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State-wide General Meeting and PD DaySchool Council Financial Audits - Topic Audits demystified
Wathsala Gunawardane – Senior Project Officer
Content1. Introduction
2. What is a topic audit?
3. Why topic audits?
4. How do we select topics?
5. How do we select schools for topic audits?
6. Conduct of topic audits, when and who?
7. Tips for preparation
8. Communication of topic audit findings
9. Overview of the 2014 SCFA Program
10. Questions?
11. Your feedback
What is a topic audit?• Each year the Department identifies audit themes or
topics for review/testing by the auditors at a sample of schools in addition to the general financial audit.
• The topics selected are either:– detailed testing of financial management aspects in addition
to what is tested in the general SCFA program (e.g. budget management) or
– testing of non-financial aspects (e.g. emergency management).
Why Topic Audits?
Purpose of topic audits are to:1. Gain a better understanding of selected processes
2. Identify improvement opportunities to current processes
3. Provide improvement advice and success measures regarding the management of school finances and the effectiveness of financial controls
4. Improve compliance and school internal control systems
How we select topics?• Consultation with Deputy Secretaries• List of suggestions kept during the year• Risk assess and prioritise• Short listing through a risk assessment and
prioritisation process• Approval by the audit committee
How we select schools for topic audits?• The sample of the schools selected for topic audits is a
subset of the schools selected for financial audit in that year.
• One topic audit per school• A DET circular is sent out in Term 4 with the list of
schools selected for that year’s SCFA program including topic audit selection.
• The audit firms contact the selected schools in December/January each year to organise visits.
• Audits will take place between January and May each year.
Conduct of topic audits, when and who?• Topic audits are carried out by the same auditors who
conducts the financial audits• Topic audits are generally performed at the same time
as financial audits
Tips for preparation• Review any correspondence from the Department or
the auditors regarding the current year’s audit• Check if your school is selected for any topic audits• Make yourself available to auditors on the audit visit
day• If required, you may need to communicate with other
school staff and ensure their availability on the audit visit days
• Auditors will provide a list of documents they require in advance of their visit. Make sure the documentation is compiled before the visit date
• Ask questions from auditors if you are unclear/unsure
Communication of topic audit findings• Topic audit findings are recorded in the school’s
management letter similar to any other audit finding• Auditors will obtain management comments and
implementation dates for any recommendations they provide to improve school processes
• Next time your school gets audited, auditors will follow-up on prior year recommendations to check whether past recommendations have been implemented
• A DET circular is sent out in August/September each year summarising the results and learnings of that year’s SCFA program
Overview of 2014 SCFA Program
• 450 schools
• 7 Topic audits
• Two firms
• Visits to schools – In progress
Audit Firm Regions Covered
Deloitte North Eastern VictoriaSouth Eastern Victoria
RSM Bird Cameron North Western VictoriaSouth Western Victoria
2014 Topic Audits1. Review of condition assessment spend at schools
2. Minimum standards compliance for emergency management
3. Special Religious Instruction
4. School cleaning contract compliance
5. A review of indirect taxes, superannuation and compliance with industrial awards for schools with early childhood services including kindergartens and OSHC programs
6. Vetting of volunteers and onsite contractors
7. Control optimisation review - Budgeting process
QUESTIONS?
Your Feedback
1. A survey will be sent out in May 2015 to all schools that participated in the 2014 SCFA program
2. Please encourage your colleagues to provide their feedback and suggest improvement opportunities
3. Please send any other feedback to – [email protected]
4. We value your feedback
Where to find further information on the SCFA Program
DET Website http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/spag/finance/Pages/finaudits.aspx
Contact [email protected]
