Fiscal Managment and the Athletic Director

Fiscal Managment and the Athletic Director

Voltmer and Esslinger assert that financial management of an athletic department is one of the most important duties of the physical education administrator. The physical education administrator is responsible for making all decisions dealing with budget, income, expenditures and accounting aspects for all levels of the athletic department (interschool and interscholastic). Efficient financial management is important in any field; however, when dealing with public funds, no teacher or administrator can afford to be careless or ignorant (Voltmer & Esslinger, 1967). Therefore, physical administrators must employ simple and effective procedures when addressing the financial management of the athletic program.

The largest aspect of the physical education administrators fiscal duties is budget. The physical education administrator is responsible for creating a budget for both the physical education (school) and athletic (sports) departments. Therefore, two separate budgets are required. It is important to note that the budget for the physical education department (school) is generally set by the county board of education. This budget is funded by tax dollars. On the other hand, the athletic (sports) budget has to be funded by fundraisers and there is no limit to the set amount of money that can be spent.

Creating the physical education (school) budget is threefold. The first thing to consider is what type of improvements to the physical plant is going to be made. Examples of improvements to the physical plant are adding fixed equipment and/or the renovation of existing materials. This process is called capital outlay.

The second step is to determine the type of expend...

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...hile it is important that the administrator monitor the amount of money spent and the amount of money to be spent, he/she is not responsible for the overall account of the budget. Most schools employ a secretary to handle the accounting duties. This person writes the checks, makes deposits, and balances the general ledger. They are also responsible for providing paperwork when audited.

As stated previously, anyone dealing with public funds can not be careless. Therefore the physical education administrator must closely keep track of his/her budget. They must also be able to have a good sense of what is needed and what is not needed when creating the budget. While they are solely responsible for creating the budget, they can not do it alone. They have to be able to trust the coaches and that work under them to be responsible when requesting budget items.