Monitoring school budget expenditures is as important as budgeting. School boards should decide which broad financial policies will provide control of expenditures, what financial tools to use in monitoring expenditures, and what areas outside of the budget should be monitored. A board's financial policy ought to deal with the line item transfers, fixed-charge transfers, year-end transfers and purchases, unanticipated income, revenue shortages, surplus funds, and the issue of whether budget items are defined as numbers of units used or numbers of dollars spent. Tools for monitoring expenditures should include reports on revenues, appropriations, cash, bills, and net worth. These reports should be balanced monthly. Besides the budget, other areas to be monitored should include school accounts, athletic funds (such as gate receipts), and cafeteria accounts. Cash revenues from such accounts should be deposited immediately, and the same financial controls should apply to them as apply to the rest of the budget. (RW)