Regional Vocational Schools
Allan Smith & Company, CPAs PC desire to support a strong educational foundation in the children of our community has been the basis for our interest in the very specialized practice area of providing assurance services to Commonwealth of Massachusetts regional vocational technical school districts. We have a special — and specially trained — team that works with these unique clients on government-wide financial statement audits and Department of Education (DOE) grant compliance. Our skilled and sensitive team is trained in current “Yellow Book” and OMB Circular A-133 compliance auditing and reporting specific to the Department of Education special education and vocational education grant compliance considerations unique to vocational technical schools. Further, as a member of the AICPA Governmental Audit Quality Center, we are committed to adhering to the highest quality auditing standards by voluntarily agreeing to the Center’s membership requirements, which include additional training, monitoring and oversight of all staff members involved with audits of regional vocational schools in accordance with Government Auditing Standards and the Uniform Guidance. We also perform Massachusetts Department of Education “End-of-year Pupil and Financial Report” audits in accordance with the DOE’s agreed upon procedures.
In today’s difficult operating environment, regional vocational technical school districts are facing significant challenges that include reductions in State Chapter 70 aid, limited funding for mandated transportation and special education support services, budgetary pressures from member communities, adherence to increasingly complex accounting and reporting standards and higher expectations of each graduating class. We are sensitive to these issues and routinely work with school districts to manage these competing requirements and expectations. Recognizing that the application of new or revised auditing and accounting standards require significant expertise of the Business Manager, we regularly provide consulting services to school districts in the application of Government Auditing Standards and with the preparation of the Management Discussion and Analysis presentation included in the audited financial statements.
