Business Office
The mission of the Business Office is to invest resources to ensure that students, parents and the community receive optimal educational services. The Business office strives to provide timely access to financial data using best business practices while maintaining proper internal controls and allowing for the accountable use of public funds through effective implementation of the District's business operations and financial systems.
The Business Office is responsible for:
Accounting/Budget
The Business office staff maintains the accounting and financial records of the District. Transactions are recorded and reported as prescribed by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, the Texas Education Agency Financial Accountability System Resource Guide and other regulatory guidelines. Business office staff compiles district wide expenditures, salaries and other payroll expenditures to match the board adopted budget for State and Federal financial reporting. The department also assists in implementing the system of internal accounting controls established by the Board of Trustees to provide reasonable assurance that assets are safeguarded and activities are recorded and transacted with the administrations authorization.
Accounts Payable
The Business office staff processes payments to Commerce ISD’s vendors on a weekly basis.
Accounts Receivable
The Business office is responsible for the collection and reporting of resources consisting primarily of tax collections, state foundation program revenues and school lunch revenues. Additionally, staff is responsible for providing adequate liquidity to fund daily, weekly and monthly cash disbursements as well as investing resources in accordance with the Public Funds Investment Act and the District’s Investment Policy to maximize safety, liquidity and yield.
Return check policy
The District uses PAYTEK Solutions as its check recovery process. When provided a check as payment, the district is authorized to use information from the check to make a one-time electronic fund transfer from the checking account or to process the payment as a check transaction. We are authorized to collect service charges and processing fees, as permitted by state law, through electronic fund transfer from the checking account if payment is returned unpaid. Please include the following information on checks: drivers license number, full name, street address, home phone number and secondary phone number.
Payroll
The Business office processes district’s Semi-Monthly payroll and is responsible for payroll tax reporting. The staff is also responsible for direct deposits, garnishments, teacher association deductions, approved stipends, overtime and missed or late time correction payments. Payroll also accepts insurance payments from employees who are still eligible for benefits but are out on leave and not receiving a check.
Accessing and Printing Your Pay Stubs
To make it easier and faster to access your pay information, we’ve provided step-by-step instructions on how to print your pay stubs linked HERE.
There are two types of pay stubs available:
- With Year-to-Date Totals – Recommended if you need documentation for loans or bank purposes.
- Without Year-to-Date Totals – For general reference.
We encourage all employees to download and save a copy of each pay stub—either in print, electronically, or both—for your personal records. Please note that once you are no longer employed by Commerce ISD, you will not have access to your payroll records.
Purchasing
The Business office is responsible for the organization and administration of procurement/purchasing for the District in accordance with the authority delegated by the Superintendent, the Board of Trustees and the Texas Education Agency.
What is purchasing?
"Public Purchasing is the process of obtaining goods, services and construction for public purposes according to laws and procedures to provide for the economical expenditure of public funds." ...As defined by the Texas Building and Procurement Commission-Austin, Texas.
Benefits & Insurance
Commerce ISD works with Alderman Financial Services in Commerce to provide supplemental insurance options to employees. For information on available benefits, click here.
Fundraising
Fundraisers are the primary source of revenue for most Activity Funds. In order to ensure that each fund raising event is conducted in accordance with the District guidelines, the following policies and procedures should be strictly followed.
- All fund raising activities must be pre-approved by the campus principal and the Finance Director. Fundraiser paperwork must be completed before a fundraiser is approved.
- The fundraising profit must be used to benefit the student group responsible for raising the money.
- Money and checks must not be stored at the sponsor’s home.
- Merchandise must be kept in a secure and safe location.
- No vendors will be paid with cash from fund raising activities. All expenditures will be paid by check from the Business Office. The purchase order must be initiated and approved a minimum of one week prior to the check being issued.
School districts, public schools, qualified exempt private schools and bona fide chapters within a qualifying school may conduct two one-day tax-free sales or auctions each calendar year.
