Finance committee hears clean FY2024 audit; fund balance rises to $72.2 million

Brian Nicholson, engagement director for the district's fiscal 2024 audit, told the Beaufort County Board of Education Finance Committee on Dec. 5 that auditors issued an unmodified (clean) opinion on the district's June 30, 2024 financial statements.

"We issued an unmodified or clean opinion over the district's June 30, 2024 financial statements," Nicholson said during his presentation. He reported no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies that required reporting and said there were no instances of noncompliance identified in the audit.

Nicholson also summarized the district's federal single-audit testing for major programs, saying auditors tested Title I and ESSER (the education stabilization fund) and also issued a clean single-audit opinion. He explained the district qualified as a low-risk auditee and that the team tested a subset of federal expenditures accordingly.

The audit presentation highlighted the district's general fund balance at $72,200,000 as of year end, an increase of roughly $7.9 million compared with the prior year. Nicholson said the district's unassigned fund-balance percentage is well above the state-required minimum; staff later noted a difference in calculation methods that yielded a 20.3% figure (auditor) versus a 19.1% figure (district policy basis).

Staff and board members discussed implementation of new accounting guidance (GASB Statement 100 this year and GASB 101 next year) and praised the responsiveness of district staff during the audit. Finance staff confirmed the district had posted the annual comprehensive financial report (ACFR) to the website and submitted required reports to the State Department of Education ahead of the Dec. 2 deadline.

The committee took no formal vote on the audit itself at the meeting; the audit materials and the ACFR will be forwarded to the full board as part of normal reporting and year-end procedures.