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Auditors issue clean opinion on St. Francis Area Schools’ 2024 financial statements; two material weaknesses noted
Summary
Independent auditors issued an unmodified (clean) opinion on the district’s fiscal 2024 financial statements but reported two material weaknesses — segregation of duties and cash-receipts processes — and recommended procedural improvements; board accepted the audit.
The district’s independent auditors presented the fiscal 2024 comprehensive annual financial report and management report to the board and issued an unmodified (clean) opinion on the basic financial statements for the year ending June 30, 2024.
Nelson from the audit firm (partner in charge) told the board the district’s financial statements were fairly stated and the audit included additional reporting required by recently updated government accounting standards. The auditors also reported two material weaknesses identified during the audit: weaknesses in financial reporting related to segregation of duties and control processes for cash receipts, with cash receipts concerns identified specifically at the high school.
Auditors described other findings: a single-audit opinion on federal award expenditures was clean; testing of state-required compliance items identified instances where vendor invoices were not paid within statutory timelines and the auditors recommended tightening procedures and documentation for late payments.
The audit presentation included district financial context: an estimated adjusted average daily membership (ADM) of 4,107 students for the year, an increase in unrestricted fund balance compared with prior years, total general-fund revenues of about $61.1 million and total general-fund expenditures near $60 million. Auditors noted increases in state funding components and that salaries and employee benefits account for about 77% of general-fund expenditures.
Board members asked whether segregation-of-duties practices had improved versus prior years; auditors said turnover in the business office had continued to affect the control environment and that improvement will be monitored in future audits.
The board moved to accept the FY 2024 audit as presented; the motion and second were recorded in the meeting minutes and the audit documents have been submitted to the Minnesota Department of Education as required.
Ending
Auditors recommended that the district document controls and timeliness of invoice processing and continue work on segregation-of-duties improvements; the board accepted the audit and requested staff follow-up on the recommended internal-control actions.
