Accounting and Financial Management

Charter schools are required to use accounting processes that align to the “Financial and Program Cost Accounting and Reporting for Florida Schools”, commonly known as the “Redbook.” This presentation will talk about the Redbook accounting requirements, as well as some accounting best practices for charter school leaders.

This presentation is a very basic over view of financing for charter schools. If you have specific questions, we highly recommend you consider speaking with a professional regarding how you can establish your own accounting processes, policies and procedures which are in alignment with legal requirements. 

During the presentation a few links and questions came up:

• Redbook: Use this link to access the Financial Program and Cost Accounting and Reporting for Florida Schools Manual (The Redbook): http://www.fldoe.org/fefp/redtoc.asp
• Auditing Requirements – Charter schools are required to follow the requirements of Florida Statute 218.391. Here is the link to access this statute: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0200-0299/0218/Sections/0218.391.html
• How often do charter schools need to do an RFP for auditors? During the presentation we stated that you should do an RFP every three years. In reviewing the Florida statute, Administrative Rules and technical assistance papers, we can not seem to find the requirement.  We also checked with the state’s charter school office, but were not able to find the requirement.  Florida Statute 218.391 states that: “Written contracts entered into pursuant to subsection (7) may be renewed. Such renewals may be done without the use of the auditor selection procedures provided in this section. Renewal of a contract shall be in writing.”  Therefore the terms and conditions of renewal should be outlined in your contract with the selected auditor.  There is a technical assistance paper available for choosing an auditor that you may wish to review.  It is available at: http://www.floridaschoolchoice.org/information/Charter_schools/files/Auditor_Selection_TAP.pdf

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