District audit: Wipfli reports clean, unmodified opinion on 2024 financial statements

Brian Anderson of audit firm Wipfli told the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District Board on Dec. 15 that the firm issued a "clean, unmodified opinion" on the district's 2024 financial statements after testing the financials and controls. Anderson said auditors found no adjusted journal entries and no disagreements with management.

Anderson reviewed highlights intended to help board members interpret the statement of net position and fund balances. He said the district’s unassigned general fund balance is approximately $41,400,000 and noted that many auditors recommend reserves equal to roughly two months of operating expenditures (about 16 percent); the district’s unassigned balance is around 33 percent by his calculation, which he described as more than typical and providing flexibility for future planning.

On federal compliance, Anderson said the district now meets the federal single-audit threshold and that delays in the federal compliance supplement and federal government operations shifted some work, which compressed the audit calendar: "The federal compliance supplement was supposed to be issued back in May. There was delays... it was finally issued the day before Thanksgiving," he said.

Board members asked how recent accounting-policy changes affect liabilities; Anderson described a revised compensated-absences policy that auditors concluded was not material to the district's financial statements. He also explained common examples of adjusted journal entries for trustees unfamiliar with audit mechanics, noting bank reconciliations and accrual timing differences as typical causes.

The board took the presentation as information; there was no formal vote to accept the audit in open session. Superintendent Dana Menog and business services staff were commended during discussion for their work preparing the district’s records and for achieving consecutive clean audits in recent years.