This is Lesson One in Basics 101. Read the California School Accounting Manual and refer to it daily. If you are not in California I am sure that there is an equivalent accounting manual for your state, too.
If you find this manual as dry as dust, then maybe this job it not for you. You have to care about such things.
For us, bad accounting is like a crooked picture hanging on the wall. It is massively distracting and we have a hard time doing anything else until it is fixed.
But you first need to recognize that something is wrong.
Example. If you are leasing equipment there is a section in the manual that shows all the entries for that. But for some reason I see these entries done incorrectly over and over again at different school districts. It is not rocket science. You just need to know that specific procedures exist and follow them.
And since this is governmental accounting your private industry experience may lead you to exclaim “WTF!” when you see how we actually need to do it
My recommendation is to read the manual’s table of contents to see what topics are actually covered. Then, if at some point you are asked to, say, account for leases, you’ll remember that there is a procedure for that.
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