Overview
The Division of Finance is the principal fiscal advisory/controller division for the DeKalb County School District. The division consists of approximately 38 employees working in the areas of Financial Systems, Accounting, Accounts Payable, Budgeting, Payroll and Purchasing; 12 under Risk Management and 38 under School Nutrition Services all under the managerial direction of the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. The Chief Financial Officer reports to the Superintendent of the DeKalb County School District.
Budget
The Budget Department is principally responsible for assisting the Chief Financial Officer in the redaction of the annual ‘all funds’ budgets (presently in excess of $1 billion). Major initiatives within this department presently are the conversion of the financial statements from a cash basis to an accrual basis, particularly as it relates to reporting to the Board of Education.
Additionally, this department is principally responsible for the conversion to the mandated State Chart of Accounts; a project which is presently underway and scheduled for completion sometime in 2015.
The Budget Department is also critical relative to periodic reporting functions, informal training sessions, budget monitoring throughout the year, and completion of our Annual External Audit by the State Department of Audits and Accounts (DOAA).
Payroll
The Payroll Department is responsible for the twice monthly payments (via mostly direct deposits) to the district’s 13,000+ employees. Additionally, garnishments are also handled in this department.
The Payroll Department is critical in relation to answering the many questions employees, and their family members, have relative to the payroll process. This department also ensures that compensation is accurate and that benefits have been correctly accounted for.
Additionally, the Payroll Department assists in training endeavors such as the Summer Leadership Conference and the annual Bookkeepers Training.
Accounts Payable
The Accounts Payable Department is principally responsible for the legally documented and correct payments to the School District’s Federal and Non-Federal vendors. Annually, approximately 700 vendors are processed. Improving account payable efficiencies by a better realignment of staff and workflow enables this group to process a greater workload at less cost.
Accounting
The Accounting Department is critical in relation to assisting schools with their internal checking account functions and will assist with the installation of a new school-based accounting software. The department is also critical in relation to analyzing overall budgetary cash flow relative to the issuance of Tax Anticipation Notes; assisting the district in meeting its cash flow needs. Finally, the Accounting Department calculates the annual Charter School payments for the approved Charter Schools within the DeKalb County School District.
Purchasing
The
Purchasing Department is responsible for the legally correct and smooth workflow of the purchasing process. It is involved with the approval process of travel, the reporting by vendor of cumulative earned amounts, the solicitation of construction and non-construction purchasing needs, along with needed contract extensions. Additionally, this department assists in training endeavors such as the Summer Leadership Conference and the annual Bookkeepers Training.