State-wide General Meeting and PD Day School Council Financial Audits - Topic Audits demystified Wathsala Gunawardane – Senior Project Officer

Content 1.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 FirmRegions Covered DeloitteNorth Eastern Victoria South Eastern Victoria RSM Bird CameronNorth Western Victoria South Western Victoria

2014 Topic Audits 1.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 – 4.We value your feedback

Where to find further information on the SCFA Program DET Website ance/Pages/finaudits.aspx Contact