The Ware County School System has a monthly payroll in excess of 3.5 million dollars, making it one of the largest employers in Ware County. The Finance Department handles all financial operations of the school system including payroll & benefits, accounts payable, purchasing, revenue, receipts, cash management, budgeting, financial reporting, internal auditing, and financial management. Approximately $60,000,000 of receipts and disbursements are processed and accounted for by revenue sources and programs into the various funds which include the General Fund, Capital Projects Funds, Special Revenue Funds, and the Debt Service Funds. The school system now has access to funds appropriated from the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for education. These SPLOST revenues are used to fund Capital Projects approved by the voters of Ware County and to retire bonded indebtedness. The Finance Department processes annually more than 6,000 purchase orders, 10,000 invoices, and 8,000 vendor disbursements. Annual payroll is more than $40,000,000 and consists of 15,000 employee checks and direct deposits.

All employee benefits and deductions for the school system’s 900 employees are processed through the Payroll Department. Each employee record contains up to 38 deduction fields for accounting of employer-paid benefits including State Health Benefits Plan, Teacher Retirement, matching Social Security, Workers’ Compensation Insurance, and a Dental/Vision Reimbursement Plan. The school system has attractive sick-leave benefits and offers enrollment into the Employee Sick Bank for long-term medical purposes. Other employee-paid benefits are handled through payroll deduction such as life insurance, disability insurance, cancer/intensive care insurance, tax-sheltered annuities, and Legal Services.

The Central Receiving Warehouse is responsible for receiving the supplies, materials, and equipment ordered through the Ware County School System. Bulk supplies and materials are stored in the Warehouse for easy distribution to the schools and departments. All items received are processed there and then distributed to the individuals, departments, or schools that have requested them. Invoices, packing slips, and other documentation are marked and sent to the Accounts Payable Dept. for processing.

The Print Shop is an in-house, full service printing & distribution service responsible for the majority of all printing projects that support the instructional and administrative functions in the School System. Brochures, stationery, cards, instructional handouts and tests, and other printing projects are processed there.

The staff maintains a high level of expertise in government accounting and bookkeeping. The Finance Department is responsible for working with the State Department of Education, the Georgia Department of Audits, local Board members, vendors, contractors, employees, and the general public on all business and financial matters related to the Ware County School System.