Finance policies and procedures
The purpose of finance policies and procedures is to:
- Ensure the school’s financial resources are managed effectively to deliver your board’s strategy
- Maintain accountability for and control of the school’s financial resources
- Safeguard the assets of the school for future generations of students.
What finance policies and procedures do you need?
Your policies define responsibilities, delegations, and the outcomes your board wants to achieve.
Procedures (processes) set out how policies will be implemented in the school.
Your finance policies and procedures should cover the following areas.
Asset management
This is how you will manage, protect, and replace the school’s assets, such as furniture and equipment, leased assets, and motor vehicles.
Cash management
This is how you will manage money coming in and going out, including receipts, invoices, and petty cash.
Credit cards
This is how you will manage any credit cards issued to school staff, the cardholders’ responsibilities, and the approval process.
Entertainment
This is how you will manage entertainment expenses, what this money can be spent on, and when.
Finance
This is where you set out who is responsible for each finance-related activity.
Protected disclosures
A protected disclosure is a declaration made by an employee where they believe serious wrongdoing has occurred.
This is how you will protect your employees against retaliatory or disciplinary action, meaning they will not be liable for civil or criminal proceedings related to the disclosure.
Schedule of delegations
Sets out the responsibilities that can only be exercised by your board, the responsibilities delegated to the chief executive (the principal), and the responsibilities that the principal can delegate to specified staff.
Sensitive expenditure policy
These are expenses that may be seen as only beneficial to individuals or small groups rather than the whole school.
This policy is how you will manage these.
Theft and fraud prevention
This is how you will assess the risk of fraud and your actions when any suspected fraud is discovered or reported.
Travel
This is how you will manage travel-related expenditure and reimbursement of costs.
How often should you review your financial policies and procedures?
We recommend reviewing your financial policies and procedures every three years (after board elections).
You should also review them when there is a change to your board, the principal, or the staff members who participate in your school’s finance activities.
Questions your board could ask
- Do we have appropriate finance policies and procedures in place?
- Are we reviewing them regularly to ensure they remain current?
- Did our last auditor’s letter highlight any concerns with our policies or procedures?
- If so, have those issues been addressed and resolved?
Templates, resources, and references
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Ministry of Education