Policy Statement:

The budget of Lakeway Christian Schools (LCS) serves as a foundational financial document that plays a central role in financial planning, management, transparency, and accountability. This policy outlines the primary purposes and objectives of the budget, as well as the procedures for budget development, control, and monitoring.

Budget Purposes:

The budget serves the following key purposes within LCS:

• Financial Planning and Control: 
  • An annual budget shall be adopted for every fund and organizational unit within LCS to facilitate financial planning and control.
• Budgetary Control:
  • The accounting system shall serve as the basis for appropriate budgetary control, allowing for efficient tracking and management of financial resources.

Decentralized Budgeting:

A decentralized budgeting approach shall be implemented to create a hierarchy that allows budget sheets to be distributed to their respective "owners" who can contribute to budget requests, subject to the approval of their supervisors and ultimately, the Board of Directors.

Efficiency and Familiarity:

The goal is to create efficiencies by enabling individuals to work on small portions of the budget that are relevant and familiar to them, contributing to a comprehensive and well-informed budget.

Budget Development and Approval:

• Electronic Budget Requests:
  • Budget sheets shall be distributed electronically to budget "owners" who can submit their budget requests electronically through the employee portal of the finance software.
• Supervisor and Finance Approval:
  • Budget requests shall be subject to approval by the respective supervisors and a finance employee. The approval process shall be conducted electronically within the finance software.

Purchasing Against Budget:

• Budget-Based Purchasing:
  • All purchasing activities shall be conducted against the approved budget. Employee procurement of supplies or services shall be initiated through the electronic submission of a purchase requisition within the employee portal of the finance software.
• Workflow Approval Process:
  • A workflow approval process shall take place electronically, involving supervisor approval and finance employee approval. Upon approval, a purchase order will be generated, and the employee will be notified.
• Invoice Matching:
  • When a purchase is made and an invoice is received, it shall be matched to the purchase order as part of the approval process for payment.

Emergency Purchases and Budget Amendments:

• Reporting to the Board:
  • Emergency purchases and purchases approved over budgeted amounts shall be reported to the Board of Directors on a monthly basis as part of a budget amendment process.
• Consent Agenda:
  • Budget amendments that have no effect on the overall budget may be included in a consent agenda for board approval.

References:
2.202 Line Item Transfers & Amendments
2.401 Purchase Requisitions