Position

Finance Director

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Position Summary

Charter School Success’ (CSS) mission is to “Help Charter Leaders Succeed”. We do that through providing Business Office Support Services in the areas of Finance, HR, Federal Grants, and PEIMS, as well as offering various training platforms. We operate with compliance as our main outcome objective, doing so while providing unmatched customer service. The Finance Director is the oversight superstar behind our financial business office services. They are responsible for overseeing and training our Finance Managers directly, who lead the team that is processing the financial and accounting transactions of the business office of multiple Texas charter schools in line with the FASRG guidance, the school’s local guidelines, Texas Education Association (TEA), and Federal regulations. Additionally, the Finance Director ensures compliance for each Charter District in regards to annual budgeting and budget monitoring, FIRST, MOE, PIC, and audit reporting.

The Finance Director is responsible for managing all client accounts along with their team of Managers, including the highest level of oversight for all finance services, and coordination of human resources and federal funds services in partnership with the CFSO and COO. All CSS team members are responsible for the client’s satisfaction with Charter School Success and are each charged with making sure the client’s needs are continually met on a timely basis.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Financial service oversight includes, but is not limited to, responsibility for the following facets of a client’s business office operations:

Ongoing Processes

  • Primary client contact with assigned clients to include answering charter development, structure, start-up, issues, and other miscellaneous compliance financial questions.
  • Supervision of Back Office services and personnel assigned to their accounts to ensure they are in line with CSS policies and procedures.
  • Ensure timeliness of all schedules: internal, client imposed, and regulated by State or other agencies
  • Coordination in developing, implementing, and managing efficient financial procedures for assigned clients,
  •  Providing input to the Charter School Success management team
  • Management of CSS policies and procedures to ensure they are being followed for all types of back-office processing (examples: accounts payable, payroll, communication with client, deadlines, etc.)
  • Management of Finance Managers day to day management of all back office services and CSS Finance Back office team.

Client Liaison

  • Ensure deadlines are met per client schedule and expectations
  • Ensuring client’s questions are answered and their needs are met in a timely fashion
  • Attending at least two client Board meeting per year to present financial analyses, preferably at the Budget and Audit approval meetings
  • Consulting with clients on special projects

Client Onboarding

  • Support the onboarding and training new Business Clients to ensure an understanding of Charter School Success procedures, policies, and systems
  • Supporting contact of onboarding process with client
  • Support initial internal onboarding CSS team meeting to determine timeline and implementation process for client
  • Wrap of client onboarding process with client.
  • Ensure client is happy and policies and procedures are running smoothly between CSS and client.

Monthly Processing

  • Final reviewer, approval and presents final (in-person and/or teleconference) monthly financial
  • reports for client’s Board and Administration in CSS reporting format.
  • Overall management of the client general ledger ensure books are properly closed by CSS Finance Services Team.
  • Final Certifier of the client monthly Expenditure Reporting – Federal Fund draws
  • Final approval of all Federal Fund adjustments per the budget in Expenditure reporting to ensure budget in AIS system matches current budget in Expenditure reporting
  • Final approval of all monthly journal entries for all clients (as needed)
  • Final approval of all monthly budget journals (as needed)
  • Internal auditor of CSS policies and procedures for all clients to ensure monthly documentation is audit ready and client shared files are up to date.

Internal Trainer to CSS team

  • Onboarding, training, supervising, monitoring, and evaluating Finance Managers and Specialists to ensure an understanding and implementation of Charter School Success procedures, policies, and systems
  • Weekly progress meetings with Finance Managers and staff to ensure client and CSS expectations are met on a weekly, quarterly and annual basis.
  • Reviewer/Update and Trainer of all CSS policies and procedures in line with new FASRG, TEA guidelines and federal guidelines.
  • Attend appropriate trainings and conferences as a Charter School Success representative and prepare a summary report of proceedings for the rest of the CSS team

Annual Processing

  • Final approval of annual 1099/1096 reporting
  • Final approval of annual W-2/W-3 reporting
  • Final approval of annual 990 Informational Tax Return
  • Final approval of annual Child Nutrition Financial Management Report
  • Final approval of annual Charter FIRST Financial Management Information for required annual public charter hearing
  • Final approval of next year client dropbox folders
  • Final approval of next year client trend analysis reporting document to include the implementation of any changes for the new reporting year
  • Final approval of PEIMS FALL Submission – Finance Budget
  • Final approval of PEIMS Mid-Year Submission – Finance Audit
  • Final approval of client Open Purchase Order list

Budget Processing

  • Set up and manage the budget process timeline for each client to include client communicationof process, due dates, client meeting dates and board meeting dates.
  • Final approval and review of the initial PrePlanning Client Tool for assigned clients before it goes to the client.
  • Final approval and review of the Budget Tool used for client meeting to include initial compliance review of Maintenance of Effort (MOE), Charter FIRST and state PIC code compliance on initial budget.
  • Present and work with the client through the final budget tool at the client face-to-face budget meeting
  • Final approval and review of MOE, Charter FIRST and state PIC code compliance on final budget
  • Presentation of the Final budget documents at the board meeting
  • Final approval of PEIMS compliance review before final budget is entered into the AIS system
  • Final approval of final budget numbers in the AIS match final budget approved at the board meeting
  • Final approval of the Final budget document for website posting

Year-end Closing & Audit Preparation Processing

  • Final reviewer and approval of all closing entries and adjustments to client books to prepare for audit.
  • Final approval of the final budget amendment approved by the client board to ensure it aligns within 10% from final budget to actual.
  • Final reviewer of the rollover of the client database to prepare for new year, as deemed necessary. Includes roll over of final budget and balance sheet balances into new year database.
  • Final reviewer and approval of all final audit requests per auditor request list to include variance analysis from prior year to current year, footnotes, special supplemental reports such as the budget to actual comparison.
  • Overall management of the Annual Audit and serves as the primary liaison with the client’s chosen auditor for field and financial questio
  • Review of client audit draft before final is approved by the board to ensure compliance with FASB and FASRG module 11 to include compliance factors such as signed Board Certificate,

Charter FIRST, PIC and MOE.

  • Final reviewer and approval of the Charter Data Template to TEA.
  • Management of the final upload final PDF audit file to TEA to ensure it meets date upload requirements.

As needed

  • Prepare adhox reports for clients as deemed necessary
  • Other duties as assigned

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Required:

  • Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting or Finance
  • 5+ years Texas charter school administrative experience
  •  5+ years in management experience
  • CSBOC certification, within 90 days of hire
  • Strong attention to detail
  • Strong analytical and problem solving skills
  • A can-do, team oriented personality
  • Exceptional customer service skills
  • Superior written and verbal communication skills
  • Effective time-management and task-management skills
  • Fluency in spreadsheet creation and analysis
  • Ability to work remotely, independently (from home)
  • Willingness to travel statewide up to 10 days per month
  • Access to a phone, computer, scanner, printer and other basic office equipment for business purposes at home office
  • Stable, high speed internet access

Preferred:

  • 8+ years of related experience in a school system
  • A Master’s Degree or higher
  • CPA or MBA strongly preferred
  • Strong relationships in the charter school industry
  • Experience using TxEIS and/or JR3

Accountability and Classification

In performing the above duties, the Finance Director is to follow and conform to all of Charter School Success’ policies and procedures. Timeliness is paramount and deadlines imposed by CSS, the client, Texas Education Agency, Federal agencies and other governing organizations are to be met. It is also imperative that the Finance Director establish and maintain good relationships with their clients and to exceed the client’s expectations whenever possible, as customer service is at the core of the service we provide.

This position reports to the CSFO directly.

This position is classified as full-time, exempt. Compensation is commensurate with experience, starting at $60K annually.

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