OSHC services are small businesses with the same management, administration and planning requirements as any other business. The OSHC financial roles and responsibilities checklist (PDF 113KB) outlines the financial responsibilities of school governing councils, OSHC advisory committees, principals, directors and school finance.

Out of school hours care (OSHC) services operated by a school governing council must comply with the department's site financial management policies for schools and preschools, including:

• Financial operation of OSHC instruction (edi.sa.edu.au) (staff login required)
• Financial management of governing council employees instruction (edi.sa.edu.au) (staff login required)

See finance and support officers in out of school hours care for a detailed outline of their role.

Reporting

OSHC has a separate bank account and the OSHC funds are managed in Company 4 in the EDSAS system. The financial reports show actual income and expenditure against the budgets. The reports are comprehensive and allow the committee to assess the financial viability of the service. These reports are presented at each council meeting.

Company 4 operates for a financial year 1 January to 31 December.

See financial reporting instruction (staff login required) for further information.

Group certificates

Group certificates must be completed within 14 days after 30 June.

Establishing budgets and setting fees

Budgeting is an ongoing process. The budget is used as a tool to set out the fees a service will need to break even based on the number of children anticipated to use the service each day.

The budget must allow for changes in attendance levels. Estimated average attendance must be based on:

• current and accurate survey results
• past figures
• trends
• local conditions.

Budget process

The budget cycle consists of:

• preparation in term 4
• approval in term 1
• review each term.

Preparation

Budget preparation is completed in term 4.

The school governing council can contact the department's School and Preschool Financial Services unit on 1800 100 191 to seek assistance in developing the budget and establishing an appropriate fee schedule.

When preparing your annual budget you should consider:

• income:
  • parent fees
  • child care subsidy
  • excursion fees (if applicable)
  • grants (inclusion support subsidy – Intervac).

• expenditure:
  • staffing - employee entitlements, educator : child ratio, employment contracts
  • facilities
  • administration costs
  • out-of-pocket expenses that are charged to the OSHC service by the school (they are an additional, identifiable, direct outlay by the school, including materials, equipment or supplies and do not include normal expenditure incurred by the department on behalf of the school).

Approval

The draft budget must be presented to the school governing council in term 4. The final budget should be approved in term 1.

The final approved budget must be entered into EDSAS.

Financial delegation for bank signatories must also be approved annually.

Further approvals are required as budgets are reviewed each term.

Review

Revenue and expenditure must be reviewed against the approved budget and minuted each term.

Significant changes to the budget must be approved by school governing council and documented as part of the budget approval process. eg financial reports might show that the budget is not being met or the number of children attending the program has decreased.