Bob Kaufman, a manager on the audit engagement from CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, told the Council Rock School District Finance Committee on Sept. 11 that the 2023–24 financial statements contained no material misstatements and required no audit adjustments. "There was no audit adjustments and there were no uncorrected misstatements," Kaufman said.
Kaufman said the audit included a single-audit review of the district's federal programs as required when federal funds meet the major-program threshold; he reported no findings related to internal controls over financial reporting or to the major program reviewed. He also said that recent accounting guidance the auditors discussed with the district had no effect on the 2023–24 statements but may affect future reporting.
The auditor called attention to recently issued Governmental Accounting Standards Board guidance discussed during the meeting (referred to in the presentation as new GASB statements) and singled out a forthcoming standard on compensated absences as one likely to have a larger effect on district reporting. Kaufman said the correction-of-errors guidance was implemented for the current audit but did not impact the statements because no errors required correction.
District staff and the auditor reviewed key fund-balance metrics. Kaufman said the district's total governmental fund balance is about $30 million, which he described as roughly a month-and-a-half of expenditures; he contrasted that with CAFR benchmarks that represent approximately two months of expenditures. He said capital projects currently include roughly $15 million to fund future projects and noted an $11.5 million transfer related to a bond issue that supported the capital plan. "General fund fund balance has been trending positively since 2022," Kaufman said.
Board members pressed the auditor and business staff about audit timing. Kaufman explained that the district's prior auditor's governmental practice had been sold and the new firm, CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA), is structuring fieldwork and reviews to shorten turnarounds. He laid out a target schedule: approximately two weeks of fieldwork, two weeks of internal review, two weeks for partner review and two weeks for quality control, or about eight weeks from the start of fieldwork to finished audit materials. He said the firm would communicate schedule changes and that final completion in practice could run into December given holidays and federal compliance-supplement timing.
Kaufman and district staff also said revenue performance for 2023–24 exceeded budget in part because of stronger collections on earned income taxes and higher interest income. Other financing sources were higher than budgeted due to a transfer to capital projects to fund the district's five-year facilities plan. Kaufman said the district's financial-preparation work was strong: "Tony and his team did a great job with a lot of effort preparation," he said, commending district business-office staff for the quality of the unaudited results that were submitted for audit.
Committee members asked whether the state has a practical range for unassigned fund balance; Kaufman said state reviewers typically flag very high fund-balance ratios and described an 80% benchmark mentioned in a state report as a guideline the state uses when considering exceptions for millage increases, not a strict legal limit.
What happens next: the district will proceed with the audit fieldwork under the new engagement team. Kaufman said auditors will monitor the federal compliance supplement (used for single-audit testing) and will communicate if changes to the supplement require additional testing.