Cedar Springs Public School District
Bylaws & Policies
 

6800 - SYSTEM OF ACCOUNTING

It is the policy of the Board of Education that a chart of accounts be established in accordance with the requirements of the State Department of Education for the accounting of all District funds. The Superintendent is responsible for an accounting of all capital assets to protect the financial investment of the District against catastrophic loss. Further, the Superintendent will establish procedures and regulations necessary to properly account for capital assets and comply with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and ensure that the District's capital assets are properly insured.

The District's system of accounting shall comply with all requirements of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, Statement No. 54 (GASB 54). In accordance with GASB 54, the District will report its fund balances in the following categories:

 

Nonspendable fund balance—amounts that are not in a spendable form (such as inventory) or are required to be maintained intact (such as the corpus of an endowment fund).

   
 

Restricted fund balance—amounts constrained to specific purposes by their providers (such as grantors, bondholders, and higher levels of government), through constitutional provisions, or by enabling legislation.

   
 

Committed fund balance—amounts constrained to specific purposes by the Board; to be reported as committed, amounts cannot be used for any other purpose unless the Board takes action to remove or change the constraint.

   
 

Assigned fund balance—amounts the Board intends to use for a specific purpose; intent can be expressed by the Board or by an official or committee to which the Board delegates the authority.

   
 

Unassigned fund balance—amounts that are available for any purpose; these amounts are reported only in the general fund.

The Board authorizes the auditors and directs its administrative staff to take all steps necessary to comply with the requirements of GASB 54. All revenue and funds will be designated to one of the above categories.

The Superintendent shall be responsible for the proper accounting of all District funds. S/He shall ensure that expenditures are budgeted under and charged against those accounts which most accurately describe the purpose for which such monies are to be or have been spent. Wherever appropriate and practicable, salaries of individual employees, expenditures for single pieces of equipment, and the like shall be prorated under the several accounts which most accurately describe the purposes for which such monies are to be or have been spent.

The Superintendent is responsible to implement procedures and practices that will determine: 1) Capitalization policies for District assets (i.e., which assets will be capitalized and depreciated over their estimated useful life versus which assets will be expensed in year of purchase); 2) Methods for calculating annual and accumulated depreciation expense for assets including estimates for asset lives, residual asset values, and depreciation methodology; 3) Procedures for recording gain or loss on sale of capital assets and proceeds from the sale of capital assets in compliance with GAAP Reporting of estimated cash values or replacement values to District insurance providers.

A report of the revenues and expenditures in the fund reporting functions established above shall be made to the Board on a regular basis by the Superintendent.

The Board's annual financial statements will include information such as: 1) beginning and ending balances of capital assets; 2) beginning and ending balances of accumulated depreciation, 3) total depreciation expense for the fiscal year.

Such reporting shall include description of significant capital asset activity during the fiscal year including: acquisitions through purchase or donation, sales or dispositions including the proceeds and gains or losses on the sale, changes in methods of calculating depreciation expense or accumulated depreciation, such as, estimates of useful life, residual values, depreciation methodology (e.g. straight line or other method).

Before implementing procedures or changing procedures, the Superintendent will review the proposed procedure with the CPA appointed by the Board of Education to conduct the Board's financial audit. The procedures established shall comply with all statutorily required standards and generally accepted accounting procedures.

M.C.L. 41.422 et seq., 141.421 et seq.
A.C. Rule R340.351 et seq.
GASB #34
GASB #54

© Neola 2011