Budget Office

The Budget Services team aims to help you access, utilize, and update your budget and positions. We help you plan your budgets thoughtfully and strategically so that you can pay employees for additional time, contract with consultants, purchase supplies and equipment, and report on all of your expenditures to our local, state and federal agencies.

Understanding & Viewing Your Budget

• Intro: Budget 101 Training for Schools & Central Offices
• Tools: FY25-26 Budget Development Dictionary & Calculator [MAKE A COPY]
• View Current Fiscal Year: View Accounts & Run Reports (Fiscal & Position) in Frontline: Frontline Login & End User Guides
• View Prior Fiscal Year: Budget Summary Report and Roster Report (Positions and Employees) in PERCii
• Questions: Budget Analyst Assignments (Contact your assigned Budget Analyst)
   

School Site FTE & Budget Allocations:

Please direct questions regarding site allocations to your LEAD Executive Director. The LEAD team will then work with various parties to review additional information and facilitate inquiries.

Resources to Bookmark:

• Site-Based Budget Guide_2025-2026 (includes funding source restrictions)
• Supplemental Hiring Guidelines 25-26
• Strategic Planning & SPSA Resources
• Best Practices for Closing School Budgets and Preparing for the End of the Fiscal Year

Need to View Your Budget?

• View Your Accounts
• Run Fiscal Reports

Need to View Your Positions?

• Run Position Reports

Need to Change Your Budget?

• Submit a Budget Transfer Request

Need to Manage Your Positions (e.g., Change Job Class, FTE, or Funding Source)?

• Submit an HRA to Create New, Change, or End Position AND Submit a Budget Transfer Request
• Calculator for Extended Calendar and Vacant Positions: FY25-26 Budget Development Dictionary & Calculator [MAKE A COPY]
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Frontline Training

• All Frontline Login & End User Guides
• Frontline End User Guide for School Admin and Central Office Dept Admin (includes Viewing Accounts, Viewing Positions, Running Reports, and Submitting/Approving Budget Transfers)
• Frontline End User Guide for Site Clerks (includes Viewing Accounts, Viewing Positions, Running Reports, and Submitting Budget Transfers)
• Frontline SFUSD End User Guide for Budget Development Frontline HRA for Positions Instructions: 

Need to Load a Budget for a New Grant or Prior Year Carryover?

• FY25-26 Budget Setup Form NEW! (make a copy and rename the Google Sheet so it includes your Site Code, Date, and Resource Code.

Here are the next steps the Budget Office must follow to have the funds loaded:

1. Complete the Google Form for board approval:  If you need any assistance with this, please reach out to Sophia Ornelas at State and Federal Programs.
2. Grant Presentation at Board Meeting: The grant must be formally presented at a board meeting for approval.
3. Budget Setup: After board approval, please submit the Budget Setup Form to initiate the process for loading the funds.

District policy and practice requires that the board is formally informed and approves the grant before any funds are set-up. The Grant Award Notification (GAN) can be used during budgeting purposes and should specify:

• Grant Award $ Amount
• Allowable uses
• Whether Indirect Costs are prohibited
• Whether any unspent Grant Awards funds will carryover to the following fiscal year 

Grant Program Managers should regularly monitor their budget and spending to ensure that:

• Budget $ amount is within the Grant Award Notification (GAN) amount + any prior year carryover
• Budgeted Object Codes align with allowable uses
• Encumbrances and Expenditures do not exceed the Budget $ Amount

• Budget is adjusted for any changes to position or employee assignments

   

Grants Process Pages Include Additional Information & Instructions

Fund Development Office: Seeking and Managing Private Grants

• Understanding the Private (Non-Government) Grants Process at SFUSD
• Instructions for Setting-Up Grant Budgets

Accounting Dept: Gifts and Donations

• Authorization To Accept A Gift and SACS Form
• Setting-Up Budgets for Gift Donations

​​​​​​Need to Fund Extra Time Worked? Includes Extended Calendar, Extended Hours, Extra Hours, and Overtime 

• Extended Calendar Guidelines & Deadlines
• Add an Account Code to the Extra Time Worked on the Employee's Timesheet
• Accounts must be valid, budgeted, and from a School or Central Office Site budget.
• The Budget Office will check that there is sufficient budget based on the Account Code in Red Rover.

Have Questions Unrelated to SACS Codes for Extended Calendar?

• Questions related to pay rates, or status of payment? Submit a request and select "Payroll" in the SFUSD HR & Business Services Employee Support Center

• All Professional Development (PD), Outside School Business (OSB), and Sub on Special Assignment (SOSA) sub requests will be processed directly in Red Rover
• A valid, budgeted Account Code from a School or Central Office Site budget is required to be entered.
• The Budget Office will check that there is sufficient budget based on the Account Code in Red Rover.
• Please review the SACS Codes sections in the Getting Started in Red Rover as a Site or Central Office System Administrator training guide if you are submitting or verifying sub jobs.

The Absence or Vacancy Reason will dictate whether the sub is paid for centrally (Site 0236) or requires a School or Central Office Account Code in the “Accounting Code” field.

• Unplanned Absences/Vacancies (Sick, Jury Duty, Leave): Subs paid for centrally. The default Account Code (Site0236) should be left as-is
• Extra/Planned Absences & Vacancies (PD, OSB, SOSA):
  • School-Funded: Select an Account Code from your Budget
  • Central Office-Funded: Central Office may enter the sub request OR provide their own Account Code for sites to select
  • Certificated Teacher Subs: Please use a SACS Code with Object Code 1102
  • Para/Instructional Aide Subs: Please use a SACS Code with Object Code 2102
  • Certificated Administrator Subs: Please use a SACS Code with Object Code 1320

Budget Office will review for Account Coding accuracy and sufficient available balance, and will reach out to correct issues as needed. Substitute costs will post to Frontline at the end of each pay period. Retroactive Account Codes changes will not be possible in Red Rover. 

Red Rover is prepopulated with a defaulted list of Account Codes for Schools & Central Depts based on the Spring Budget Development Templates. Most school sites will have 1-2 sub Account lines. Please reference Frontline to see which Account Codes are budgeted using Object Codes 1102 for Certificated Subs and 2102 for Para Subs. Budget Transfers may be submitted to add/decrease funds in these lines.

New Account Codes will be added manually to Red Rover every two weeks max. We recommend limiting the number of new sub SACS Codes to only what is essential or required.

Please contact the Red Rover Budget Analysts for any questions regarding substitutes.

New FY26 Guidelines Coming Soon

Prior Year Guidelines for Reference:

• Emergency Classroom Coverage (ECC) Guidelines 2024-25
• 1.2 FTE Eligibility Memo Fall 2024
• Noon Monitor Guidance & Planning Memo Fall 2024

For FY25-26 Budget Development, the Budget Office followed the policy below related to budgeting Trust Funds, Carryover, and Positions on these funding sources:

• Typical timeline for budgeting of Carryover (from Trust Funds or Multi-Year Grants):
  • Carryover funds for all Resources are determined after the Accounting Dept closes the books and calculates final ending balances -- typically in October.
  • The Budget Office will then work with Sites to budget and load carryover budgets as soon as the final calculations are available from Accounting Dept.
  • However, we are aware that a portion of FY25 Carryover for Discretionary Funds may be needed prior to October for urgent budget needs, and are evaluating these requests on a case-by-case basis. Requests for early carryover budgeting should be routed to the assigned Budget Analyst.
• Early budgeting of Trust Fund anticipated new revenue:
  • Allowed by request (see below) with case-by-case determination.
  • We will require a written commitment to show that new donations are anticipated.
  • Please submit a request with the information below to your Budget Analyst.
• Early budgeting of Carryover (from Trust Funds or Multi-Year Grants):
  • Trust Funds are allowed by request (see below) with case-by-case determination.
  • Multi-Year Grants are allowed if submitted by the Resource Manager (e.g., Community Schools Grant).
  • Your Budget Analyst will reduce your FY25 budget by the corresponding amount to prevent overspending in FY25 (i.e., move the budget amount to a SACS Code including 0000-7310-4399.
• Budgeting Positions on Trust Funds or Carryover or early budget:
  • Allowed with caveats
  • All hiring is subject to policies outlined in the Supplemental Hiring Guide
  • Approval to fund positions with these funding sources is only for one year at a time. Positions may need to be consolidated after one year if the expected funding does not materialize.
  • Ensure that carryover or early budget has at least a 10% buffer above the projected position costs
  • If actual salary/benefit costs end up being higher than expected due to raises, step/column increases, benefit increases, or new hires, school sites will be accountable for the increase in costs (the District will not cover the difference).

Please see the instructions for how to submit a request to budget anticipated Trust Fund budgets early (prior to the start of FY26). If you do nothing, you will have access to budget any donations in FY26 as the checks are received. To submit a request, please provide:

• Resource Name and Code (e.g., 93005 - DISCRETIONARY FUNDS): ____
• Revenue Type (e.g., Anticipated New Donations or Anticipated Carryover from FY25): ____
• Budget Amount Requested: $ ___
• Accounts Needed (e.g, 01-9308-93005-0-0000-2700-1301-XXXX): __________

For requests to budget anticipated new donations early, we are continuing last year's policy to require a signed letter of intent from the PTA or meeting minutes to cover these positions. We need some sort of commitment from the PTA or Trust Fund that the new money will be donated next year. For example, ideally we should have a letter or meeting minutes where next year’s fundraising is guaranteed and any position spending has been approved. We will not be able to approve and load the budget without that guarantee. 

You may also share documentation of any checks you’ve deposited during FY26 Budget Development and noted that they’re for the FY26 budget.

For requests to budget anticipated carryover from FY25, we will reduce your FY25 budget by the same amount in order to prevent overspending.

 Please email your Budget Analyst with any questions. 

FY26 Salary Savings Info Coming Soon

FY25 Salary Savings Policy for Reference

Please see the FY2024-25 Salary Savings Policy Memo effective December 13, 2024. This policy governs whether unused salary/benefit budget from vacant positions may be repurposed or other budget needs. Additional Resource Codes have been added since the original publish date. Please email your Budget Analyst with any questions.