- The two most important professional relationships for a principal are the relationship with the chairperson of the Board and the relationship with the Business Manager.
- Talk to your Business Manager – they cannot warn you about things that you haven’t told them about.
- As the CEO of the school, you, as Principal, are responsible for both the educational outcomes and the financial outcomes of the school.
- Not-for-profit does NOT mean no profit.
- Be involved in financial benchmarking.
- Staffing is your biggest cost – so monitor and manage your pupil-teacher ratio.
- Manage fee concessions and doubtful debts.
- Prudential borrowing.
- Make people take their long service leave (every time there is a payrise, your liability increases).
- Budget is the financial impact of the next year of your strategic plan – what is it going to cost to achieve the annual action goals?
- Budgeting – don’t sweat the small stuff (departmental budgets are not the biggest component of your expenses).
- You might be the boss, but the Board has the power
Committed to Values-based corporate governance
Resources on Corporate Governance