Educational audits help ensure that your school, university, or district complies with state laws, federal rules, and regulations. Yet, these audits take time and can add additional strain on staff and administration.
The more systems and processes you have in place, the easier it is to prepare for an audit. Your audit will be more streamlined, allowing you and your team to focus on any recommendations instead of feeling overwhelmed trying to gather all necessary documentation at the last moment.
In this post, we’re sharing how to make the educational audit process less stressful.
Why would a school be audited?
Education institutions may be audited for different reasons. An audit doesn’t mean that your school or university is doing anything wrong. Most are annual audits due to state or federal requirements.
Many audits focus on how the school, university, or department is spending funds since most receive federal funding. In addition, the audit helps ensure that funds and budgets comply with state or federal requirements.
Schools may also have internal audits. These audits can cover various situations, including ensuring programs serve students’ needs and assess the impact of new services, funding, and more.
What are the different types of education/school audits?
Schools have internal and external audits to ensure the appropriate use of public funds and that they meet state and federal guidelines. In addition to financial audits, schools or districts may also undergo a curriculum audit and a safety and security audit.
Internal audits, which are performed by the school or district, are usually smaller audits that address specific questions from the board of directors or the community the school serves. For example, an audit may focus on a particular department, classroom, program, or school. Internal audits also help management analyze and appraise programs, budgets, and departments. In addition, this process can help schools and districts evaluate how to best serve their students and provide data to help justify recommendations.
An internal audit provides a check and balance of a school or district’s systems. It can help identify any areas of improvement and ensure that finances are being spent appropriately. This type of audit also can make it easier when the school or district is faced with an external audit.
An outside organization performs an external audit. These audits help ensure that schools and districts that use public and federal funding comply with state and federal government standards.
One example of a commonly used external audit is the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. An independent auditor conducts this audit in compliance with government auditing standards.
5 tips to prepare for an educational audit
The key is to do audit preparation before you need it.
Ideally, you’ll have a workflow process already in place to make preparing for the upcoming audit easier. However, if your school doesn’t have an established process, use this upcoming audit as an opportunity to create dedicated time for outlining your workflow and processes. You and your team will be less stressed when you’re confident you’re fully prepared.
Try these five tips to help prepare for an educational audit.
1. Review past audit recommendations
You or another member of your administration team should review the last audit you received. Identify what was working well, any suggestions for improvements, and other comments.
Go through all recommendations to determine whether your administration made any necessary changes. If a suggestion was not taken, take time now to indicate why and what was done instead. As a result, you’ll be able to explain the reasons if you’re asked about it in the upcoming audit.
2. Understand the purpose of your upcoming audit
Whether you’re undergoing a financial statement audit or a compliance audit, review the purpose of the audit to prepare properly. Take time to understand the audit’s scope, the timeline, and the auditor’s responsibilities. Ask questions ahead of time if you need additional information. This step will help you identify what type of electronic and paper copies of the information you’ll need and give you ample time to assemble it.
3. Review reasons for the upcoming audit with key members
Audits can feel stressful to everyone involved. Your administration and staff are busy providing a quality learning environment. Undergoing an audit can add extra work and may feel overwhelming.
So, a crucial element is going over the reason for the audit with anyone who will be directly involved. This can help ease people’s concerns, normalize the process, and help people see it as something that can be useful feedback. The more members understand the reason for the audit, how it impacts them, and how the information will be used, the less stressful the process will be.
4. Identify one person to oversee the audit process
While many people may have a role in preparing for and helping with the audit, you’ll want one person in charge of overseeing the process. Ideally, this person will have experience with past audits. Someone who has an understanding of the legal and financial matters involved would also be beneficial. This person will help coordinate the preparations and be someone others can go to with questions.
5. Organize all necessary data using asset management software
Providing all the necessary data in an easy-to-access format will help your audit proceed smoothly. The auditor will be able to assess and evaluate your information, making their job easier and allowing for a more comfortable audit. You can use prior audits as a guide for the type of information you’ll need to gather. In addition, the auditor may want to look at general ledger data, accounts payable, and vendor databases.
An asset tracking system can also help with this process if you’re undergoing an asset audit or budget review as part of an internal or external audit. You’ll be able to efficiently show what assets you have, how they are used, frequency of use, and more. Having this data in one central place can save a huge amount of time.
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In sum, taking the time to establish a dedicated system and processes early on will make any future educational audits less stressful.
Additionally, ensuring your assets, data, and documentation are maintained and current throughout the school year will also make it easier when you’re being audited.
Looking for software to help you gather and organize all of the information you will need for an upcoming educational audit? Try Reftab for free.
