School Business Management Certificate

Areas of Study

A certificate is awarded for completion

in approximately three years for each

of these areas of study

Business Office Director

Curriculum Course Outline and Catalog

ACCOUNTING

ACC 120  Advanced Accounting Principles

This course provides more in depth coverage in accounting pertaining to public schools.  Emphasis is placed on the basics of accounting, governance and statutory authority for pubic schools, budgetary, fund and encumbrance accounting.  Also to be covered is accounting for funds as a fiscal agent of a specific program, grant or allotment.  Class discussion questions will enhance the learning experience.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisites: None

Required Course

ACC 121  Advanced Accounting Practice I

This course provides in depth discussions regarding accounting for transactions in the areas of cash receipts, encumbrances and payables, e-procurement, various other general expenditures and capital projects.  Class discussion questions will be part of the instruction and enhancement of this class.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisites: ACC 120

Required Course

ACC 122  Advanced Accounting Practice II

This course provides various aspects of the accounting process beginning with the history and current components of the State Uniform Chart of Accounts, including optional and required fields.  Other areas to be covered are accounting for allotments, the various types of allotments, carryover allotments, impact of the timing of allotments, and federal and state allotment requirements.  Correction of accounting errors and journal entries will be covered in addition to discussion questions for all areas included in this class.

Course Hours:  4

Prerequisites:  ACC 120 and ACC 121

Required Course

ACC 123  Advanced Accounting Practice III

This course covers development and evaluation of internal controls throughout the school district plus development and evaluation of property accounting/fixed assets accounting systems.  Class discussion questions will be part of the instruction of this class.

Course Hours:  4

Prerequisites:  ACC 122

Required Course

ACC 124   Payroll Accounting

This course covers factors which affect public school payroll, including installment pay, calendar bill, split-funded pay, and certification issues.  In addition, instruction will be given on management of payroll processing, and federal and state payroll regulations governing payroll.  Class discussion questions will be part of the instruction of this class.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  ACC 122

Required Course

ACC 125  Individual Schools and Special Issues in Accounting

This course specialized accounting issues affecting public schools such as individual school accounting; accounting for clubs, PTAs, PTOs, and fund raisers; and fiduciary responsibilities of the school treasurer.  In addition, instruction will be given on specialized issues in accounting, such as warehouses, credit cards, and other special issues.  Class discussion questions will be part of the instruction of this class. 

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  ACC 122

Required Course

FINANCIAL PLANNING AND BUDGETING

FIN 220  Financial Planning I

This course covers sources of funding public education.  Included in this class will be the revenue sources of state and federal allotments, county funding, lottery funds, Public School Building Capital Funds, and direct state and federal grants.  Also included will be the factors affecting the amount and timing of the use of funds, including federal funds and carryover of funds.  Discussion questions will be part of the course instruction.

Course Hours: 4

 Prerequisites:  ACC 122

Required Course

FIN 221  Financial Planning II

This course covers limitations on the use of funds for public education; position versus dollar allotments; the Allotment Policy Manual; use of local, state and federal funding; and supplanting issues.  Also included in this course will be instruction on the impact of investment management on revenue.  Discussion questions will be part of the course instruction.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisites:  FIN 220

Required Course

BUD 230  Budgeting I

This course covers the legal requirements for school budgets in North Carolina, including charter schools, out of county, budget calendar and planning schedule, the budget resolution, and other issues.   Discussion questions will be part of the instruction in this course.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  FIN 221

Required Course

BUD 231  Budgeting II

This course covers the relationship of the school budget to educational programs, tying budgets to school priorities, obtaining, analyzing, and assembling data for a comprehensive budget, and budgeting for all types of revenue.  Discussion questions will be part of the instruction of this course.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  BUD 230

Required Course

BUD 232  Budgeting III

This course covers budget preparation and amendment procedures for the approval of the local board of education, including multiple year obligations, the role of the county commissioners in the budget process, and long-term operational and capital asset planning (CIP).  Discussion questions will be included as part of the course instruction.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  BUD 231

Required Course

MAN 620  Information Analysis I

This course covers the use of accounting data for management decisions, basic concepts of statistical analysis, forecasting trends, and analysis of data reports produced by your accounting system and DPI's financial reports.  Discussion questions will be included as part of the instruction.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  BUD 232

Required Course

MAN 621  Information Analysis II

This course covers data sampling and testing techniques to be used in your business office.  Included will be instruction on internal audits, and exception reporting.  Discussion questions will be included as part of the instruction.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  MAN 620

Required Course

FINANCIAL REPORTING AND AUDITING

FIN 222  Financial Reporting Principles and Practices I

This course covers generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for governmental agencies, including Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) statements; North Carolina statutory requirements related to financial reporting; modified accrual accounting versus full accrual accounting; and requirements of the State Board of Education, Local Government Commission, local boards of education, county commissioners, and state and federal government for financial reporting.  Discussion questions will be part of the instruction for this course.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  MAN 621

Required Course

FIN 223  Financial Reporting Principles and Practices II

This course covers the reporting of all enterprise and other special funds; elements of financial statements for governmental entities,  the purpose and content of published financial statements, and the purpose and content of reports filed with the state and federal government.  Discussion questions will be included as part of the course.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  FIN 222

Required Course

FIN 224   Financial Reporting Principles and Practices III

This course covers the requirements and procedures for Single Audit and internal audits.  Also included is reporting for internal management purposes.  Discussion questions will be included as part of this course.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  FIN 223

Required Course

MAN 622   Information Presentation

This course covers information presentation including types of reports such as trends, frequencies and other methods; methods for presenting informative reports; and use of statistics and graphics tools.  Discussion questions will be included as part of this course.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  MAN 621

Required Course

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS MANAGEMENT

FIN 225   Financial Analysis and Management

This course covers the analysis of financial statements to determine financial status of the school system, financial decision making involving analysis of cash flows and alternatives for capital budgeting, bank and audit bids, and lease/purchase alternatives.  Discussion questions will be part of the course content.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  FIN 224

Required Course

FIN 226   Current Asset Management

This course covers sound cash management and cash budgeting practices in the school system, purchasing requirements and inventory control practices, contracting and leasing, and investments.  Discussion questions will be part of the course content.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  FIN 225

Required Course

BUSINESS AND PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

MAN 630   General Business Management

This course covers management planning techniques to include workload management, scheduling deadlines, project planning methods, and project planning.  Also included in this course is organization design and structure to include development of an organizational chart for the business office with reporting relationships and major job responsibilities.  Discussion questions will be included as part of the instruction.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  None