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Board approves 2023–24 audit after outside auditor flags accounting basis and two procedural findings
Summary
The Piedmont Board of Education voted unanimously to accept the 2023–24 audit from S&B CPAs. The auditor issued a qualified/adverse opinion tied to the district ccounting basis for fixed assets and recorded two findings that require corrective action to the state.
The Piedmont Board of Education unanimously approved the district'023 nd'024 fiscal-year audit after a presentation by Jay Estates of S&B CPAs.
Estates told the board the audit resulted in three opinion letters because the district met the federal "uniform guidance" threshold (more than $750,000 of federal funds). He said the financial statements were prepared on the state dministrative/regulatory (modified-cash) basis rather than on generally accepted accounting principles, and that difference led to a qualified/adverse presentation for general fixed assets.
The auditor reviewed headline figures during his presentation: cash and cash equivalents of about $10,600,000; warrants payable of roughly $5,000,000 (outstanding checks); reserved encumbrances of roughly $154,000; total general-fund revenues of $43,132,000 versus expenditures of $43,636,000; a year-over-year decrease in the general fund of about $473,000; beginning general-fund balance of $5,000,917 and an ending unassigned fund balance of $5,000,004.43. Estates also reported district contributions to the teachers retirement system of $2,647,000 for 2024 (prior-year figures were $2,162,000 and $1,723,022 for earlier years).
Estates said the district spent about $4,086,000 in federal funds this year and therefore underwent a uniform-guidance compliance review; the audit team examined about 70% of expenditures in the identified federal programs (IDEA flow-through for preschool, COVID/IDEA ARP, and National School Lunch) and reported no findings on those tested programs.
The audit did include two findings. First, payroll review identified two employees who appeared to be overpaid because a change in salary had not been reflected in a written contract addendum. Second, activity-gate receipts and admission ticketing procedures lacked adequate prenumbered receipt controls. Estates explained state corrective-action protocols: the district must file a corrective action plan with the state Department of Education and the initial plan is required by March 31; the state allows until the next audit to determine whether corrective steps were implemented.
Board members asked about practical implications and next steps; staff confirmed the district will file required corrective-action documentation with the state, and the board approved the audit without further amendment.
No additional policy or budget action was required as part of accepting the audit.
