|
Central Business
Office offers shared accounting solution
Consolidated service provides transparency, efficiency, cost
savings
 While
pressure mounts on school districts to be wise stewards of their
finances, the pool of school business officials is shrinking,
according to Ralph Acquaro, comptroller of the new HFM BOCES
Central Business Office.
A
clear illustration of “cooperative educational services,” the
Central Business Office opened its doors in July to allow four
participating school districts to share the costs of accounting
services.
“It
is getting very difficult, for smaller districts especially, to
find business officials,” said Mr. Acquaro. “Consolidating
school accounting services in one office avoids duplication of
efforts, solves staffing issues and reduces costs.”
The
shared service provides consistent and efficient bookkeeping and
cost savings for Canajoharie, Mayfield, Piseco, and Wells, the
four area school districts that signed on for the inaugural
year, said Mr. Acquaro. Varied circumstances left those
districts without business officials. The HFM BOCES Central
Business Office now fills that gap.
“Retirement or attrition created the opportunity for these
schools to initiate the service,” said HFM BOCES Superintendent
Dr. Geoffrey H. Davis, who presented the central business office
idea to area administrators after seeing a similar service
successfully in action at Greater Southern Tier BOCES in 2006.
“The
office is starting out with a narrow focus and carefully defined
roles,” explained Dr. Davis. “We plan to grow capacity slowly.
We currently offer bookkeeping, payroll, accounts payable and
purchasing.”
Dr.
Davis expects the service to grow quickly because of the
continued difficulty finding business officials, the cost
efficiency it provides, and the quality of the shared service.
Several other districts have already expressed interest in
joining the service.
Participating districts pay a fee for the services each year
based on the size of the district, but are reimbursed for a
portion of the fee according to their state aid ratio.
“We
worked very closely with the State Education Department to craft
the CoSER requirements,” said Dr. Davis. “It is a completely
transparent, and fully aidable, service.”
The
New York State Education Department requires the office to be
physically located at BOCES as part of the cooperative services,
or CoSER, agreement.
Separation of duties is a key issue in audits, said Central
Business Office Manager Jodie Rodriquez, noting that school
districts can more easily meet this requirement when their
central business offices are housed at BOCES — separate from the
districts they serve.
Prior
to retiring last spring as superintendent of Mayfield Central
Schools, Ralph Acquaro was inspired by the presentation he heard
about the Greater Southern Tier BOCES Central Business Office
service and worked with other area administrators to help launch
HFM’s new service.
“Ralph had the experience at Mayfield, and the interest,” said
Dr. Davis. “He also has the leadership qualities to guide the
office through the first steps of the service.”
The
HFM BOCES Central Business Office staff is an important source
of information for the school districts they serve, said Mr.
Acquaro, explaining that they can help districts analyze
spending trends and rising costs when developing their annual
budgets.
“Our
office looks at the figures and can provide analysis that helps
districts make better decisions about their funds,” said Mr.
Acquaro. “We can also keep districts informed on state aid
situations as they arise down the road.”
The
Central Business Office staff transferred their positions at
BOCES from school districts participating in the service.
Account Clerk Leta Aldous came from the Mayfield Central School,
while two other account clerks, Dawn Sutton and Victoria Hines,
previously worked in Canajoharie.
Mrs.
Rodriquez was promoted to her position of office manager after
10 years in the Fort Plain Central School District business
office.
“Flexibility is a strength of our staff. We cross-train our
people to wear many hats,” she said.. “No part of the service is
the exclusive territory of a single person.”
Flexibility is possible because the four districts all use
Infomatics Systems, a Web-based financial platform for their
bookkeeping. The common interface is another boon to the smooth
start-up of the service.
Although the Central Business Office staff provides key
assistance in certain aspects, school districts still actively
manage their money. District treasurers, for example, log into
Infomatics to initiate check writing and to release funds.
“State law requires that each district retain a treasurer to
control their money,” explained Mrs. Rodriquez. “Each district
remains in total control of their finances; we take care of the
day-to-day management.” |
