Introduction


T HIS GUIDE contains recommended procedures and forms
 for the financial accounting of all funds received by indi-
vidual schools for school activities with the exception of School
Lunch Funds. These funds are covered in a separate State De-
partment of Education publication, Bulletin 33C. The major
purpose of this guide is to establish standard accounts, basic
principles, and terminology to be used in accounting for School
Activity Funds. It classifies and defines standard receipt and
expenditure accounts and includes a system of accounting for
illustrative purposes. The guide is adaptable for use by ele-
mentary schools, junior high schools, senior high schools, and
community junior colleges, and may be used by school systems
or by individual schools within a county system.

 School activities, as referred to in this guide, are those activi-
ties that are financed in whole or in part by the operation of the
school activity program and have their money accounted for in
the individual school. They may be of a classroom or extra-
classroom nature. For example, school activities may include
student clubs or organizations, student publications, the sale of
merchandise through a school store, and various instructional
services such as the rental of textbooks or monies collected for
the purchase of supplementary instructional materials.

 As school activity programs have increased and expanded
in recent years, the amount of money necessary to finance the
programs has increased proportionately. These activities are
financed in different ways. Some schools receive appropriated
funds from the county board of public instruction for the total
financing of all school activities; in other schools the activities
are partially or completely self-supporting. Regardless of the
methods used to finance school activities, the county system is
ultimately responsible for the funds, and a designated person,
usually the principal, is responsible for the funds of a particular
school.