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 and other issues.  Also included in this course will be the relationship of the school budget to educational programs, tying budgets to school priorities, and performance budgeting.  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 budget calendar and planning schedule, the budget resolution, 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 (including CAFR); the purpose and content of published financial statements (including CAFR); 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

Required Course

MAN 631   Risk Management

This course covers the various areas of risk management administered by the school business office.  Included in this course will be instruction on property and casualty insurance, unemployment insurance, worker's compensation, errors and omissions, scholastic insurance, and other areas of risk management.  Discussion questions will be included as part of the course.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  FIN 226

Required Course

MAN 632   Public Relations and Oral Communications

This course covers public relations in the school system.  Included in the course will be dealing with the media, the local board of education, county commissioners, special interest groups, instructional staff and other areas of the school business office.  In addition, participants will develop skills in communicating orally to various groups.  Discussion questions will be included as part of the course.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  MAN 630

Required Course

MAN 640    Personnel Management I

This course covers personnel management within the school business office.  Included in this course are personnel management and supervision, public vs. private sector employees to include focus on individual strengths, and conflict resolution.  Also included will be information on leadership styles and techniques.  Class discussions and other methods of instruction will be included in this course.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  MAN 630

Required Course

MAN 641   Personnel Management II

This course covers employee motivational methods and techniques in the public sector, and methods of compensation to improve and enhance employees in the workforce, such as additional education, certificates of program completion, and other methods.  Methods of instruction will include class participation and discussion questions to enhance the learning experience.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  MAN 640

Required Course

MAN 650   Management Skills I

This course covers organization flow in the school business office, job description development and effective use of job descriptions in hiring, training, and evaluating employees.  Participants will be exposed to various methods as part of the course instruction.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  MAN 641

Required Course

MAN 651   Management Skills II

This course covers the performance appraisal management process and effective use of the performance appraisal in increasing productivity.  Participants will be exposed to various methods as part of the course instruction.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  MAN 650

Required Course

MAN 652   Management Skills III

This course covers staffing, recruitment and interviewing in the school business office to obtain the best person for the job.  Course instruction will employ class participation and discussion questions to enhance the learning experience. 

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  MAN 651

Required Course

INFORMATION PROCESSING AND SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT

FMN 210   General Information Systems Concepts

This course covers the characteristics of information systems, assessment of information processing needs, and the acquisition and management of an information system, including computer hardware, related software and communication network operations.  Discussion questions will be included as part of the course instruction.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  MAN 630

Required Course

FMN 211   Specialized System Applications I

This course covers the standards and procedures for the North Carolina Accounting System, featuring the Uniform Education Reporting System (UERS), explaining what is contained in this "umbrella", all areas it encompasses, and what it requires of the school system and the Department of Public Instruction.  Also included will be an overview to the various DPI systems included under UERS, such as SIMS, HRMS, TIMS, as it relates to financial information, and instruction in the financial reporting requirements to and from DPI on a monthly, weekly and annual basis.  Discussion questions will be part of the instruction of this course

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  ACC 122

Required Course

FMN 212   Specialized System Applications II

This course covers an overview North Carolina Department of Public Instruction's systems such as the salary and licensure system, the DPI general ledger (MSA/DBS), cash management system, the DPI website, the BUD system for federal budgets and adjustments, and HRMS systems to learn what is contained in these systems, and how to utilize the data they contain.  An additional area of this course will be local school administrative units supported systems and the requirements that they must maintain and support.  Discussion questions will be included as part of this course.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  FMN 211

Required Course

LAW AND LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY

LAW 310   Legal Issues I

This course covers some of the specific legal topics governing the public schools of North Carolina.  In this course, topics will include, audits, and capital financing.  Discussion questions will be included as part of the instruction.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  FIN 226

Required Course

LAW 311   Legal Issues II

This class covers additional specific legal topics governing the public schools of North Carolina.  In this course, topics will include contracts, employment law, and privacy acts.  Discussion questions will be included as part of the instruction.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  LAW 310

Required Course

LAW 312   Legal Issues III

This course covers additional primary sources of law affecting public school operations, to include opinions of the State Attorney General, state and local board policies affecting fiscal and operational procedures and processes, requirements and communications of the Local Government Commission, state Administrative Procedures Act (APA) and local administrative procedures with statutory authority over public school operations.  Discussion questions will be part of the course to enhance instruction.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  LAW 311

Required Course

LAW 320   Legal Issues IV

This class covers additional specific legal topics governing the public schools of North Carolina in the areas of disbursement of funds, negligence and fraud, program compliance, and ethics.  Discussion questions and other methods of instruction will be included as part of the course.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  LAW 312

Required Course

LAW 321   Fair Labor Standards Act, Family Medical Leave Act and Other Payroll Law

This course covers the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and other payroll law affecting public school operations.  Discussion questions will be included as part of the instruction.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisite:  LAW 320

Required Course

LAW 322   Federal Grant Requirements

This course covers federal grant policies affecting fiscal and operational procedures and processes, specifically EDGAR.  Discussion questions will be included as part of the instruction.

Course Hours: 2

Prerequisite:  LAW 320

Required Course

Business Office Manager

Curriculum Course Outline and Catalog

ACCOUNTING

ACC 100  Introduction to Accounting

This course covers introduction to accounting principles.  Emphasis is placed on debits, credits, "T" accounts and journal entries. Class discussion questions and hands-on practice will enhance the learning experience.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisites: None

Required Course  

ACC 101   Accounting Principles

This course covers introduction to accounting pertaining to public schools.  Emphasis is placed on the basics of accounting, governance and statutory authority for public schools, budgetary, fund and encumbrance accounting.  Class discussion questions will enhance the learning experience.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisites: ACC 100

Required Course

ACC 102   Accounting Practice I

This course covers accounting for transactions in the areas of cash receipts, encumbrances and payables, e-procurement, and various other general expenditures.  In addition, accounting for capital projects, fixed assets, journal entries and special issues facing the school business professional will be addressed.  Class discussion questions will be part of the instruction and enhancement of this class.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisites: ACC 101

Required Course

ACC 103   Accounting Practice II

This course covers 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 will be covered in addition to discussion questions for all areas included in this class.

Course Hours:  4

Prerequisites:  ACC 101 and ACC 102

Required Course

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

FMN 201   North Carolina Schools Accounting System

This course covers the North Carolina Schools Accounting System, with an overview of the Uniform Education Reporting System (UERS), explaining what is contained in this "umbrella?" all areas it encompasses, and what it requires of the school system and the Department of Public Instruction.  Also included will be an introduction to the various DPI systems included under UERS, and instruction in the financial reporting requirements to and from DPI on a monthly, weekly and annual basis. Discussion questions will be part of the instruction of this course.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisites:  ACC 103

Required Course

FMN 202   Accounting Systems of the Department of Public Instruction

This course covers an overview of the systems of DPI, including access to the salary system, MSA/DBS (general ledger) and what information is contained in them, cash management, zero out, and contents of the DPI website.  Also included will be the system concepts of the BUD system as it relates to federal budgets and accounting adjustments.  Discussion questions will be a part of the instruction of the course.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisites:  FMN 201

Required Course

FMN 204   Auditing and Internal Controls

This course will cover internal controls for the accounting of public funds in the school systems, including separation of duties.  In addition, an overview of single audit concepts with information regarding what they mean and what is included in relation to the school finance office.  Discussion questions will be included in the instruction.

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisites:  ACC 103

Required Course

FMN 203    Allotment Management

This class covers the State Uniform Chart of Accounts in relationship to the Allotment Policy Manual.  Emphasis will be placed on the usage of funds and the coding for those expenditures within the various allotments, and understanding of the correlation between both of these documents.  Class discussion questions will be part of the learning experience. 

Course Hours: 4

Prerequisites:  ACC 103

Required Course

LAW AND LEGAL RESPONSIBILITIES