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Foxborough Select Board endorses CliftonLarsonAllen as town auditor
Summary
After an RFQ and reference checks, the Select Board voted to hire CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA) as the town's municipal auditor. The audit committee cited CLA's IT/cybersecurity capability and reference feedback; cost and contract details remain to be finalized.
The Foxborough Select Board voted Dec. 17 to accept the audit committee's recommendation to hire CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA) as the town's municipal auditor.
Paul Ivanovi, chair of the audit committee, told the board the committee issued an RFQ and received three proposals ' a smaller boutique firm, CLA, and Markham (now part of CBIZ). "We got three respondents," Ivanovi said, summarizing interviews and reference checks that the committee used to compare cost, capacity and added value. The committee reported bids roughly as follows: the boutique firm about $61,000 a year, CLA initially about $78,000 (later discussed at $75,000), and Markham about $85,000. Ivanovi said CLA stood out for including a cyber/IT audit capability in its offering.
"What stood out about CLA is ' the cyber security audit; that's something I think would be a good thing to do here," Ivanovi said, noting that recent auditing standards increasingly incorporate IT controls.
Committee members also told the board that reference checks and firms' ability to describe a step'by'step audit approach were key decision factors. The committee emphasized that changing auditors or the audit team every five to seven years is a best practice after one firm (Robert Brown Consulting) had served the town for about two decades.
The Select Board moved to support the audit committee's recommendation and the motion passed with the board recording "all those in favor." The meeting record did not include a numerical roll-call tally or identify individual yes/no votes.
Next steps include finalizing a contract and scope of services with CLA; the audit committee noted that certain services such as an annual comprehensive financial report (AER) or additional reports would likely be billed separately. The committee also flagged the value of receiving a management letter and other advisory comments as part of the audit engagement.
The board discussed a related administrative item: because the current audit committee appointments had been made at the same time, the committee will expire collectively next June; the Select Board asked staff to draft a plan to stagger future appointments to avoid loss of institutional continuity.
The audit committee's report and the board's vote conclude a multi'month procurement process; the town will post further contract and budget details once the town administration completes negotiations.
