Finance: District Leader Interview @Audits

It is amazing how different each process discussed in this class is from state to state.  Audits, as it turns out, is no different.  In my former position as Director of Federal Programs I had the opportunity to be audited by two groups, The Indiana State Board of Accounts and the State Title 1 Program.  According to the lecture, Texas districts advertise for firms to conduct the audit.  Applications are reviewed and interviews conducted.  The Board has final approval of the firm.  This is an annual process.  In Indiana, State Board of Accounts audits occur every two years.  The district does not select an auditor.  Depending on the size of the district, one or more auditors are assigned to review financials.  Seymour has two auditors.  They arrive in September or October, and like Texas, are with our district for several months.  All those involved with finances produce documents as requested by the auditors.   The auditors are provided a workspace and keep themselves separated, for the most part, from district staff.  District staff are expected to make themselves available to answer any questions or to clarify procedures.  In Texas, the summary report of findings all areas of the school district’s financial procedures and activities are addressed.  Indiana’s audit process also results in summary document that identifies any discrepancies that exist in the district’s financial accounting and documenting process, also called internal controls.  When I participated in the audit process, a meeting was held at the conclusion of the audit process.  It was called the exit interview.  Participants included the lead auditor, superintendent, business manager, president of the school board, and financial directors.  The lead auditor went over the report, line by line, describing findings.  Findings must then be addressed and a follow-up report is sent to the State Board of Accounts to document the changes made to address the concern.  The Texas process appears to have much more of a public disclosure than is currently taking place in Indiana.

I spoke with our business manager about the audit process to see if there were any points she would add to this basic description of the process.  She said that while we do not receive a label or rank, the response to our audit is either an unqualified (good) or a qualified response.  She also stated that upon the notification of a finding, it makes a difference if it is a Federal finding.  Federal findings require a response.  In other words, action must be taken to address the discrepancy.  The final bit of information she shared about the audit process was the location of each school corporation in Indiana’s audit results.  These are posted on the State Board of Accounts webpage, www.in.gov/sboa.   I have attached a copy of Seymour Schools most recent audit on the discussion board.