School business manager jobs can be found in a number of different school settings. Public and private schools that serve all different ages of students from pre-school through university level either make use of a business manager or give other administrators the duties that the school business manager would otherwise have. It is also common to find school business manager jobs at the district level, either as business managers for the district itself, or managing the finances of the individual schools in the district. Though not all schools can afford to allocate a full-time position to this type of professional, school business managers are a common feature in educational institutions.
At the university level, school business manager jobs are quite common. In this setting, these managers are often referred to as bursars. One of the primary jobs of a bursar is to keep track of student tuition accounts and to collect payment from students. These types of school business manager jobs are also common in private primary or secondary schools, where students must pay tuition in order to attend the school. In these types of schools cases, the school's budget often relies heavily or entirely on tuition, which means that collecting this money is a vital part of the school business manager's job.
Business managers in schools are also responsible for keeping track of the school's budget and making sure that the school complies with its board with regards to spending and investing. Accounting for the money that comes into or goes out of a school is essential, as many schools are governed by rules that dictate how funds must be spent. In public schools, non-compliance with these rules can cause the school to be shut down, so the school business manager must oversee spending to prevent this from happening.
Small public schools do not often have the funds to keep full time school business manager jobs staffed, and in many cases, these positions may be found at the district level, rather than within each individual school. District level school business manager jobs may entail the supervision of cash-flow within each of the schools, though each school is often responsible for keeping its own accounting. Alternatively, a business manager at a small school may be required to take on additional responsibilities, such as secretarial work or other administrative work, in order to work at the school as a full time employee.
