SERVICES
Accounting & Bookkeeping Services
If you're looking for excellent service and a people-friendly approach, then you've come to the right place. At Manning ACS, LLC our ultimate goal is to serve you and make your experience with us a pleasant one.
Auditing Services
This service is currently being formulated.
Consulting Services
This service is currently being formulated.
Charter School Services
What Do You Need?
You don’t really need much knowledge to be a charter school Business Manager. Only someone who is proficient in:
· Budgeting
· Budget Maintenance
· Budget Adjustment Request (BAR) Creation
· General Ledger Maintenance
· Salary Schedule Creation
· NM Minimum Salary Requirements
· Payroll Setup
· Payroll Processing
· Benefits Management
· W-4 Reconciliations
· W-2 Processing
· 1099 Processing
· IRS 941 Reporting
· NM CSR Reporting
· NMPSIA Reconciliations
· NMPSIA Reporting
· APS Reporting Requirements and Deadlines
· Governing Board Financial Reports
· Finance Committee Financial Reports
· Cash Management
· Cash Receipt Recording
· Cash Reconciliations
· NMPED Cash Reporting
· NMPED Quarterly/Monthly Revenue and Expenditure Reporting
· Federal Programs Requirements
· Federal Programs Restrictions
· Supplement vs. Supplant Knowledge
· Maintenance of Effort Requirement Knowledge
· Federal Funds Request for Reimbursement (RfR)
· NM Purchasing Laws
· NM Bid Procurement Laws
· Purchase Order Processing
· Receiving Guidelines
· Accounts Payable Processing
· Vendor Maintenance
· Chart of Account Knowledge
· NM Manual of Procedures for Public School Accounting and Budgeting – Chapters 1 though 21 (think hundreds of pages)
· NM Laws and Regulations on Per Diem, Travel, Procurement Cards, Disposition of Property, etc.
· Capital Asset Management
· Capital Asset Inventory
· Depreciation Calculations
· Financial Statement Preparation Knowledge
· Audit Preparation
· And More
Yes. All of those things are supposed to be performed by your business manager in most charter schools – all while maintaining proper segregation of duties.
Is there any wonder why you may have a revolving door for your business manager position?
How realistic is it to expect one person to perform all those functions and to perform them in a timely manner, and do them correctly?
What Alternative Is There?
Be honest. If you are the principal/director of a charter school, how much of your time is spent worrying about the above list, wondering if it’s done correctly and on time or what you can do to help get it done? Did you sign on to be the Assistant Business Manager or did you intend on spending your time worrying about educating the students in your school?
If you are a Governing Council Member, do you feel comfortable with how your finances are handled? Do you feel comfortable with the level of segregation of duties, with the oversight of the financial procedures, or with the knowledge possessed by your Business Manager? As the individual ultimately responsible for the financial affairs of the school, do you see or feel any risk in how things are being handled?
If this is the case, why try to find one person who can do all of those functions and do them well? Don’t hire a Business Manager, hire an entire Business office. It is next to impossible to find someone who can do all of those jobs very well. Heck, I’m a CPA with 26 years of experience, over 10 as a Business Manager, and I don’t feel comfortable doing all of those things.
Think Outside The Box!
Hire four or five people to do the above jobs, each one with specialized skills and experience in an area of the above duties. Let them process your payroll, pay your vendors, reconcile your cash, and manage your general ledger while you spend your time with your students, just like you planned on doing when you chose to work in a charter school.
When your business office is running efficiently and effectively, you shouldn’t even know it’s there. You should forget you even have a Business Manager because the bills are paid on time; the employees are paid correctly; the PED reports are turned in early, not late; reports are ready for the Governing Council; budgets are created and maintained with the students in mind; and you spent your time teaching children and working with your teachers, not worrying about.
Why Hire Us?
We bring more than 85 years of school business office experience in the areas of budgeting, payroll, Federal programs management and reporting, purchasing, accounts payable, financial statement reporting and audit experience.
Let us provide an entire business office with specialized skills and experience in every area of need. Feel comfortable knowing you have proper segregation of duties while two CPAs with over 17 years of school finance experience review the work of licensed staff. How many charter schools in New Mexico have any connection or review by a CPA; how many regular districts have that? You can.
Have your payroll done by someone who has over 23 years of experience processing payroll; who has processed payroll for a district with more than 1,100 employees. She has witnessed almost anything and everything that can and willhappen with regards to payroll, benefits, and tax reporting. She will know how to handle the situations that come up at your school as well.
Be comfortable knowing that your cash is being reconciled by someone who handled monthly cash amounts in excess of 25 million dollars all while reconciling to the penny. The PED Cash Reports confuse many people and cause hours of work trying to get them to tie. Cash Report worries become a thing of the past. Twenty-seven years of experience in cash management, purchasing, and reporting are now part of your business office.
Accounts payable will be handled by someone with over 15 years of experience in the receiving and accounts payable areas. Proper procedures are second nature for this staff member. Records are neat and organized; an auditor’s dream.
Budgets will be prepared and reviewed by Certified Public Accountants who are experienced in preparing all the items required by the Public Education Department during the budget review process. Feel comfortable knowing that the budgets are sound and are prepared after discussion with the principal/director and the Governing Council. If there is a way of making it work, they can do it. However, if the budget won’t allow a wish to be carried out, they will let you know that as well.
Few districts, including large districts have that type of experience, but your charter school can, and they can have it at an affordable cost. How much is peace of mind worth? It may be less than you’ve been paying!
But What About…?
“I like my Business Manager next to me.” “You guys are so far away.” “You don’t understand a small school.”
Those are all reasonable statements, but in the end what is more important – having your Business Manager next to you or knowing that all of your financial operations are being handled by people who are experienced and very good at what they do?
Stop and consider that when there are multiple schools within a district, the Business Manager is not at each school, but the necessary operations occur for that school. If that Business Manager is five miles away or 150 miles away, you handle it the same way, through telephone calls and email.
We are experienced with working in this environment. We had schools 75 miles apart. We understand how to provide support to schools which are not in the same building. The real truth is that the school that was ¼ mile away dealt with the business office the same way as the school that was 75 miles away. Principals didn’t have time to leave their schools.
We had schools with under 100 students and schools with 1,000 students. We understand there is a difference and how to provide proper support to both.
The financial software you probably use is web-based. The people who support that software are in Kansas City, Missouri or Phoenix, Arizona; but it works.
We will also provide someone who will be at the school one day a week to deal with the issues that need dealt with and provide us the support we need. Now when was the last time you had a district provide you the experience we are offering and have someone come by once a week on top of that? I doubt if you ever had that in the district environment. We can provide you a little bit of the best of both worlds.
Give us a call. We will be happy to sit down with you and discuss your needs and calm your concerns. Think outside the box!
