FY2006 CERTIFIED ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT (CAR)

CHART OF ACCOUNTS (COA) Transmittal over the Internet

and Web-Based Reporting

LEAs and AEAs

 

Due September 15, 2006

 

 

Overview

Due Dates

Due date for both the COA upload and the web-based CAR to be submitted electronically over the Internet is September 15, 2006 for all districts and AEAs.  There are no extensions available for due dates and no changes to the district/AEA records after the CAR is filed.  Changes to CAR data discovered after filing are reported as auditor’s upward or downward adjustments in the books for the following year.

 

Iowa Code 256.9(18) states that the Department of Education is required to prepare forms and procedures as necessary to be used by AEA and districts to insure uniformity, accuracy, and efficiency in keeping records in both pupil and financial accounting and the submission of reports, and to notify the AEA or district when a report has not been filed in the manner or on the dates prescribed that the district/AEA will not be accredited (state aid withheld) until the report has been properly filed.

 

Iowa Code 257.31(11) states that failure to provide information as requested for the accomplishment of review or hearing is justification for the SBRC to instruct the director of the department of management to withhold any state aid until the committee’s inquiries are satisfied completely.

 

These Code sections will be applied beginning with Fiscal Year 2005-2006 year end reporting and all reporting thereafter for any district or AEA that does not timely file.  Questions related to the applicability of these Code sections to your district or AEA may be directed to Su McCurdy, liaison to the SBRC.

 

Questions

Denise Ragias, 515-281-4600, Denise.Ragias@iowa.gov

Deb Schroeder, 515-281-4741, Deb.Schroeder@iowa.gov

Janice Evans, 515-281-4740, Janice.Evans@iowa.gov

 

Basis of Reporting

·          All districts and AEAs are required to report according to the definitions and classifications in the 2004 edition of Uniform Financial Accounting for Iowa LEAs/AEAs (UFA manual) in each and every fund.  This publication is on the DE website.

·          LEAs/AEAs are required by law to be in compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). This requirement applies to all Parts on the CAR.  All LEAs and AEAs shall use 60 days for the cut-off period for revenue recognition.  The CAR is reported at the fund level prior to any adjusting entries necessary to complete the entity-wide statements for the audit.

·          If there is any conflict between GAAP or UFA and the instructions to the CAR, follow the CAR instructions.

 

Considerations before Beginning the CAR

·          Reconcile the bank statement and accounting records

·          Ensure all funds are in balance

·          Make adjusting entries to close books on a GAAP basis if the district or AEA operates day-to-day on a cash basis

·          For help entering general journal entries related to long-term debt, ISCAP, Part B, or Medicaid, refer to the sample entries in  the Appendix of the Uniform Financial Accounting manual on the web site at http://www.state.ia.us/educate/fis/sft/documents.html 

·          Do not  “Close” fiscal year books until the CAR has been finalized and accepted by the DE.

·          No further changes on that fiscal year’s books.

·          Auditor adjustments are made to subsequent year

·          Assemble all materials needed to complete the CAR

 

Suggested Timeline

July 1:

o         Reconcile the bank statement and accounting records.

o         Do general journal entries, if necessary, to ensure that the beginning balances on the district records are the same as the DE file on the website for your district or AEA.  This is necessary if the district/AEA made changes to its books not required by the DE after the FY05 CAR was filed or if the district/AEA did not make changes to its books that were required by the DE during the CAR processing.

o         Ensure all funds are in balance.

July 15: 

o         Enter all known accounts receivable and payables and any other known accruals and deferrals.  These entries should be made by the district/AEA and NOT its auditor.  The CAR/records may not match to the audit.  The CAR reporting requirements control the records rather than the audit.  If adjustments are necessary for the audit, those are made within the audit and not the CAR or district/AEA records.

o         File and certify all claims on the data collection web site.

August 15

o         Enter the August property tax payment as soon as received.

o         Review and adjust the accruals and deferrals.

o         Ensure that all funds are still in balance.

o         The fiscal CAR can now be transmitted.  File and certify no later than September 15.

September 15

o         Last day to file the CAR (COA upload and web-based CAR data collection forms) without state aid being withheld.

 

Materials needed to Prepare a CAR

·          Cumulative attendance records by grade, segregated by public and nonpublic students (web-based CAR).

·          Cumulative attendance records for summer session.

Beginning balances report from the DE web site under CAR training materials.  These numbers are the numbers to be used by the district or AEA on its final records which will be uploaded.

·          ISCAP statements

·          final statement for 04-05 Series B (Feb)

·          final statement for 05-06 Series A (July)

·          June 30, 2005, Report of Financial Activity

·          Abstract of Elections from the County Auditor (web-based CAR)

·          Insurance Policies on buildings (web-based CAR)

 

General Information

·          Cell references on the web-based CAR are read as:  Part number, Row number, Column number:  XXXXXX.

·          Report actual numbers—do not estimate, allocate, or prorate.

·          Use 60 days for revenue recognition.

·          Be sure that all errors noted in the software edit program provided by the district’s vendor and on the upload system are corrected and the CAR uploaded again.

 

 

Instructions for Transmitting the COA Upload

 

Location

http://www.edinfo.state.ia.us

 

Start Up Screen

·          USER ID is the four-digit district number.

·          PASSWORD is the same as the password assigned for the BEDS data collection.  If you do not know the password, see your superintendent/administrator.  That person is the custodian of the password.

·          Click the submit button to go to the next screen.

 

Application Menu Screen

·          Click on the gray bar for the CAR Chart of Account to enter into the CAR Data Collection section of this web site.

·          Click on the gray bar Exit to leave this screen and return to the start up screen.

 

Certified Annual Report (CAR) Data Collection Screen

The 2005-2006 CAR Data Collection page will appear.

o         Click on “Chart of Account” to go to the CAR file Upload screen to begin the upload process.

 

CAR File (Upload) Screen

Use this page to upload your CAR Chart of Account (COA) import file information to the Department of Education.

·          Type the path and filename to be exported from your system and imported into the Department of Education system.  If you are unsure of the path, click the Browse button to search your computer to find the CAR file to be exported.

·          Be sure that it is the data file of your CAR output from the software program provided by the district’s  vendor for this purpose that is being transferred and is NOT the program file or any spreadsheet or database file that is not in the correct file format.  The file must be comma-delimited.  If a field is not required for a certain record, the comma delimiter will directly follow the preceding delimiter.  Contact the vendor if unsure which file to transmit.

·          When the file is located, click the Upload button.

 

CAR Status Page

·          A page will appear that states

o         Errors = 0

o         Successful Records = 0

o         “Not Complete” for Stage 1, Stage 2, and/or Stage 3

·          This page is used to complete different stages of error checking on the upload file.  You must click through the stages starting from 1 to 3.  If your file has any errors, you can correct those errors on your records and upload the file again.  You cannot edit the uploaded file online.  Before going to the next stage, all errors in the previous stage must be corrected.  You must run through all the error checks in all the stages and have no errors to have a successful file.

·          Click on the “Uploaded Errors” to view errors in Stage 1.  This stage will check for errors such as negative numbers that should not be negative, invalid account codes, and header vs detail problems.  The form shows errors grouped in 2 ways:  Grouped by Fund or Grouped by Category of Error.  Click on the gray button that shows the count of errors to see a list of the records containing errors.  These records can be sorted by dimension (field) in any way that is helpful to the district/AEA.  Click “back” to go back to the Status Page.  Click “Upload” to return to the CAR File Upload Screen. 

·          Correct the records and upload again until Stage 1 says “Complete” on the CAR Status Page.

·          Then click on the “Uploaded Errors” to view errors in Stage 2.  This stage will check for errors such as unbalanced interfund transactions and missing required accounts.  Click “Status Page” to return to the Uploaded Errors Screen.  Click “Upload Page” to return to the Import File Upload Screen.

·          Correct the records and upload again until Stage 2 says “Complete” on the CAR Status Page.

·          The click on the “Uploaded Errors” to view errors in Stage 3.  This stage will check for errors such as relationships between one account and another or one dimension and another (appropriate accounting theory tests).  Click “Status Page” to return to the Uploaded Errors Screen.  Click “Upload Page” to return to the Import File Upload Screen.

·          Correct the records and upload again until Stage 3 says “Complete” and the Message appears that “Your file has been uploaded successfully without errors.”  This message will not be shown until after all errors in all 3 stages have been corrected.

·          If the district/AEA has an error that it believes is a programming error in the Department’s testing program, contact Deb, Denise, or Janice.

 

View Reports

o         On the Dropdown menu select “View Reports” and click “go” to go to the static reports.  The static reports plus the CAR web-based reports constitute the CAR that will be given to the auditor for audit.

o         The Status Reports Include:

  • Treasurer's Report, by Funds, grouped
  • Balance Sheet, by Funds, grouped
  • Revenues, by Funds, grouped
  • Expenditures, by Funds, grouped
  • Governmental Long-Term Groups
  • Phase III
  • School Technology
  • Early Intervention
  • Miscellanous Income and Expenditure Calculator for Unspent Balance
  • Certified Budget Crosswalk
  • Query Option

o         Static reports and queries are created from the data included in the imported CAR COA file and cannot be edited.

o         The district/AEA may enter a number to select after how many rows or columns to repeat the headers for ease in printing.

o         In the query option, the district/AEA may select the dimensions and subtotal levels to create reports from the imported data.

o         If the district/AEA is not satisfied with the accuracy of the static reports/queries, it may correct its records and import the corrected file to go through the process again as many times as necessary to obtain accurate static report as long as the entire process is completed by September 15, 2006.

 

Web-based CAR Reports

o         From the Dropdown menu, select “Certification” and click “go” to go to the web-based CAR reports screen.  The web-based CAR reports plus the static reports constitute the CAR that will be given to the auditor for audit.  These reports cannot be completed until the CAR COA file has been successfully uploaded.

o         From the Certification screen select each web-based CAR report to complete.  These reports will be populated to the extent possible from the CAR COA uploaded data.  The district/AEA must complete the information that is not part of a chart of account or could not be determined from the chart of account.

o         The web-based CAR reports include:

o        Gifted and Talented Programs (TAG, Program Codes 270-279)

o        Personnel and Medicaid Costing Detail

o        Replacement Cost of Education Facilities

o        Bonded Indebtedness Elections

o        Local Option Sales and Services for School Infrastructure Elections

o        Voter-approved Physical Plant and Equipment Elections

o        AEA Special Education Support Expenditure Detail

o        Student Attendance

o        Nonprofit School Organizations Established by the Board

 

See specific instructions for the web-based CAR reports below.

 

 

Certification

·          The certification and contact information for the CAR COA upload and CAR-web-based data collection is included on the CAR web-based data collection.  This is the final step in the CAR reporting process and must be completed no later than September 15, 2006.  Again, see the information at the top of these instructions related to withholding of state aid for late filing.

 

 

WEB-BASED CAR REPORT INSTRUCTIONS

 

After completing each form and when the district is satisfied that the information is correct, click the update button to save the information on that form.  Then select the next form from the dropdown menu or by clicking on the number by the name of the form.

 

 

Form 1, Gifted and Talented (TAG) Program

 (LEAs)

 

Row 1  The Gifted and Talented (TAG) amount provided through the finance formula has been entered.  This is calculated as the per student amount times the budget enrollment (line 1.1 of the aid and levy worksheet).

 

Row 2.  The amount of the 25% local match that is required to be provided from district cost has been entered.  This is 1/3 of the amount on row 1.

 

Row 3.  Enter the amount of district allocations to the TAG program beyond the 25% required local match.

 

Rows 4.  Enter any donations received for the TAG program.

 

Row 5.  Enter any other sources of revenue for the TAG program.  This would include State and Federal grants received for the TAG program. 

 

Row 7 is entered from the COA upload data and is the total of all TAG program expenditures and other financing uses for the fiscal year.

 

Row 9.  The beginning balance for the Gifted and Talented Programs has been entered from last year’s report.

 

Row 10.  Enter upward adjustments in the current year for prior year’s errors.  (Note:  downward adjustments have been included in row 7).

 

Row 11 is the total of rows 8, 9, and 10 and is automatically calculated.  The ending balance may not be less than zero.  If the total of rows 8, 9, and 10 is negative, increase the other district allocation to TAG on row 3 so the ending balance calculates to zero.

 

 

Form 2, Personnel and Medicaid Costing Detail

(LEAs and AEAs)

 

·          Total salaries by appropriate function and object has been entered from your CAR COA upload data.

·          Object code classification is based on the requirements for the position regardless of the actual education of the individual.  For example, a licensed teacher employed as an aide is classified under object 10X (paraprofessional) rather than object 120 (educational professional).

·          Report supervisors in the function/object category with the individuals they supervise.

 

Sharing Arrangements

In shared arrangements, each LEA reports FTE and costs, but reports them on different rows.

·          The district holding the contract has the dollar amount imported that represents the full contract amount and will enter the full FTE on rows 1 through 57.  The district holding the contract has also included revenues in its COA.  The total salaries reported on row 57 equals the total salaries included in the CAR COA upload data in all funds except internal service funds and Management Fund.

·          The LEA purchasing the services has the purchased service expenditure entered for the personnel and will enter the FTE purchased on rows 58-70.

·          If personnel are independent contractors whose services are not purchased from an LEA/AEA, do not report their FTE on this form.

 

Column 1, FTE.  Enter the full-time equivalent (FTE) for each school employee.  In determining FTE, utilize an eight-hour day, forty-hour week.  A bus driver driving a bus four hours a day, is considered a .5 equivalent.  A full-time custodian (eight hours) who also drives a bus two and one-half hours a day for a total of 10 ½ hours, is to be counted twice; once as full-time custodian (l.0) and also a part-time bus driver (.3).  The same procedure is followed if a full-time teacher drives a bus. The teacher counts as one (1.0) under teachers, and part-time under bus drivers.  FTEs are reported to the nearest one-tenth.

 

Report supervisors FTE in the function/object category with the individuals they supervise.

 

Column 2, Total Salaries.  The salary cost has been imported for the CAR COA upload data.

 

Column 3, Annual Aggregate Contract Hours.  Enter the total aggregate contract hours for all of the FTEs reported on each row where this column is not shaded.  Contract hours are calculated as the total contract days times the hours per day for each individual FTE and then all the contract hours for the individual FTEs are summed.  For example, if the district has one counselor who works 190 days and each day is 7.5 hours, that counselor has aggregate contract hours of 1,425.  190 x 7.5 = 1,425.  If a second counselor works 190 days but only works 4 hours per day, that counselor has aggregate contract hours of 760.  If the district only had those two counselors, the district would enter total contract hours as 2,185.

 

Column 4, Average Salary.  Average salary is calculated automatically by dividing total salaries by total FTEs.

 

 

Form 3, Education Facility Replacement Costs

(LEAs and AEAs)

 

Numbers and replacement values have been entered from last year’s form.  Please overwrite any numbers or values that are different from last year.

 

100% Replacement Value

The purpose of this form is to record the number of buildings in the LEA/AEA and the replacement costs of those buildings at 100%.  Replacement values are generally found in the LEA's/AEA’s insurance policy.  If the LEA's/AEA’s buildings are insured at 100% replacement value, use that amount.  If the LEA's/AEA’s buildings are insured at less than 100% replacement value, adjust the values so that 100% replacement values are reported.  For example, if the LEA’s/AEA’s buildings are insured at $80,000 which is 80% replacement value:  100% replacement values are $80,000 / .8 = $100,000.

·          Do not use the same values used in Fund 08 for Governmental Long-term Assets.

·          Do not use appraised values.

·          Do not include buildings under construction until completed and ready for occupancy.

·          Do not list the number of classrooms used for instructional purposes. 

·          Do not indicate a fraction of a building. 

 

Building Counts

·          If the LEA/AEA has a K-12 district with all students at one location but in two buildings (K-6 and 7-12), list these as one elementary and one secondary building rather than as two K-12 buildings.

·          If the high school vocational program is in a separate building, list this as two secondary buildings. 

·          If two buildings are connected by a walkway, record them as two buildings.  Do not count any building more than once.

 

Columns

Columns 1 and 2, permanent structures owned by the district/AEA, is the number of permanent structures and their replacement cost.

 

Columns 3 and 4, relocatable/portable structures owned by the district/AEA, is the number of relocatable/portable structures and their replacement cost.

 

Column 5 and 6, permanent and relocatable structures leased (rented) by the district/AEA, is the number of leased permanent structures and the number of leased relocatable/portable structures.  Leased structures are those that are rented long-term (leased).  Leases do not include lease-purchases.  Lease-purchased structures would be included in columns 1-4.

 

Rows

Row 1 is the number of elementary buildings.  Examples of grades housed in elementary buildings are K-9, K-8, K-7,  K-6, K-5, K-4, K-3, and K-2.

 

Row 2 is the number of middle/junior high buildings.  Examples of grades housed in middle/junior buildings are 5-7, 5-8, 6-8, and 7-9.

 

Row 3 is the number of secondary school buildings.  Examples of grades housed in secondary buildings are 6-12, 7-12, 8-12, 9-12, and 10-12.

 

Row 4