The position is classified as School Services Officer Level 1 by virtue of the requirement to:

Transcription

1 Page 1 of 8 SCHOOL SERVICES OFFICER POSITION INFORMATION DOCUMENT CLASSIFICATION: POSITION TITLE: DISCIPLINE: SSO-1 ACCOUNTING OFFICER FINANCE LEVEL CHARACTERISTICS The position is classified as School Services Officer Level 1 by virtue of the requirement to: under close direction perform a range of routine work functions in support of school based administrative programs, with a limited responsibility for the final work outcomes; undertake routine clerical and keyboard related work; exercise initiative, discretion and judgement; make decisions; and solve minor problems through the adherence to instructions, established practices and procedures or written guidelines. POSITION SUMMARY The Accounting Officer is accountable to the Principal for assisting with the financial management of the school by accurately undertaking the required accounting and bookkeeping responsibilities which contributes to the effective operation and administration of the school. POSITION CHARACTERISTICS The school is a small country primary school with a Principal, Deputy Principal, Student Counsellor, Aboriginal Education Resource Teacher, Languages Other Than English Teacher, Teacher Librarian and 12 classroom teachers. The school, located approximately 320 kilometres north of Adelaide, contains a mix of experienced and beginning teachers,

2 Page 2 of 8 runs a special class (years 3-7) to cater for students with learning difficulties, has 55% of enrolment on School Card and a substantial Aboriginal student population (15%) The School Governing Council is supported by a number of committees/groups which report at each meeting, these include: Finance Committee; Canteen Committee; Parent Club; Grounds and Facilities Committee; Student Representative Council; Aboriginal Student Support Parent Awareness Committee; and Out of School Hours Care Committee. The Principal has a good understanding of the accrual accounting system adopted by the school but has limited experience in the actual processes required to get the data into the system and how to generate specific reports. The Principal plays a significant role in the planning and preparing of the Site Budget, managing the school s finances and in meeting the school s required financial reporting obligations. The incumbent utilises appropriate modules contained within the Education Department School Administration System (EDSAS) in the conduct of required activities and is expected to adhere strictly to the requirements as outlined within the EDSAS procedural manuals. The Principal has minimal involvement in the day to day processes, priorities and work performed by the incumbent and seeks out/requests basic finance related information (from the incumbent) on a regular basis. Where problems are experienced, the incumbent discusses the matter with the Principal and/or seeks assistance through the DECS Help Desk. Budget The Principal is responsible for the Site Budget Planning Tool (SBPT) and associated procedures. The Principal develops the School s Site Budget by using the SBPT, with the incumbent assisting and being involved in all aspects of its development and application. The extent of detail provided is as specified within the SBPT and that expected by the School s Finance Committee and School Governing Council. All negotiation and liaison in relation to the Site Budget with the Finance Committee, School Governing Council, Department of Administrative and Information Services (DAIS), or DECS are the responsibility of the Principal. Budget Process:- The Principal has a substantial involvement in the budget process, with the incumbent providing assistance as required and specifically directed. Under direction from the Principal the incumbent coordinates the gathering of the base information needed for the draft budget preparation - during term 4 of each school calendar year the teaching staff provide their budget submissions (wish lists) for the ensuing year and forward these to the incumbent. The Principal ensures all proposals/requests are linked to the School Development Plan and determines, in the first instance, the amount of the financial support the teachers should receive. The incumbent provides the Principal with current and expected end-of year information with regard to cash on-hand, investments and expenditure surplus/deficit to budget to assist with the decision making.

3 Page 3 of 8 The Principal presents the draft proposals to the Finance Committee for consideration. The incumbent is not a member of the Finance Committee but attends as requested to provide specific information. The Finance Committee considers all budget/finance proposals, suggests required increases to fees, determines expected levels of fund-raising and recommends that the draft budget submission be accepted and approved by School Governing Council. Accounting Revenue:- The incumbent generates an invoice for every form of financial transaction with the school and is responsible for receipting all money from parents, students and DECS through the cash register. The incumbent ensures the correct accounting for GST, generates a banking report and banks the revenue on a daily basis. The Principal verifies and signs the daily report generated by the cash register (Cash Register Emulation). Expenditure:- The duties associated with accounting for expenditure include generating orders and ensuring details are recorded correctly into the system. The incumbent creates orders through EDSAS by entering purchase details and allocating the expenditure codes (according to the School s Chart of Accounts ). The system generates the official purchase orders which are all authorised by the Principal (or delegate) prior to being forwarded to the supplier, by the incumbent. The incumbent receives all goods inwards, verifies goods to order, follows-up any discrepancies and records the goods as received on EDSAS (this enables the system to effectively track commitments). The incumbent processes accounts for payment by matching invoices to purchase orders and planning the cheque run. The incumbent assists teaching staff by providing advice and ordering/purchasing goods on their behalf. The teaching staff are responsible for their individual budgets and monitor their expenditure against a system generated print-out provided by the incumbent. Where teaching staff require additional funding the matter is discussed with the Principal with little/no involvement of the incumbent. The incumbent also provides teaching staff with EDSAS reports for receipts and expenditure associated specifically with camps and excursions. It is a responsibility of the incumbent to inform the Principal when receipts do not cover expenditure. Salaries & Wages:- The incumbent ensures that the accounting by DECS for staff salaries is entered into the system correctly. Bookkeeping Data Input:- The incumbent operates the EDSAS system for data input of cash received and payments made and provides monthly, quarterly and end-of-year financial reports. Financial Reports:- The Principal is responsible for ensuring that reports are prepared in the required format and for presenting to the School Governing Council.

4 Page 4 of 8 The incumbent undertakes the required end-of-month reconciliations and provides the system generated financial reports to the Principal for analysis. These reports include a Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss Statement and Budget Reports. The Principal presents and explains these reports to the Finance Committee. The incumbent contributes to the analysis of the financial reports by providing required additional information or specific detail on the allocated budgeted amounts for each project line, the expenditure to date and balances. The incumbent is also responsible for the monthly reconciliation of bank statements using the EDSAS system. At the completion of every month, the incumbent also provides information to teaching staff about their individual budget lines (including commitments) and generates specific reports requested by teaching staff, Finance Committee and School Governing Council. GST, BAS & IAS Statements:- The Principal is responsible for ensuring that the GST, BAS and IAS statements are prepared and that statutory obligations are met. The incumbent is required to generate the BAS, IAS and GST Statements from the accounting system. The incumbent has received formal training in the requirements of GST and in particular about the various GST Codes. Every transaction needs GST consideration and a major requirement of the incumbent is to identify where a GST applies, concerns are referred to the Principal. The incumbent enters GST amounts into the system and generates a GST Report at the end of each month. The incumbent applies an error detection routine to find errors and correct them prior to the final GST Report being produced. The report is reviewed to identify GST required goods that have no GST Code applied. The incumbent refers to the GST Reference Manuals to solve minor operational problems. End-of-Year Requirements:- The incumbent assists the Principal in the preparation of the end-of-year Departmental Financial Reports. The Principal is responsible for ensuring that the reports are submitted in accordance with Departmental requirements. Asset Management:- Being a country school the asset management required activities are handled by DAIS who direct charge the school through EDSAS. The incumbent liaises with the assigned service providers/contractors and checks/verifies the correct charging into the system by DAIS. The Principal coordinates the Business Manager requirements relating to OHS&W, auditing and annual reporting requirements. Financial Management Investments:- The incumbent provides the Principal with details/reports of cash flow for decisions to be made on investment of funds. This requires the incumbent to provide reports of committed expenditure (orders prepared but not finalised), outstanding accounts and other predicted expenditure on a monthly basis. This information is compared with the balance of cash in the school account and any predicted excess of cash over expenditure is identified. The Principal directs the incumbent regarding the investment of funds, which entails informing the financial institution of any changes to the School s investment requirements and preparing any necessary documentation for consideration/authorisation by the Principal. Fee & Charges:-

5 Page 5 of 8 To ensure the inclusion of all fees and charges into the accounting system the incumbent creates formal invoices. The incumbent follows-up outstanding amounts by sending reminder notices. Each month the incumbent provides the Principal with a report of aged debtors (list of unpaid fees) who liaises and negotiates with the parents over fee payment matters. The incumbent also assists in the administration of the School Card program by keeping records of students with School Cards. ORGANISATION Supervisor Reports To: Supervisor s Position: Subject Position: District Director Principal Accounting Officer Other Positions Reporting to the Supervisor: 9 School Services Officer 17 Teaching Staff STATISTICS RELEVANT TO THE POSITION Student Enrolment: 272 School Card: 55% (149) Site Budget: $2,200,000 Investment Account: $29,000

6 SCHOOL SERVICES OFFICERS (GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS) AWARD SSO (F) 1.01 Page 6 of 8 JOB AND PERSON SPECIFICATIONS Title of Position ACCOUNTING OFFICER Classification Code SSO-1 Type of Appointment (Please indicate) Permanent Temporary Other Reference Number Area COUNTRY School PRIMARY Career Group FINANCE Position Number Position Created Occupant DECS / / Job and Person Specification Approval / / Chief Executive Officer/Delegate JOB SPECIFICATION 1. Summary of the broad purpose of the position and its responsibilities/duties The Accounting Officer is accountable to the Principal for assisting with the financial management of the school by accurately undertaking the required accounting and bookkeeping responsibilities which contributes to the effective operation and administration of the school.

7 Page 7 of 8 2. Reporting/Working Relationships The incumbent reports to the Principal. All performance management, training and development, counselling, conflict resolution and other personnel activities pertaining to the incumbent are the responsibility of the Principal. 3. Special Conditions 4. Statement of Key Responsibilities/Duties Contribute to the preparation of the school budget submission by assisting the Principal in the budget process, including: gathering base information needed for the draft budget; providing current and expected end-of year information with regard to cash, investments and funds surplus/deficit to budget; assisting in using/applying the Site Budget Planning Tool; and attending Finance Committee to provide specific information, as required. Assist with the effective management of school revenue and expenditure by ensuring all school accounting requirements are completed in an accurate and timely manner, including: generating invoices for all financial transactions; receipting of all revenue through the cash register, banking revenue and producing banking reports; correctly accounting for GST; producing purchase orders, receiving goods inwards, verifying goods to order, followingup any discrepancies and recording goods as received; processing accounts for payment; providing advice and ordering/purchasing goods on behalf of teaching staff; providing teaching staff with system generated budget reports; and ensuring that the accounting by DECS for staff salaries is entered into the system correctly. Assist in ensuring all school financial recording and reporting responsibilities and obligations are met by undertaking all required bookkeeping and associated activities in an accurate and timely manner, including: operating the EDSAS system for data input of cash received and payments made; performing required end-of-month reconciliations;

8 Page 8 of 8 providing system generated financial reports to the Principal and other staff; providing required additional information or specific detail on the allocated budgeted amounts for each project line, the expenditure to date and balances; generating BAS, IAS and GST reports/statements from the system; identifying where a GST is applicable and applying it; and liaising with external service contractors and checking/verifying the direct charging by the Department of Administrative and Information Services. Assist the Principal with the effective financial management of the school by providing timely and accurate information on finance related matters, including: providing details/reports of cash flow for decisions to be made on investment of funds; informing financial institutions of any changes to the school s investment requirements; preparing finance specific documentation for consideration/authorisation by the Principal; preparing reports of aged debtors to enable collection of outstanding fees; and maintaining records of students with School Card. Contribute to the care, general well being and safety of all students by monitoring student behaviour and taking appropriate action in accordance with child protection requirements as described in DECS policies and procedures. Acknowledged by Occupant Certified by Branch Manager / / / /