The Audit Process

How is the external auditor selected?

Our auditor was selected for us in 2001 when the district was nearly bankrupt and had a business manager appointed.  At one point PISD actually had a NEGATIVE bank statement. Typically a board or superintendent conducts interviews and chooses the auditor that meets the specifications agreed upon. There can be a bidding process as well but not many schools use that method.

How does the auditor conduct the audit?

A team of auditors come in and ask for the district’s financial files.  We send them a pretty extensive amount of information prior to their arrival for them to look over. When they come they pull documents to verify financial expenditures. They get a list from TEA about what to look at each year and from year to year those items can be very different.

What does the audit conclude about district financial procedures and

actions?

They look for fraud or expenditures that do not follow normal accounting rules. GASB has a specific policy or set rules that are to be followed when dealing with government funds. They make sure we are following this set of rules, so the report will say that we have met the requirements.

How are the results communicated?

The auditor comes and gives a written and oral report to the board indicating actual expenditures and if we put money in fund balance or if we had to dip into the fund balance for the previous year.