Manager: Charter School Accounting - Office of Charter Schools (2024-25)

Ref. 86

Position must be posted for a minimum of 10 days

BASIC FUNCTION:  The Charter School Accounting Manager is responsible for overseeing charter school reporting compliance, fiscal accountability, practices and overall operation health of the school.  Responsibilities include developing and maintaining a process of identifying, accumulating, analyzing, interpreting, preparing, and communicating financial and statistical information.  These responsibilities require the position to work effectively and efficiently with charter school administrators, county, state and outside auditors and vendors.

REPRESENTATIVE DUTIES: (Incumbents may perform any combination of the essential functions shown below. This position description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, knowledge, or abilities associated with this classification, but is intended to reflect the principal job elements accurately.)

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Review and oversee schools quarterly/annually financial reporting to the County and State Department of Education. 
• Ensure operational integrity of the school including satisfactory and proactive compliance with all applicable laws, regulatory reporting, and contractual obligations. 
• Monitor the fiscal health of the school for effective operation and long-term sustainability, including management of the operational budget and development of adequate revenue sources through diverse funding streams. 
• Establish review standards of charter petitions and renewals on fiscal management, budgets and cash flow. 
• Monitor all apportionments coming into the district and insure good audit trails and accountability. 
• Disburse and transfer monthly apportionment to schools. 
• Manage the coordination of external audits while improving current and implementing new processes to ensure District compliance with state and federal regulations.  
• Develop, document, and implement internal audit function in order to regularly assess and mitigate risks entailed in areas such as accounting, budgeting, and compliance. 
• Collect and review charter school audit reports; coordinate response to findings with the County and State.  
• Inform school leadership and personnel with accurate and updated information to assist with school budgeting, financial planning and development. 
• Maintain school attendance record and prepare reporting to the State on attendance accounting. 
• Compile, organize and maintain site level data on attendance accounting, including instructional days and minutes. 
• Conduct site visit and audits to ensure that Federal funding and expenditures comply with applicable laws and guidelines; identify and resolve discrepancies. 
• Identify problems and troubleshoot detailed budget preparation process, including data entry, matching to the budget development systems, Budget Development Tool (BDT) and IFAS, uploading and checking the overall and site-specific budgets after entry into IFAS. Ensure that budget allocations are properly reflected in SACS reports and Adopted Budget. 
• Ensure that accounting and budgetary technical checks are cleared prior to submission to the County and State. 
• Provide support and train charter staff on standard reporting and compliance. 
• Identify best practices and create knowledge-sharing opportunities between schools and District office. 
• Coordinate the development of budget preparation for the Office of Charter Schools; Prepares budget transfers and record journal entries as appropriate. 
• Prepare and maintain purchase orders and other expense records; Ensures expenditures are within budget allowances for the month and year, with on-going “budget to actual” monitoring.  
• Assure that budgets do not exceed authorizations, nor underestimate requirements for staffing, supplies, etc…. 
• Calculate charges and prepare invoices to bill schools for services rendered by the District based on established contract and agreement.  
• Perform related duties as assigned. 

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

TRAINING, EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: 

• A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with a major in accounting and four years of progressively responsible experience in accounting.                             
• Master’s degree preferred
• Experience working with charter schools in an accounting capacity highly preferred
• Supplemental coursework in use of computer-based accounting applications desirable
• California school district accounting preferred
• Customer service experience preferred

LICENSES AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS:

Valid California Driver’s License

Employment eligibility will include fingerprints, tuberculosis and/or other employment clearance

KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITIES

KNOWLEDGE OF:

• Charter school finance and operations
• Generally accepted accounting principles and auditing standards
• Laws, policies and procedures governing California public charter school finance
• Public school accounting procedures and protocols
• Encumbrance based budgeting
• Use and leverage computer-based accounting applications
• Planning, organization and coordination needed for assigned program
• Diverse academic, socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, and disability backgrounds of District
• Correct English usage, grammar, spelling, and punctuation
• Computer software, hardware, and related technology

ABILITY TO:

• Work with a variety of stakeholders including schools, County, State, auditors, vendors and District administrators
• Work with paperless financial services systems
• Exercise sound judgment and initiative in an environment of rapid change
• Consistently meet and/ or exceed client expectations
• Build highly-functioning relationships with managers both inside and outside of the Financial Services Division
• Perform advanced quantitative analysis
• Work confidentially and with discretion
• Meet schedules and timelines
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Complete work as directed despite frequent interruptions
• Write reports
• Be a team player and collaborate with others
• Take initiative and lead
• Work independently with little direction
• Prepare and deliver clear and concise presentations to a variety of audiences
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other office equipment

WORKING CONDITIONS

ENVIRONMENT:

Office environment and diverse school site environments; driving a vehicle to conduct work; fast-paced work; constant interruptions

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

Consistent mental alertness; sitting or standing for extended periods of time; lifting, carrying, pushing, and pulling objects up to 30 pounds, occasionally 30 pounds; bending and twisting at the waist, reaching overhead, above the shoulders and horizontally; dexterity of both hands and fingers while performing duties; seeing to read, write and use the computer; hearing and speaking to exchange information, in person or on the telephone, and make presentations.

NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY:

The Oakland Unified School District does not discriminate in any program, activity, or in employment on the basis of actual or perceived race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, veteran status, gender, sex, or sexual orientation.

Salary : $115,731 - $147,717