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Town accountant presents FY2023–24 restated financial reports after accrual reversals; sales-tax timing cited
Summary
Town accountant Jim Keane told the council the audit requires accruals of certain receipts into the prior fiscal year and that a $965,367 memo amount was reversed into FY2023–24; the restated July and August reports show offsetting changes to revenues and fund balances driven largely by sales-tax timing.
Jim Keane, town accountant and assistant town clerk, presented restated financial reports tied to the fiscal year 2023–24 audit and explained that certain revenues received in July and August must be accrued back to the prior fiscal year.
Keane said the memo total of accruals was $965,367 and that the accrual and reversal process affects the early months of the next fiscal year’s financial statements. He described the mechanics: amounts received in July and August that belong to the prior year are accrued into that year when the audit is presented, then reversed in the town’s current-year accounting so they are not double-spent.
He showed that the restated audit page reflected an increase in fund balance of $390,917 for the prior fiscal year and that the July restated report showed a negative change in fund balance (approximately $543,835) because those revenues had been shifted. Keane said sales-tax timing accounted for the lion’s share of the adjustment and noted that the state’s remittances can lag by weeks.
Keane described the monthly reconciliation approach and said council will see updated monthly reports (October, November, etc.) as the fiscal year progresses and sales-tax receipts are posted to the current year. Council members asked questions about the timing and the accountant reiterated that the adjustment is a normal annual accounting step required by the audit.
Why this matters: The restated reports reconcile revenue timing issues and are an audit-driven accounting step; they affect how early fiscal-year monthly reports appear until receipts are recognized in the new fiscal year.
No formal action was required; the presentation was informational and council received the report.
