Government – Page 3 – FiscalShare

Category: Government

Budgeting Blindfolded as Art Form

Last Thursday the governor’s budget proposal for 2014-15 was unveiled. My loyal readers may have noticed that I let the occasion pass by without a peep out of me. The truth is that all of you devoted school district business officials are still budgeting blindfolded. Estimates for individual district revenues will be developed. Programs will be implemented and costs

January 13, 2014 Short URLbudget, budget assumptions, budget proposal, budgeting, business officials, CBO, CFO, economic forecasts, economy, forecasting, governor's budget, lcff, local control funding formula, work drama, work stressFinance, Government, Local Control Funding Formula, Public Schools

Reputation: a Matter of Trust

Today I recommend thinkpurpose’s post Why I Don’t Care About the Reputation of my Organisation. …If you aim for a good reputation, trust takes a back seat. Spin, presentation and image are the easy ways to a good reputation but trust is made from simpler and sterner stuff. It has to be based on something

January 12, 2014 Short URLbest practice, building reputation, business, career development, customer experience, disengaged employees, employee engagement, engagement, experience, government, online reputation, public schools, reputation, reputation management, school district, success, superintendent, TripAdvisor, trustCareer Development, Government, Management, Public Schools, Working Together

Chocaholics, Beware of Vendors Bearing Gifts

Back when I started working for the Pretty Small School District, my boss would pass out tickets to professional hockey games. She would say something like “Look, I have these tickets and I’m not that interested in hockey.” So Spouse and I would go. I later found out that the tickets came from one of the district’s vendors. Back then

January 10, 2014 Short URLbest practice, California Fair Political Practices, career development, education, employment, gifts, gifts to public employees, government, Management, public employees, school district businessCareer Development, Government, Laws and Regulations, Public Schools, School District Jobs

Excel Solver for Expense Transfers

Thank you Pronger for your post about the Excel solver function. Follow this link to view his explanation and instructions. The solver function is especially useful if you deal with a multitude of funding sources such as state and local grants, federal awards and bond funds. Each restricted funding source has very particular spending rules and most have

December 31, 2013 Short URLaccounting, Accounts Payable, analysis, best practice, data, Excel, Excel solver, Excel spreadsheet, Expense, funding sources, Funds, General Journal, government spending, governmental accounting, information technology, Invoice, Microsoft, Microsoft Excel, nonprofit accounting, problem solving, public school finance, school district business, school districts, school finance, solver, solver function in Excel, spreadsheetsAccounting, Finance, Government, Public Schools, School Construction

Governmental Cost Recovery

I have heard the mantra again and again “we don’t make a profit” meaning, if we charge for services it’s only on a cost recovery basis. Yet I just read that Inyo COE charges a flat 7% to its charter schools for providing business services. If a charter school now receives significantly more funding under the Local Control Funding Formula,

December 25, 2013 Short URLaccounting, analysis, best practice, business, business services, Cafeteria Fund, California Schools Accounting Manual, charter school, Charter Schools, cost accounting, Cost recovery, CSAM, education, Education Code, Excel, fee for service, fund balance, government, government spending, Inyo County Office of Education, Inyo Register, lcff, overcharging, public school finance, public schools, school district, school district business, school districts, school finance, surplusAccounting, Cost Accounting, Government, Local Control Funding Formula

‘Tis the Season for…the 14-15 Budget

The California Budget Project has posted a useful article on the 14-15 budget debate, which begins with the release of the Governor’s budget on or before January 10. Also of interest on the CBP blog is their post on the budget process. And when I say that these links are useful and interesting, I mean that

December 20, 2013 Short URLanalysis, analyst, budget, budget analyst, California, career development, employee engagement, employment, government, governor's budget, hiring, local control funding formula, public education, public school finance, public schools, school district, school district business, school districts, school finance, workFinance, Government, Local Control Funding Formula, Management, Public Schools, School District Jobs

The Long and the Short of It

Or, Don’t Use Your Credit Card to Buy Groceries (and Don’t use Bonds to Buy Technology) I was walking by Fort Point in San Francisco (you’ll know the spot from Hitchcock’s “Vertigo”). I fell into conversation with a guy who, by coincidence, was a new customer at the bank where I worked. He went on to

December 6, 2013 Short URLbonds, California, capitalization, capitalized equipment, common core, computers, finance, finance techniques, government, information technology, LA Unified, on-line testing, parcel tax, problem solving, public education, public finance, public school finance, school district business, school districts, school finance, standardized tests, technology iPads, testing, testsGovernment, Management, Public Schools

Schrödinger’s Excel

Or, how to be deadly and awesome at the same time Is Excel good or bad? It is both. Are you good at Excel or bad at it? Probably both. Excel is extraordinary. In the wrong hands it also can be a disaster, Excel is just a tool, like a chisel. It is inspiring in the hands of a skilled carpenter and murderous in

November 25, 2013 Short URLaccounting, analysis, business, candidate, data, Excel, fiscal, Herb Kelleher, hiring, job candidate, Management, Microsoft, Schrodinger, spreadsheet software, testing, workAccounting, Excel, Finance, Government, Management

Budget Advisory Committees are Hard

When the Budget Advisory Committee was approaching my boss and I would look at each other and groan in unison “Ugh BAC!” Why? It was not that we didn’t want to talk budget with the community. Hey, we’ll talk your ear off with all sorts of budget geekiness if you let us. It is because a BAC

November 17, 2013 Short URLbudget, budget advisory committee, budget development, community, community input, data, Education Code, government, government spending, input, Management, problem solving, public education, school district business, school districts, school spending, schools, unionsAnalysis, Data, Government, Public Schools

Government’s Return on Investment

Is it ever OK to say “I spent more on that, so I am in compliance.” Is spending more money the only way to demonstrate “success?” I say this is the opposite of success. Are we going to allow school districts to shrug off poor results by spending more. I really don’t understand the critics of California’s Local Control Funding Formula’s

November 7, 2013 Short URLaccountability, anti-government, California, civil rights coalition, Education Trust-West, government, government spending, kpi, lcff, local control funding formula, measures, measuring success, outcomes, regulations, return on investment, right wing, ROI, school districts, spending, successFinance, Government, Local Control Funding Formula, Public Schools

Follow Blog via Email