UHY tells Northumberland County boards RDA setup and weak controls contributed to school financial problems; training and policy fixes underway
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Summary
At a Nov. 6 joint meeting, UHY managing director Jack Reagan told Northumberland County supervisors and school board members that RDA configuration, decentralized invoice processing and sparse policies contributed to chronic school budget deficits; he recommended training, written procedures and periodic access reviews while staff implements corrective changes.
Jack Reagan, managing director at accounting firm UHY, told the Northumberland County Board of Supervisors and School Board at their Nov. 6 joint meeting that a combination of an antiquated RDA finance system, limited periodic reporting and weak internal controls contributed to the school division's financial problems.
Reagan summarized the firm's findings and corrective recommendations. "There were chronic budget deficits over the last several years," he said, and noted limited financial reports were provided to management and elected officials. Reagan said RDA was configured so school staff could not perform some basic accounting functions without RDA personnel support, and that the system required many manual flags that made routine processes "extraordinarily cumbersome." "If one gets missed, a transaction can get put into suspense and you have no idea why," he said.
Why it matters: The county has been surprised by late or unexpected invoices that strained cash reserves, Reagan said, and improved monthly financial packages and better cash-flow projections will be necessary for county-wide planning and school oversight. He urged the board to insist on regular, readable reporting so elected officials can exercise fiduciary oversight.
Specific weaknesses cited included a decentralized invoice receipt process, inconsistent purchase-order practices that prioritized speed over cost containment, and an accumulation of system access rights when roles changed. Reagan recommended written policies for budgeting, purchase orders, invoice routing, monthly and quarterly close, and periodic access reviews on a limited (he suggested every six months) cadence.
Reagan also described corrective steps already underway: new finance personnel with RDA experience, strengthened purchase-order approvals, desk procedures (system screenshots and how-to guides), document scanning for purchase orders and invoices, and at least one round of RDA training. "The tide is turning," he said, while cautioning that full optimization will take time.
On replacing RDA, Reagan said there are many modern ERP options (he cited examples such as CentralSquare and Tyler/Munis variants) but urged the board to time any conversion with forthcoming national changes to chart-of-accounts standards under the Financial Data Transparency Act. He recommended building the project timeline and requirements now to avoid rolling two major conversions close together.
Board follow-up: Board members asked how many users need RDA access; Reagan said roughly 10—20 people would need regular access, with role-based, least-privilege settings (read-only for some roles and edit/approve privileges for others). Staff agreed to work with auditors and the treasurer on budget-line separations and to follow up with UHY on a previously raised supplemental-appropriation question.
The presentation closed with Reagan offering to provide the board additional materials on the transparency act and on system-conversion timelines; board members thanked him and emphasized the need to continue improving reporting so they can shift focus back to student outcomes.
Ending: The boards did not take a formal vote on an ERP replacement at the meeting; staff will return with budget tracking details, and UHY indicated it will supply follow-up materials on the Financial Data Transparency Act and recommended next steps.
