Publication and Notice
School boards are required under s252(2) of the Education Act to publish their audited financial statements on their website within one month after receiving the auditor’s report on the board’s financial statements. As a minimum this would include the Consolidated Statement of Financial Position, Consolidated Statement of Operations, Consolidated Statement of Cash Flow, Consolidated Statement of Change in Net Debt, Consolidated Statement of Remeasurement Gains and Losses, the auditor’s report, and the notes to the financial statements. In addition, school boards are required to publish their annual report.
School boards and their controlled entities are subject to the requirements of the provincial Broader Public Sector Business Documents Directive, sections 4.1 and 4.2. This directive applies to every corporation controlled by one or more school boards that exist solely or primarily for the purpose of purchasing goods or services for the school board(s), for example, transportation consortia. Under this directive, transportation consortia and other such corporations controlled by the school board(s) must post their audited financial statements to their website within six months of the end of the organization’s fiscal year.
School boards should include board signatures on the face of the financial statements as evidence of board approval, and publish those signed copies on their website. They should also append a signed statement of management responsibility to all audited financial statements that are published on their website.
School boards are required to follow the illustrative notes to the financial statements when preparing their audited financial statements, unless, in consultation with their auditor, a different note better reflects the unique circumstances of the school board. The illustrative notes can be found within EFIS under the “Training Material” task list.
If the school board does not have a website, it can make the financial statements and the auditor’s report available to those affected by them in another manner that the treasurer considers appropriate, such as social media or mail or deliver a copy of the financial statements and auditor’s report to each of the board’s supporters.
The information and publication delivery method are the minimum requirements under clauses 252(2)1 or 252(2)2 of the Education Act; however, a school board may wish to publish further details.
School boards are required to send an electronic copy of the financial statements, notes to the financial statements, Auditor’s Report and Board Annual Report as published to their ministry Financial Analyst.
Guidelines on how long a school board should keep their financial statements posted on their website:
Per Sections 4.1 and 4.2 of the Broader Public Sector (BPS) Business Documents Directive, school board budgets and audited financial statements are considered two of the documents that designated BPS organizations are required to post online. The BPS Business Documents Directive support material provides the following guidance for documents and information that are required to be posted by the Directive, which also applies to audited financial statements. Under the section “Keeping plans and documents online”, it is recommended that organizations keep information on their websites indefinitely. However, it must be evident which documents and information are the most recent. While it is not a requirement, the recommendation is in keeping with the accountability, transparency and value for money principles of the Directive. As a general practice, most school boards post the most recent five years of their school board budgets and audited financial statements.