Training New Employees on Budgets and Internal Controls

During onboarding, most districts train employees on how to request a purchase order, submit timesheets and extra-duty forms, and request approval for time off, travel, or conferences. The training typically covers the mechanics: which form to use, which fields to complete, and which signatures are required.

Business office and HR staff carry an additional layer of knowledge. They understand the budget rules and internal controls behind those forms because their jobs require it. Most site staff and administrators who initiate the forms do not need that same level of technical knowledge. But they do need enough context to understand why the procedures matter and where their authority begins and ends.

When that context is missing, the gaps tend to show up in predictable places:

• A new assistant principal charges an expense to a restricted resource because there is available budget without knowing whether the expenditure is allowable under that funding source.

• A new office manager processes a purchase requisition tied to a contract that exceeds the threshold requiring board authorization.

• A new director approves a hire before the business office has confirmed that the position is funded.

• A new activities director signs a contract with a vendor, not realizing that only the principal has been designated as an authorized signer for the district.

In each case, the employee may be trying to move district business forward but does not yet understand the fiscal control behind the procedure. Onboarding can close much of that gap by making three things explicit.

Three Additions to Onboarding

Approvals

Employees should understand not only who needs to approve something, but also why each approval is required.

A department or site approval may verify that an expenditure is necessary and aligned with the program. A business office approval may verify budget availability, appropriate coding, and compliance with funding requirements. Certain contracts, purchases, or personnel actions may require additional approval based on district policy or board-authorized thresholds.

New employees should also understand that approval authority is not automatically tied to a job title. Signing a contract, committing district funds, or authorizing an employee to begin work may require specific delegated authority. A short explanation during onboarding can prevent an employee from unintentionally making a commitment on behalf of the district that they were not authorized to make.

Restricted Funds

Restricted funds come with allowable-use rules, documentation requirements, timelines, and audit obligations that may not apply to unrestricted general fund dollars.

Employees do not need to become experts in every funding source, but they should understand one important principle: available budget does not necessarily mean available for this purpose.

When an employee is unsure whether an expenditure is allowable, the process should make it easy to ask before the purchase is made—not after an invoice arrives. This small shift can prevent year-end reclassifications, unsupported expenditures, and potential audit findings.

Consequences

A shortcut in the approval process may seem like valuable time saved when an employee does not understand the possible consequences.

A purchase made without the proper authorization can create an unplanned budget commitment. A contract signed by someone without delegated authority may require the district to resolve the issue after services have already begun. An employee hired before funding is confirmed can create an ongoing financial obligation that was not included in the budget.

Onboarding does not need to turn every employee into a budget expert. It should, however, help employees recognize when an action has financial or compliance implications and when they need to involve the business office.

Guardrails Through Permission-Based Access

One of the most useful things a new employee can learn early is the exact scope of their authority: what they can initiate, what they can approve, and what must leave their hands before it can move forward.

The specifics vary considerably depending on district size, organizational structure, and board policies. An assistant principal, for example, may be authorized to approve purchase requests within a site budget but may not have authority to create a new position, approve certain additional work assignments, sign a vendor contract, or make other commitments on behalf of the district.

Those boundaries are internal controls in practice.

Technology can reinforce them through permission-based access. Employees should have the system permissions necessary to perform their responsibilities—but not permissions that allow them to bypass required approvals or take actions outside their authority.

The start of a new school year provides a natural opportunity to review permissions, reinforce training, and make sure processes are built around roles rather than individual employees. That also helps controls remain in place when responsibilities change or employees leave.

Routed Workflows Make the Controls Visible

A platform that includes digital routing can make internal controls easier for employees to understand and follow.

Instead of wondering where a request is sitting—or calling or emailing district staff for an update—employees can see its status and next step. The workflow itself reinforces the approval structure by directing the request to the appropriate person based on district rules.

That visibility can build both efficiency and trust. Employees know their request did not disappear into a “black hole,” while business office staff spend less time responding to status inquiries or manually redirecting forms.

Routed workflows can also reveal where additional training is needed. If requests from a particular site, department, or role are repeatedly returned because of incorrect coding, missing documentation, or skipped steps, the district has useful information. Instead of repeatedly correcting individual transactions, staff can identify the pattern and provide targeted training.

For CBOs and directors of finance mapping out the start-of-year onboarding window, the goal is not to teach every new employee the entire fiscal policies manual. It is to give them enough understanding to recognize the controls that apply to their role, know the limits of their authority, and understand when to ask for help.

Connected workflows can then reinforce those lessons throughout the year—making good internal controls easier to follow rather than simply another set of rules employees are expected to remember.

By: Jenny Delgado, CASBO Certified CBO/Consultant
Retired Assistant Superintendent, Huntington Beach City School District