La. Admin. Code tit. 28 § XLI-101

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section XLI-101 - Introduction

A. The primary purpose of the Louisiana Accounting and Uniform Governmental Handbook for local school boards is to serve as a vehicle for program cost accounting at the local and state levels.

B. The Louisiana State Department of Education has a responsibility to provide and interpret comprehensive statistics about the condition of education in the state. In addition, it has congressional mandates to publish fiscal data as well as to provide statistical data that can be used by local school boards to improve their activities.

C. The Louisiana Accounting and Uniform Governmental Handbook attempts to produce comprehensive and compatible sets of standardized terminology for use in education management and reporting. The following basic criteria were used in selecting items and classifications for inclusion in this publication.

1. The items, accounts, and categories of information should provide the basic framework fundamental to a comprehensive financial management system.

2. The guidelines should serve all sizes and types of school systems.

3. The categories of accounts should be both contractible and expandable, enabling all school systems to adapt them to support various financial management information systems.

4. Data elements should be added into needed categories for purposes of reporting and comparing at the local, state and federal levels.

5. The guidelines should conform to generally accepted accounting principles. Governmental funds should be accounted for using the modified accrual basis of accounting; proprietary and fiduciary funds should be accounted for using the accrual basis.

6. The guidelines should include the categories necessary to provide full disclosure of financial information.

7. The categories included should provide an adequate audit trail.

D. The local school board is the organization most likely to use the account classifications described here. However, the Louisiana State Department of Education is, most likely, the direct user. Both will derive direct benefits as acceptance and use of these guidelines spread among local school boards. The resulting increased uniformity of accounting records in use at the local level will make financial data assembled at the state and federal levels more comparable and meaningful.

E. While this publication includes a complete listing of classifications and standard terminology, it is not all-inclusive, specifically, it does not provide the information listed below.

1. methods and procedures for recording financial data (such as how to record entries in journals and ledgers);

2. methods and procedures for reporting financial data (such as actual preparation of financial reports from the ledgers);

3. methods and procedures for utilizing financial data (such as budgeting and making decisions about the financial position of the local school board).

La. Admin. Code tit. 28, § XLI-101

Promulgated by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, LR 26:462 (March 2000), amended LR 36:1505 (July 2010).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 17:6(A)(10).