FUND A fund
establishes a separate accounting entity with a self-balancing set of accounts,
which record all cash, other assets, liabilities, and fund balances. A fund also records all related revenue
and expense. A fund identifies
specific activities or defines certain objectives of the District.
FISCAL
YEAR defines the
accounting period. The fiscal year
for school districts runs from July 1, through June 30. The term fiscal year is used to
distinguish it from the standard calendar year, ending December 31.
The DEFERRED
MAINTENANCE FUND is
established to account separately for state apportionments and District
contributions for the purposes of deferred maintenance. The District deposits into the fund up
to one half of one percent of the General Fund budget. The state will match this amount, to
the extent that the match is funded in the current state budget. Expenditures in the Deferred Maintenance
Fund are limited to those major maintenance items that are contained in an
approved five-year plan submitted to the Office of Public School
Construction. Typically the
projects funded by this bond are large in nature and are part of the District's
bid process.
BOND FUND Bond proceeds and expenditures are
accounted for in the District's Building Fund. The District has opted to create separate sub-funds of the
Building Fund to account separately for the 1997 and 2002 bond elections and
their proceeds.
ADMINISTRATOR In general, administrators are employees in a position
having significant responsibilities for formulating policies or administering
programs. The Education Code
defines a schoolsite administrator as a person employed on a full time or part
time basis as a principal or vice principal at a public school.
OPERATING
EXPENSE is the
amount used during a particular period directly in support of day-to-day
operations such as wages, maintenance, office supplies, etc. Note the definition refers to
day-to-day operations, not expenditures incurred with a particular project that
has a specific beginning and ending such as capital improvements related to
construction or modernization.
CAPITAL
EXPENSE is an
expense outlay consisting of
amounts paid for fixed assets or additions to fixed assets, including
land or existing buildings, the improvements of grounds, construction of
buildings, additions to buildings, remodeling of buildings, or initial and
additional equipment.
CASH
ACCOUNTING known as cash basis - method of
accounting in which revenue and expenditures are recorded only when cash is
actually received or disbursed.
The cash basis is not acceptable for in LEAs.
ACCRUAL ACCOUNTING is the method of accounting in which revenue is recorded when earned, even though it has not yet been collected, and in which expenses are recorded when the liabilities are incurred, even if they have not been paid yet.