Interview with the District CFO

Our district has received a Superior rating for the last several years on our FIRST report. Our CFO contributes this success to making sure that the budget books are prepared based on TEA guidelines and working with the auditors through the year to get all the information they need to complete the audit. He also stated that the district makes changes in procedures based on audit recommendations and tries not to have the same exceptions year after year.   He explained that to find an external auditor, the district request proposals from interested audit fims and then makes a selection based on their expertise, staffing capacity, and services offered.  When asked about the actual audit procedures, he stated that the auditors conduct an interim audit during the year to make sure that the district is following policies and procedures established.  He explained that sample transactions are pulled for verification. He went on to state the the year-end audit is done after the books are closed and schedules are created.  Then the schedules are reviewed against the books for accuracy.  He stated that the auditors can pull more samples for further review as needed. He concluded that the audit findings are created based on exceptions found on the samples pulled for review. Our CFO then explained that the audit report refers to the internal control structure and how well the systme can eliminate or detect any wrong doing. It also refers to the reliability of the data presented on the report.  When asked at how the results are communicated, he answered that all the findings are reported on the audit report and are presented to the board of trustees and to TEA.  - Denise