by the numbers · coe, naccas, accsc (and acics-20 years ago) 2-3 coe visits per year for the last...

7/1/2020

1

BY THE NUMBERSStandard 7 and Beyond

Presented By:

Billy L. Clark

Delta College of Arts & Technology, et al.

[email protected]

The Importance of Communication

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Sometimes I’m just not connecting…

WHY DO WE DO THIS?

If you are in this for the MONEY, there

will NEVER be enough

If you are in this for the STUDENT, there

will ALWAYS be enough

The goal at our schools is to have a

positive impact on every person.

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WHO AM I?

Second Generation – started at 10 years of age

7 Campuses and 5 OP ID numbers

COE, NACCAS, ACCSC (and ACICS-20 years ago)

2-3 COE visits per year for the last 20 years or so

Most importantly, I am a resident of Baton Rouge and

want to have a good reputation

Married 35 years and have 8 adult children, 2 son-in-

laws, and 3 grandchildren

WHAT WILL BE COVERED IN

THIS SESSION

Standard 7 Checksheets-2019

Refund Policy Worksheet-2019

Page 85, Definitions of “Contingent Liability and

“Default Management Plan” from 2019

Handbook of Accreditation.

Hopefully lots of Practical Application

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GOALS FOR THIS SESSION

Practical Applications

Simple Tools & Strategies

Timely Information

Gain Control

Forecasting

Compliance

No Findings!

STANDARD 7-#1 QUALIFIED

Qualified – Not necessarily the CEO or

owner or bookkeeper and for sure not the

CPA that does your year end financials.

But whoever it is, make sure you can

document what makes them qualified to

oversee the financial and business

operations of the institution.

Not to be confused with Standard 7-#9

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STANDARD 7-#2 KEYS

Financial Records

Maintained

ANALYZED!!!

Timely

What Financial Records?

Who Maintains?

Who Analyzes?

What is Timely?

Maintained: facilitate timely analysisClosely Related to Standard 7-#5 and 7-#6

STANDARD 7-#2 CONSIDERATIONS Accounting Software-Income Statement

& Balance Sheet

Cash Position & Projections

Future Starts Report

Accounts Receivable

Collections Reports

Deposit Reports

90/10 Status & What If?

Composite Score

Default Rates – Now & Projections

Students Paying Down Their Debt

GE – Debt to Earnings Ratio

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Income

Statement

Page 1

Income

Statement

Page 2

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Future Starts Spreadsheet Page One

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Future Starts Spreadsheet Page Two

90/10 Tracking Report

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AR-Current Students – Weekly and 1st of the Month

AR-Future Starts– Weekly and 1st of the Month

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Deposit Log

Cash/Institutional Loans Collection Report

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STANDARD 7-#3 FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

What does responsible financial management look

like?

What are sufficient funds to:

Maintain Quality Educational Programs?

Complete the Education of All Students Enrolled?

What documentation can you use?

Ideas – Audited Financials and Title IV evidencing

compliance; Budget; current cash on hand plus

accounts receivable; timeliness of reviewing such

data… Other ideas?

STANDARD 7-#4 STRATEGIC PLANNING

“The institution “considers” financial resources as a

basis for strategic planning.”

Documentation might include pages from your

strategic plan considering financial resources for

various objectives, strategies, or benchmarks.

• New programs (equipment, curricula

development)

• Equipment Replacement

• Facility Improvement/Expansion

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STANDARD 7-#5 AND 7-#6

Budgeting

Simplest Income Projection Tool –

Tuition divided by program length multiplied by number of paying students in that program

That can be adjusted by the percent of tuition you actually expect to receive.

“…uses adequate auditing and budgetary controls and

procedures”

“…exercises proper management, financial controls, and

business practices”

Simple Revenue Projection Tool

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Budgeting Income and Expenses

Use last year’s income statement as a baseline to

budget for next year.

Budget starts in the same manner – compare

previous years to project this year’s

Integrate Starts forecasts into Budget using Excel

tools to allow for “what if?” planning

Using your school’s retention rates, compute a

goal for monthly census by program and

experiment

Master Starts Budget

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Starts Budget

and Tracking

Detail by

Major and by

Start Date

Master Budget – Starts & Revenue Projection

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Income

Statement Budget

Projection Page 1

Income

Statement Budget

Projection Page 2

1

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Controls and Procedures

Might Include:

Purchase order system

Inventory for supplies & re-order points

Payables Management

Accountability and Separation of Duties

Who signs checks, makes deposits, collects receipts, etc.

Bank Account Reconciliation – Fed Funds and General Fund

Controls, Procedures, proper management, financial controls,

and business practices

STANDARD 7-#7

Employee Dishonesty Bond or Insurance

STANDARD 7-#8

Financial Aid Programs are capably administered

and accurately documented.

SFA Audit

Servicer or In-House – describe

How are students awarded financial aid?

How are financial records kept for each student?

Document all processes - samples

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STANDARD 7-#9 - QUALIFIED

Qualified – don’t just describe who does what, but

document what makes them qualified – could

include resume’; employee evals, clean SFA audit,

etc.

Record keeping – bursar, payables, payroll,

financial aid officers, etc.

Reporting – probably some of the same folks

Auditing – for sure your 3rd party auditor and any

internal folks that may check for accuracy

“Qualified personnel are responsible for proper record-keeping,

reporting, and auditing”

STANDARD 7-#10

Report Contingent Liabilities to COE

STANDARD 7-#11

Notify COE within 5 days of your receiving notification

Lawsuits

Adverse Tax Court Decisions

Letter of Credit Required by US Dept of Ed

Any other adverse action creating a potential

liability

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STANDARD 7-#12 COMPLIANCE WITH HEA

Program Participation Agreement - PPA

Eligibility and Certification Approval Report - ECAR

Default Management Plan containing all elements

from Standard 10-3 and Definition in the Glossary

of the Handbook for Accreditation

Audit Benchmarks: Currently

Composite Score of 1.5 or greater – include worksheet in Audit

90/10 Calculation

Documentation would definitely include the following:

STANDARD 7-#13

Student Loan Repayment Program

Although this may be a part of your Default

Management Plan, it is not your Default

Management Plan

Make sure to document compliance with all

required elements – student loan information,

counseling, monitoring, and cooperation with

lenders

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STANDARD 7-#14

Inform Students of Ethical Responsibilities regarding

financial assistance – Be sure to document what you

do to promote honesty

Don’t lie on your FAFSA – how do you

communicate that to your students

Make sure students know what loans they have –

how much and repayable to whom

IT is a LOAN – not a grant

STANDARD 7-#15

Financial Stability Requirements for PUBLIC Schools

Usually an audit – if the school uses any Title IV –

Pell Grants or Student Loans, the school is required

to submit a Financial Audit and a Financial Student

Aid Audit to the US Dept of Ed Annually

Since most of us are not familiar with public

accounting practices, it would be most helpful to

indicate:

Sources of Funds and Revenues

Evidence of Fiscal Stability

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STANDARD 7-#16 TO 7-#18

Financial Stability Requirements for NON-PUBLICS

Annual Audit Submitted to US Dept of Ed

GAGAS

Composite Score of at least 1.5 – must include

worksheet

Can’t be greater than 3.0

90/10 Compliance

Should be prepared by someone other than CPA

conducting the audit

Don’t include fund definitions in CASH that are not usually

considered educational revenue – interest income, other

income, etc.

STANDARD 7-#19 TO 7-#24 REFUND POLICYBY FAR THE MOST FINDINGS!!!

Standard 7-#19 to #24 apply to ALL – public, non-

profit and proprietary. That’s the way it reads to me

Only exempted from Refund Policy Worksheet IF a

different policy is MANDATED by a non-public

institution’s licensing agency or a public

institution’s governing board APPROVED BY COE!!!

Mandated – must have something from the governing

board approving refund policy deviations from

COE’s policy APPROVED BY COE!!!

7-#21 - One of the most common findings –

“Refunds made w/o requiring a request from

student” – If your policy doesn’t have this

statement, that’s a finding.

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7-#23, Institution cannot keep more than $100 for a

student that does not start class. Applies to ALL!!!

Refund Policy Worksheet 1.a. – another common

finding – most tell me we don’t do that, but with online

admissions applications, you may???

Refund Policy Worksheet 3. – another common finding

– in my opinion, Just add the statement to your refund

policy

Refund Policy Worksheet – last item: Requires

documentation for any deviations that are mandated

by state licensing board or public institution’s

governing board. AND APPROVED BY COE per 2019

Policies & Procedures


Do the Refund Policy Worksheet yourself as an

exhibit for the team. Cross reference to your

policy and label

Cross reference Standard 7 items #19-#23 with

your refund policy and label for each exhibit.

Have documentation “Mandating” deviations

All deviations APPROVED BY COE per 2019 Policies

& Procedures

My Advice to Ensure Compliance

Make sure every item is in your policy!

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SO REALLY, WHY DO WE DO THIS!

Who is your Paul?

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BY THE NUMBERSStandard 7 and Beyond

Presented By:

Billy L. Clark

Delta College of Arts & Technology, et al.

[email protected]

by the numbers · coe, naccas, accsc (and acics-20 years ago) 2-3 coe visits per year for the last...

Documents