1. Problems in the management of fixed assets in public primary and secondary schools
(1) Problems in the establishment of management institutions Generally speaking, the competent authorities lack reasonable planning for the establishment and distribution of the responsible parties in the management of fixed assets. At present, as far as I know, all primary and secondary schools have asset management committees in form according to the requirements of the competent authorities, and an asset manager is engaged in the management of fixed assets; Accounting work is carried out by the accounting center. In fact, the Asset Management Committee is a temporary organization, which only operates when the competent department, the financial department and the SASAC require an inventory of assets; Asset managers are usually part-time accountants, who are mainly responsible for filling in various statements about fixed assets; After the fixed assets are collected, they are scattered in all user departments, and there is no system constraint on their safe, complete and effective use, which fundamentally leads to the normalization of the phenomenon that the central account of fixed assets accounting is inconsistent with the school account and the physical object of fixed assets.
(II) Problems with the use process Most schools have not designed and implemented the management procedures for the acquisition of fixed assets after acceptance. After the fixed assets arrive at the school, they are directly transported to the user department. After the user signs the relevant vouchers and is approved by the principal, they are sent to the accounting office for settlement. The fixed assets enter the school even if it is completed, and there is no warehousing and acquisition procedure. Without acceptance procedures, the quality and utility of fixed assets can not be ensured, and the person responsible for acceptance can not be implemented; Without the collecting procedure, it is impossible to determine the owner of fixed assets and ensure the effective use of fixed assets.
(3) The problem of management process lies in the survival stage of fixed assets. Most schools have not formulated and implemented the management system of fixed assets, which makes the daily use management of fixed assets have no rules to follow. For example, the user department usually arranges users to register the fixed assets ledger in the order of purchase, without any classification, and it is only used to deal with liquidation assets, and no fixed assets card is registered, resulting in frequent omission, wrong entry and repeated purchase of fixed assets. When users use fixed assets, especially electrical equipment, they do not operate according to the requirements and do not implement corresponding maintenance measures. This blank in the daily use management procedure of fixed assets leads to inefficient use of fixed assets, serious damage and no accountability. As a result, as long as the assets are liquidated, most of the fixed assets do not match the accounts. Public primary and secondary schools do not carry out cost accounting, and neither depreciation nor impairment provision is made for fixed assets. Fixed assets and fixed funds in financial statements only reflect the original value, but cannot reflect the old and new degree and actual value of fixed assets, and cannot effectively analyze the value of fixed assets in schools.
(4) The problem of treatment process is in the phase of elimination and disposal of fixed assets. Because the school's fixed assets are state-owned assets, the school has no power to dispose of them by itself. In addition, many schools don't have a strong awareness of asset management and pay enough attention to it. Therefore, the fixed assets that should be disposed of are not properly kept and disposed of. For example, once electrical equipment is unusable or obsolete, users often stop using it, and directly apply for new equipment, while abandoned equipment is neglected, which leads to the long-term inconsistency of fixed assets and hinders the allocation and use of school hardware facilities.
II. Measures to improve the management of fixed assets in public primary and secondary schools
(I) Improving the management structure Since the management of fixed assets has become an indispensable work in the daily operation of schools, an organization corresponding to its responsibilities should be established. It is suggested that all primary and secondary schools set up an asset management office, which is parallel to the academic affairs office, the political and educational office and other departments; Assign special personnel to engage in the daily management of fixed assets, and the competent department shall clarify the responsibilities of fixed assets management, fixed assets accounting and fixed assets use undertaken by the asset management office, accounting center and asset use department respectively, thus forming a trinity management pattern of school fixed assets management, thus changing the status quo of school fixed assets management in name only.
(II) Improve the management process According to the business process of the school, the basic management links of the whole process management of fixed assets can be divided into five key parts: acquisition, acceptance and handover, account card checking, daily use and maintenance, and elimination and disposal. The management process design is shown in Figure 1:
First of all, the ways to obtain the school's fixed assets include six ways: purchase, transfer, self-construction, reconstruction and expansion, donation acceptance and inventory surplus. Confirm the coverage of fixed assets according to the accounting system of primary and secondary schools; According to the characteristics of the school, its fixed assets will appear more in terms of quantity, variety and amount. It is necessary for the accounting center to subdivide the obtained fixed assets into six categories: houses and buildings, special equipment, general equipment, cultural relics and exhibits, books and other fixed assets in strict accordance with the provisions of the financial system of primary and secondary schools, and guide the establishment of the fixed assets ledger and cards of the school according to this requirement. Fixed asset cards need to be registered by the asset user department according to the requirements of the accounting center. The asset manager specifically undertakes the management of fixed assets ledger, and needs to check with the accounting center and the asset using department regularly. Only in this way can we ensure that the classification and amount of the fixed assets ledger, fixed assets card and the subsidiary ledger of the accounting center of the school are correct and consistent.
Secondly, the school should establish a strict acceptance system for the delivery of the acquired fixed assets. The asset management office shall, in conjunction with the fixed assets user department, inspect the varieties, specifications, quantity, quality, technical requirements and other contents of the purchased fixed assets according to the contract, invoice, etc. Only after they are qualified and go through the warehousing and requisition procedures can they go through the settlement procedures and be handed over to the user department for use.
Thirdly, for the fixed assets in use, the competent authorities should strengthen supervision and service, force and guide schools to establish and improve various rules and regulations on the use of fixed assets, and effectively implement them. Schools should require the departments using fixed assets to be responsible for the daily repair and maintenance of fixed assets in conjunction with the asset management department, systematize and program the daily maintenance process of fixed assets, and conduct regular inspections to improve the efficiency of the use of fixed assets and effectively eliminate potential safety hazards. For example, the user department of fixed assets needs to establish and implement a fixed asset card registration system and a regular maintenance system, and set up a post responsibility system to implement the daily maintenance and maintenance responsibility of fixed assets to users; The asset management department formulates and implements the system of periodic liquidation of fixed assets and the system of accountability for damage to regularly check the daily use of fixed assets, which is of great significance to the preservation of assets and the performance of assets in schools. And only by strengthening the management of the operation and maintenance of fixed assets, can we budget the maintenance expenses of fixed assets more accurately, and can we help schools use financial funds reasonably and effectively to meet the needs of deepening departmental budget reform.
finally, the scrapping and disposal process of fixed assets should be strictly followed, and the examination and approval procedures should be strictly performed. It is strictly forbidden to dispose of the fixed assets by itself. Fixed assets that need to be disposed of due to damage, scrapping, etc. shall be reported to the competent department in the form of written materials by the asset management office on behalf of the school, and the corresponding certification materials shall be attached. If it needs to be appraised by the relevant department, it shall also be attached with relevant authentication materials, which shall be reported to the finance department at the same level and the state-owned assets management department for examination and approval after being audited by the competent department. Without approval, the school shall not handle it by itself. If the competent department finds that the school scrapped or damaged the fixed assets without authorization through spot check and inventory, it shall be responsible to specific personnel according to the relevant management system to ensure the seriousness of the system.
(III) Improving performance appraisal In order to ensure the safe, complete and effective use of state-owned assets, accurate financial accounting and the improvement of the quality of financial information, it is suggested that the competent authorities should include the allocation, use and disposal of fixed assets in the performance evaluation of schools. Specifically, it includes: first, whether the fixed assets allocated by the school match the scale of the school, the purpose of running the school, the school level (for example, provincial or national) and the indicators issued by the higher authorities. Second, whether the school has established and improved the regular checking system of fixed assets ledger, financial account and card according to the provisions of the competent department; Fixed assets card management system; Maintenance system; Inventory system and fixed assets disposal system, and effectively implement. Third, whether the school has established an accountability system for the loss of fixed assets caused by improper use or mismanagement. Fourth, whether the fixed assets to be disposed of are handled in time according to the prescribed procedures. The competent department set up a special group to determine the above evaluation contents as quantitative indicators to regularly measure and comprehensively evaluate the achievements and losses of schools in the process of fixed assets management, and reward and punish them according to the level of comprehensive evaluation. Only in this way can we meet the requirements of comprehensive risk management and control of fixed assets management and provide a solid material foundation for the development and reform of education.
References:
[1] Ministry of Finance: Accounting System for Primary and Secondary Schools [1998] No.14.
[2] Ministry of Finance: Financial System of Primary and Secondary Schools [1997] No.281.
(editor Du Chang)