Business Office receives excellent audit score
Oct. 31, 2024The Cazenovia Central School District received a clean audit on its annual external audit of taxpayer funds, one of many the district undertakes periodically to ensure it is being a good steward of taxpayer funds and district finances.
For this audit, an outside group, D’Arcangelo and Co., LLC, started the process in May by reviewing random samples of various facets of district financials including such things as accounts payable and payroll to verify whether the school complied with state and federal laws as well as school board policy.
“They ensure that we are checking proper authorizations and execution of financial activities,” said Assistant Superintendent and School Business Official Thomas Finnerty.
Another part of the audit is reviewing flagged items from the previous year. One small flag from 2023, was money collected from extracurricular activities at the school.
“Though they’re not taxpayer dollars, our extracurricular activity funds are audited as well. Since business office staff cannot be present at every fundraising cash exchange, we are flagged,” said Finnerty. “Though we agree club activities are an important learning activity, safeguarding taxpayer funds is a more important focus for us.”
When the auditing team came in, the office staff was available to provide the requested documents, and Finnerty would help review the big picture of operations and provide information such as employee account access.
“Our goal is to keep fiscally sound and use funds effectively and wisely,” said Finnerty. “And we want to make sure it is right and that we use best practices when it comes to taxpayer funds.”
On a separate occasion, the school will also use auditors to train faculty and staff, helping them understand some of the more complex processes when collecting funds and filing expenditures throughout the school year.
“We are very pleased with our business office. They work well as a team, are smart and thorough, and I am delighted with their continuous attention to detail,” said Superintendent Chris DiFulvio. “We also appreciate the hard work and responsible use of taxpayer dollars from our dedicated board of education, administration, and teachers.”
