What is a Budget?

     A Budget is the total money allocated for a specific purpose.

     For instance, a school/department may be allocated $50,000 for one
     year.  The purpose of this money is to purchase supplies, staff
     development, and services that are necessary for the continuing
     operation of the school/department.

     A school fiscal year is from July 1 through June 30.  An example of
     a school fiscal year would be 98-99.

     To track the Budget in an accurate fashion, it is necessary to
     further allocate the Budget into a series of relevant Accounts.

     For instance, one might allocate $10,000 to be spent on office
     supplies or allocate $40,000 to be spent on textbooks.

     The total of the amounts allocated to the various Accounts would be
     equal to the total Budget for the fiscal year.

     After an Account has been established, it is possible to track each
     expenditure from each Account.  Each expenditure is called a
     Transaction.

     PowerBudget is designed to be flexible.  Budgets can be created to
     match District Office/County Accounting Department Account numbers.
 
     In addition to tracking Department and Categorical budgets,
     PowerBudget has single-entry Teacher or Team/Project accounts.  

     Multiple budgets for multiple years can be worked with concurrently.

     We have seen PowerBudget used in a variety of ways.  The following
     descriptions of PowerBudget reflect an adherence to District 
     Office budgets.