By: Jeffrey A. Young Published 07/27/05
Article Source: http://wistechnology.com/article.php?id=2055

For years, there have been calls to run government institutions as a business, with a tight bottom line and strict accountability to their shareholders: taxpayers. Now schools are facing similar scrutiny. The increased academic expectations of the No Child Left Behind Act have expanded the federal regulations with which schools must comply.

Taxpayers and local governments are also demanding more budget accountability at a time when school funding and staffing are under strain, enrollments are up in many urban and suburban districts, and schools nationwide are serving more students with special needs. To operate like businesses, schools need the same tools as businesses. In particular, they need the sophisticated business software that businesses rely on to streamline their business and administrative tasks.

In the past, business management software didn't provide the flexibility school districts needed to adapt to constantly shifting rules, regulations and policies. As a result, administrative and financial systems at most schools remained outdated, even as software was being welcomed into the classroom and curriculum.

Today's business management software, by contrast, can be adapted or automatically updated to keep school administrators and financial officers current with government mandates, and provide tools to create new efficiencies. Schools are beginning to take note. IDC projected that K-12 schools would spend $3.4 billion on all software in 2005 and $4 billion by 2006. Those figures include classroom or teaching software as well as a faster-growing market for enterprise software. According to Eduventures Inc., a Boston-based research and advisory firm, spending on enterprise software and services by high schools rose nearly 15 percent in 2004.

School district business managers and other administrators can use business management software to do the following:

• Integrate payroll, financials and human resources information. Data can be entered one time and shared throughout the school and the district, helping improve efficiency and accuracy.
• Easily calculate and manage complex payroll inputs, including flexible pay periods, variable compensation packages, contract management, licensure, certifications and tenure
• Reduce the time central office staff spends looking up human resources and benefits information for employees, by creating self-service business portals that enable employees to access their own information via a security-enhanced Web browser
• Streamline procurement of supplies and materials by having the most current financial information at users' fingertips

Read a complete article: Business Management Software for Schools

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Blackbaud is the leading global provider of nonprofit software and related services designed specifically for nonprofit organizations. Approximately 13,000 organizations -- including the American Red Cross, Bowdoin College, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America, the Detroit Zoological Society, Episcopal High School, Help the Aged, the New York Philharmonic and United Way of America -- use Blackbaud products and consulting services for fundraising, financial management, business intelligence and school administration. Blackbaud's solutions include The Raiser's Edge(R) Fundraising Software, The Financial Edge(TM) Nonprofit Financial Management Software, The Education Edge(TM) School Administrative Software, The Patron Edge(TM) Ticketing Management Software, Blackbaud NetCommunity(TM) Advocacy Marketing, The Information Edge(TM) Nonprofit Business Management Solution, WealthPoint(TM) and ProspectPoint(TM) Donor Management & Prospect Research Services, as well as a wide range of consulting and educational services. Founded in 1981, Blackbaud is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, and has operations in Toronto, Ontario, Glasgow, Scotland, and Sydney, Australia.

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