Library Financial HandbookGuide to Purchasing, Budgeting, and Ordering

Library/Media Services • St. Joseph School District • SY 2012/13

Melissa Corey • email: melissa.corey@sjsd.k12.mo.us • St. Joseph School District

About This HandbookThis handbook will outline the process for purchasing materials and authorizing payment from your book/materials budget. This budget

is allotted according to the previous school year’s enrollment on a per pupil basis. NOTE: This budget is separate from your building

money, also referred to as your Activities Fund or A-Fund. Your A-Fund can be comprised of overdue fees, lost book fees, and

fundraising proceeds. Follow your building proceeds for ordering materials and supplies from your A-Fund.

Your book budget is allotted by downtown and is a zero-based budget, meaning that as of April 1st any remaining balance is

reappropriated by the school district and your balance is changed to zero, regardless of how much money you have left to spend. Your

spending window runs from July 1st to April 1st. Purchases can be made from April to June as long as payment is arranged for after July

1st.

Audit TrailsAn audit trail is a chronological record of all encumbrances (open or unpaid orders) and expenditures (closed or paid orders) for your

library account number. You’ll receive these on a regular basis from the Business Office, usually after a purchase order has been placed.

To make reading these audit trails easier, your coordinator will send an Excel sheet for your individual library from the most recent

district library audit trail. Below is a sample audit trail with the various columns marked up for easier explanation.

Sample Audit Trail

1. Starting Balance for the School Year

2. Date of Purchase

3. Purchase Order Number

4. Purchase Order Status - Open vs. closed. A purchase order will remain open until an invoice with attached packing list (or other

documentation for online resources) has been returned to the Business Office and payment has been made.

5. Vendor Name

6. Encumbrances - Estimated payment to vendor at time of order

7. Expenditures (Paid) - Final payments for closed purchase orders. Matching encumbrance is crossed out when purchase order is

closed. Expenditures may not match encumbrance (due to items being out of stock or order being modified, etc.) and this can result in a

change in available funds that is reflected in your balance.

8. Expenditures (Pending) - Estimated payment to vendor at time of order. Same amount as encumbrance, separated to show which

purchase orders remain open.

9. Cumulative Balance - Column showing starting balance minus expenditures.

10. Total Expenditures - Total from Expenditures (Paid) and Expenditures (Pending). This amount can change when a purchase order is

closed and the paid expenditure is less than encumbrance.

11. Total Left to Spend - Amount left in your budget to spend. Don’t overencumber (by spending more than this amount).

Purchase OrdersWhen placing an order, you’ll want to fill out a Purchase Order to accompany any order materials. For instance, when ordering from

Follett Library Materials via Titlewave, you’ll place your order online (mark “Hold for PO Number” where PO number is required) and

print off documentation of this order showing titles/items ordered, processing/cataloging costs, shipping, etc. This process may vary

from order to order, but the idea is basically the same - place your order, fill out a Purchase Order, and attach at least THREE copies of

the documentation.

A sample purchase order is shown below:

Your

library name

Your

library address

Your signature,

Your principal’s signature,

Send to Webster for

coordinator’s signature

Total amount of order

Items ordered, labeling “See

attached list” is fine

Your account number

Date of order and

vendor address

Save the final green sheet on the back of the Purchase Order (marked Kept by Requestor) for your files.

Send to Melissa Corey at Webster for signature as Cost Center Manager, after which it will be routed to the Business Office for

processing.

When the purchase order is returned, it will have a PO Number assigned. The Business Office will fax your order to the vendor and your

order will now be shipped to your building as specified on the purchase order. You can attach instructions to have the purchase order

sent back to you for completion of ordering if you’d like to work directly with the vendor.

Invoices/Packing ListsWhen you’ve received an order, save your packing list and/or invoices. These will serve as “evidence” that you’ve received your order

and will be what your expenditures are based on. For instance, you might order books from Follett and have 5 titles that do not ship

because they are out of stock. This would mean your final expenditure will be less than your encumbrance, which would change your

cumulative balance on your audit trail.

You’ll authorize payment for materials when the Business Office sends you a copy of the invoice. It will have a red stamp on it with the

following:

! MDS Received: __________________

! Authorized:_____________________

If you have received only a partial order of the items (i.e. the order is coming in multiple shipments) and want to authorize partial

payment, mark the following:

! MDS Received: PARTIAL

! Authorized: YOUR SIGNATURE

If you have received all items (i.e. all items received or final shipment of the order) and want to authorize full payment, mark the following:

! MDS Received: COMPLETE

! Authorized: YOUR SIGNATURE

Follow this process until the last shipment has arrived and then mark the last stamped copy as COMPLETE to close the purchase order.

ALWAYS attach your copy of the packing list (or other documentation) to the stamped invoice. Payment WILL NOT be made by the

Business Office without this evidence. Send this documentation directly to the Business Office for payment.

Request for CheckOccasionally you’ll have situations in which a Request for Check form must be used. These cases are rare and a Purchase Order should be

filled out whenever possible. In this case, fill out a Request for Check form and attach any documentation (invoices, packing lists, etc.) of

the order to the Request for Check. You need the amount to be paid, account number, reason, and your signature to complete this form.

Send to Melissa Corey at Webster for signature as Cost Center Manager, after which it will be routed to the Business Office for payment.