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CHARTER SCHOOLS REPORTS

Budget and Interim Reports

Charter schools are required by Education Code Section 47604.33 to submit budget and interim reports to their authorizing agency and to their county superintendent of schools. Although no particular format is required, the existing budget and interim forms in the SACS Web System are available for charter schools to use.

Due Dates (To the authorizing agency and to the county superintendent of schools)

  • Budget—On or before July 1, 2022
  • 1st Interim—On or before December 15, 2022
  • 2nd Interim—On or before March 15, 2023

Unaudited Actuals Reports

Charter schools are required by Education Code Section 42100 to submit their 2022–23 year-end financial data (unaudited actuals financial reports) to the CDE via their authorizing agency, either in the SACS format or in the approved Alternative Form. The unaudited actuals financial reports submitted as required by Education Code Section 42100 satisfy, additionally, the reporting requirement of Education Code Section 47604.33.

The following information pertains to the SACS format. For information about the Alternative Form please see “Charter School Unaudited Actuals Financial Report Alternative Form” available here:

https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/sf/fr/csalternative.asp

Charter schools have several options for reporting their unaudited actual financial data in the SACS Web System to the CDE. The options are:

Reporting With the Authorizing Agency

Charter school SACS Web System financial data may be reported with the data from their authorizing agency in the authorizing agency’s General Fund [County School Service Fund] (Fund 01), Charter Schools Special Revenue Fund (Fund 09), or Charter Schools Enterprise Fund (Fund 62) which allows accrual accounting for not-for-profit charter schools.

Reporting Separately From the Authorizing Agency

Charter school SACS Web System financial data may be reported by the charter school, separate from the authorizing agency, by using the charter school’s county-district-school (CDS) code to access the applicable forms. Charter schools should report their data using one of the following as their main operating fund: General Fund (Fund 01) or Charter Schools Enterprise Fund (Fund 62) which allows accrual accounting for not-for-profit charter schools. Charter schools using Fund 01 as their main operating fund may also report data in other funds, as appropriate.

Charter schools should use the same accounting model and basis of accounting for their unaudited actuals financial reporting to the CDE as they will use for their audited financial statements. Charter schools using the modified accrual basis of accounting for their audited statements (as school districts do), should use Fund 01 for unaudited actuals financial reporting. Charter schools using the accrual basis of accounting for their audited statements (as not-for-profit organizations typically do), should use Fund 62 for unaudited actuals financial reporting. For more information about governmental fund accounting and the differences between the accrual and modified accrual models, see Procedure 101 in the CSAM. Regardless of which option for reporting charter school financial data in SACS is chosen, the data submitted for each charter school must be complete including beginning balances, revenues, expenditures, and ending balances.

  • Charter school data reported in the authorizing agency’s General Fund[County School Service Fund] will automatically be included in the calculation of the district’s[COE’s] reserve requirement in the Criteria and Standards Review form. However, if the district[COE] does not meet its reserve requirement because of the charter school data, the district[COE] may provide an explanation to the reviewing agency within the Criteria and Standards Review form that the Criteria and Standards Review form includes charter data.
  • Charter school data included in the authorizing district’s General Fund will be subject to the calculation of compliance with the classroom teacher salary percentage required by Education Code Section 41372. However, if a school district fails the calculation, an explanation that the failure is due to the inclusion of the charter school data can be provided within the TRC, if applicable. (This calculation does not apply to COEs.)
  • Charter school data included in the authorizing agency’s data will be included in the calculation of the indirect cost rate for the authorizing agency. The charter school may also use this rate. Charter school data reported separately from the authorizing agency will be used to calculate an indirect cost rate for use by the charter school

Charter school data should not be duplicated in whole or in part in any other fund or format. In past years, some authorizing agencies have reported the authorizing agency’s activities on behalf of a charter school in the Charter Schools Special Revenue Fund (Fund 09), when the charter school was separately reporting its own financial information, either in SACS or in the Alternative Form. The authorizing agency should use Fund 09 only for reporting a charter school’s complete financial information. (More than one charter school may be reported in Fund 09 by an authorizing agency, but the information must be complete for each charter school.) Any activities on behalf of a charter school that are performed by the authorizing agency should be reported in the General Fund[County School Service Fund] (Fund 01) of the authorizing agency because these are the authorizing agency’s activities, not the activities of the charter school.

What To File—Unaudited Actuals Financial Reports

For all charter schools reporting separately in the SACS Web System, the following are required to be filed with the COE. The COE must retain the signed certification and electronically file all charter school submissions with the CDE.

  • Form CA—Printed copy of Charter School Certification with original signatures.

  • One “Official” SACS unaudited actual data submission prepared using the unaudited actuals period (not the budget period), which includes all required forms (see Attachment A for a list of required forms) and the unaudited actual data Technical Review Checklist with all fatal exceptions cleared and all warning exceptions explained.

Due Date—On or before September 15, 2022

Charter school 2021-22 unaudited actuals financial reports are due to the appropriate authorizing agency, which will submit the data to its COE.

Due Date—October 15, 2022

COEs review the charter schools’ 2021–22 unaudited actuals financial reports for accuracy and use the SACS Web System to electronically submit and certify the official unaudited actual data files to the CDE.

Submitting Unaudited Actual Data to the State

County offices of education must use the SACS Web System to file all LEAs’ unaudited actual submissions with the state. The SACS Web System allows COEs to electronically certify the data and transmit the data files to the CDE. Before being permitted to submit to the CDE, COEs must submit the “Request for Unaudited Actuals Promoter Role” form to the CDE each year. This form is accessed and completed online by COEs through the Tools menu in the SACS Web System.

NOTES:

  • Unaudited actual submissions to the state must be done as Official unless the CDE has given the charter school permission, prior to submission, to submit a file containing pre-approved errors. A separate email explaining all fatal exceptions and the reason for not using the Official export must be sent to the CDE at sacsetrn@cde.ca.gov.

  • Before electronically certifying data files, the COE is required to have on file the signed and completed certification, Form CA, for each charter school file being submitted. The original paper-copy certification is retained by the COE and is not forwarded to the state.

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