STUDENT ACTIVITY FUND MANAGEMENT FOR K-12 DISTRICTS
Accounting records the past. Account Tree controls the process before money moves.
Account Tree enforces approvals, captures documentation, and gives districts proof that the right process was followed before a transaction is processed.
Approvals before
payment
Documentation captured in workflow
Audit-ready records automatically
THE REAL PROBLEM
Most districts can record transactions.
Proving the process is where things fall apart.
Approvals, backup documentation, payment requests, and responsibility often live in different places: emails, spreadsheets, paper forms, shared drives, and memory.
When the auditor asks what happened, someone has to reconstruct the trail.
That is not a software inconvenience. It is a control problem.
​
Account Tree makes the approval trail part of the transaction from the beginning. The request, authorization, documentation, timestamps, and user responsibility stay together.
​
No reconstruction. No guessing. No after-the-fact cleanup pretending to be control.
ACCOUNTING VS. MANAGEMENT
Accounting tells you what happened.
Management controls what is allowed to happen.
TRADITIONAL ACCOUNTING-FIRST SYSTEMS
ACCOUNT TREE
Record activity after decisions were already made.
Controls the workflow before money moves.
Depend on users to collect approvals and backup elsewhere.
Requires authorization and documentation inside the request.
Show numbers, but often not the full process behind the numbers.
Connects each transaction to named users, timestamps, and approvals.
Leave district staff rebuilding the trail when questions come later.
Creates a defensible audit trail automatically.
HOW ACCOUNT TREE CONTROLS THE PROCESS
The workflow districts already expect, enforced consistently in one system.
Account Tree does not add busywork. It replaces side work done in emails, spreadsheets, and paper with a clear approval path that must happen before payment.
01
Request submitted
Advisors, clerks, or authorized users submit requests with the required backup attached from the start.
02
Approval Required
The right approver reviews the request. Approval is named, timestamped, and preserved.
03
Payment allowed
Payment cannot move forward until authorization is complete and the required steps are satisfied.
04
Record audit-ready
The transaction carries the approval trail, documentation, and workflow history automatically.
WHERE ACCOUNT TREE WINS
Built for student activity funds, not retrofitted from generic accounting software.
Controls before posting
District-wide visibility
Requests move through approval before payment. The system helps prevent process failures instead of merely documenting them afterward.
Central office can see what is requested, approved, stalled, and spent across schools before small issues become audit problems.
Role-based responsibility
GASB 84 control clarity
District users, principals, clerks, advisors, and students see the work tied to their role. Visibility matches authority.
GASB 84 forced districts to prove control, oversight, and accountability. Account Tree manages the process behind that reporting.
Designed for non-accountants
Audit trail by design
Advisors, coaches, sponsors, and principals can participate without becoming accountants. Finance still keeps oversight.
Approval history, backup documents, timestamps, and transaction records are created as part of normal work.
ROLE BASED ACCESS
When access reflects responsibility, the workflow becomes easier to follow and harder to break.
Role-based access is not just security. It defines who participates in each step of the process.
District Office
Principals
Clerks
Advisors
Students
Sets rules, monitors activity across schools, and maintains oversight.
Review and approve requests with building-level visibility.
Process approved work without chasing missing approvals.
Submit requests, attach documentation, and track progress.
Participate at defined points with adult oversight and execution controls.
THE ACCOUNT TREE 3 TRANSACTION TEST
Pick 3 student activity fund transactions from every school.
For each one, ask:
Can you show who approved it and when within 5 minutes?
Can you show the backup documentation within
10 minutes?
Was the same process followed at every school?
If even one answer is no, you do not have an accounting problem. You have a control problem.
PROOF FROM THE FIELD
Districts do not need more places to record activity. They need a cleaner way to manage it
"Honestly, switching to Account Tree has been one of the best decisions we have made as a district."​
​
FRANCESCO, DRACUT PUBLIC SCHOOLS, MA
"The system is very easy to navigate. It makes it simple to process checks, handle deposits, and balance monthly statements."​
​
MICHELE, RSU 16, ME
"Account Tree helped us streamline our student activities processes in all 6 schools"
​​​​​​
DONNA, SAU41 (HOLLIS-BROOKLINE), NH
"Switching to Account Tree was game-changing, giving us more control and protecting everyone in the process. Internal audits will take half the time now that everyone is on one uniform and consistent program."​
​
BRENDON, MONMOUTH COUNTY VOCATIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT