortunately, it's an area where the smart use of technology can provide dramatic benefits. This article discusses various tools and technologies that can be used by child care centers to…

In March of each year, the ministry publishes the Operating Grants Manual showing estimated funding allocations for school districts for the upcoming school year. These estimates are based on enrolment projections. On September 30 of the new school year, enrolment is counted and the grants are recalculated based on actual enrolment. The ministry…

The purposes of this handbook are to help improve internal systems for auditing funds received from student activities and to help ensure that school board policies and good business practices are being followed. After brief introductory sections, the document discusses internal auditing functions and standards and notes the internal auditing…

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…

This booklet on the finance of education is designed for nonfinancial administrators and trustees of institutions of higher education. It is meant to familiarize such educational officers with basic concepts, ideas, terminology, and practices in the financial realm. No attempt is made to present analytical details, economic elaborations, or…

This manual specifies in detail the new budget and accounting system for California Community Colleges, utilizing an activity-centered approach to expenditure reporting which describes real resource requirements, their costs, and relative use in each of the 37 discrete activities comprising community college operations. The system is designed to…

This report is the result of an audit of selected financial management practices of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany for the period April 1, 1992 through July 31, 1994. The audit addressed the following practices: cash, payroll, purchasing, revenue accounting, accounts receivable, and computer contingency plans. The report…

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)

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 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…

This report presents the procedure for the accounting methods employed by California school districts for income and expenditures in instructional and support programs. The report has seven parts: (1) an introduction to accounting in local educational agencies; (2) general and subsidiary ledger accounting; (3) revenues and other financing sources;…

Discusses what independent institutions of higher education said when surveyed about financial reporting practices and the desirability of an operating measure. Describes findings concerning who reports an operating measure, what is included as operating revenue, what is included as operating expense, how related disclosures are handled, and the…

This reference guide presents the basic accounting concepts, terminology, and definitions used by colleges and universities. The guide, a companion to the National Association of College and University Business Officers' (NACUBO's) online self-study course of the same name or a standalone reference, compares college and university accounting…