MUSCATINE, Iowa–Like all school districts, Muscatine Community School District must budget carefully, funding many different needs while using money as required by state and federal law. Districts must also complete audits annually to prove they have used and accounted for their funds correctly. For the 2021-2022 fiscal year, Muscatine Community School District took its financial transparency one step further, completing an annual comprehensive financial report. The district received the Association of School Business Officials International Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting for its thoughtful and detailed reporting.

In an annual comprehensive financial report, districts include additional information that provides insight into their financial management, including cover and introductory materials and extensive statistical sections. These statistical sections contain history on various topics, stretching back as far as 10 years. A labor-intensive process, the Muscatine Community School District finance team invested many hours ensuring the statistical sections included all the information they needed.

Tom Anderson, Muscatine Community School District director of finance and budget. Photo courtesy of Muscatine Community School District.

Once districts complete their audits and submit their annual audit report or annual comprehensive financial plans, auditors review them and give comments, called qualifications, noting any irregularities or mistakes they find. If auditors do not find areas of concern, they issue unqualified opinions. Muscatine Community School District Director of Finance and Budget Tom Anderson took great pride in receiving the Certificate in Financial Reporting and also receiving unqualified opinions. “I’m very proud of the award, especially giving recognition to Muscatine Community School District for their sound financial condition and pride taken in having a clean audit report,” he said.

School budgeting will always remain a challenge, as changes to state and some federal laws can impact the funding districts receive and change what they can spend it on. As Muscatine Community School District continues to face these challenges, Anderson looks forward to continuing to work with organizations that support school finance departments, like the Iowa Association of School Business Officials, the statewide chapter of the Association of School Business Officials International, as well as the district’s finance team, to continue producing strong budgets and well-received audits in the future. “School finance is challenging and rewarding,” Anderson explained: “Challenging in the sense that resources are limited from the state for public schools, and we continue to have to do more with less. It is rewarding in the sense that my department has an indirect impact on students learning and working with administrators to help them do their job.”