Terrell schools bring in outside financial team after CFO departure

DAWSON — The Terrell County Board of Education has approved an agreement with the Mauldin & Jenkins CPA firm to provide CFO-level consulting and financial support as the school system continues rebuilding its finance department following months of turnover and identified longstanding weaknesses in its financial processes.

The board approved the agreement during a special called meeting Tuesday, after Superintendent Shereca Harvey walked members through the scope, cost and terms of the contract.

The agreement comes after the departure of former Chief Financial Officer Tony Lowe, who left Terrell County Schools after about six months to take the CFO position with Sumter County Schools.

Harvey previously told The Albany Herald that Lowe joined the district in February during a particularly difficult period for its finance department, with staff turnover, unresolved vendor payments, payroll and benefits issues, two outstanding audits and the development of the Fiscal Year 2027 budget all happening at once.

Rather than immediately placing another CFO into that environment, Harvey said earlier this month that she wanted an outside team to help stabilize the department first, putting in place best-practice systems and processes that have been missing from the district for years prior to her elevation to the superintendent’s position. 

“I’m bringing in a group so that the next CFO will not be overwhelmed,” Harvey said. “They’re going to clean things up, get us where we need to be.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, Harvey said Mauldin & Jenkins representatives visited the district Aug. 20 to assess its needs before developing the proposal presented to the board.

The agreement is not for basic bookkeeping or data-entry services. Instead, Harvey said the district selected higher-level “controlling” and CFO services designed to improve financial oversight, reporting and internal controls.

Under the agreement, Mauldin & Jenkins will review the district’s budget status and projections monthly, monitor grant activity, help prepare monthly financial information for the board and consult directly with Harvey.

The firm also will provide support to the Finance Department with bank reconciliations, unpaid invoices and aging accounts-payable reports, inter-fund transfers, budget evaluation, grant reimbursement requests, capital asset tracking and school activity accounts.

Harvey said the firm will assign two to three people to work with the district. Much of the work can be performed remotely, but consultants can come to the district when on-site work is necessary.

The agreement also gives the district access to additional services as needed, including financial process gap analysis, development of internal controls, procurement and purchasing-card policies, school activity training and internal audits.

Those controls have been a recurring focus of the district’s effort to reorganize its financial operations.

“This is important in order to keep the board in a strong financial position,” Harvey told board members Tuesday. “We have a strong fund balance. We have some processes, but we need strong internal control.”

Harvey said those controls are likely to remain an issue in the district’s audit process.

The work follows a broader financial cleanup already underway.

Harvey previously said district officials discovered unresolved payables involving benefit vendors and were notified of money owed to the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia. Concerns over whether some payroll deductions had been properly remitted contributed to the district seeking an outside review of its payroll and financial practices.

Mauldin & Jenkins conducted that review earlier this year, examining payroll, deductions, employee benefits, contracts, tax and pension remittances, and internal controls.

Tuesday’s agreement gives Mauldin & Jenkins a broader role in helping the district manage those systems going forward.

One of the firm’s first priorities will be helping the district complete a required DE 46 state financial filing, a state-required financial report reflecting the school district’s adopted budget due Sept. 14. Harvey described the DE 46 to the board as the budget information school systems are required to submit to the Georgia Department of Education.

The consultants also will review the district’s existing financial policies and handbooks to identify gaps in procedures and internal controls.

Another area of focus will be school activity accounts.

Harvey told the board she expects those accounts to be noted in the district’s FY 2025 audit, although she stopped short of saying auditors would issue a formal finding.

“We pretty much know that there’s going to be — I won’t say a finding — but it will be noted in the FY ’25 audit about school activity accounts,” Harvey said.

The consulting agreement carries several different costs, depending on the services the district uses.

Harvey told the board the agreement includes a one-time $5,000 onboarding fee to provide the consulting team secure access to district financial systems and familiarize it with district operations.

A closeout financial review is estimated at $13,000 for approximately 55 hours of support. One portion of the monthly financial support services is priced at $4,500 per month, while controller-level services are listed at an amount not to exceed $8,000. Additional projects would be billed separately if the district chooses to use them.

Because some services are optional, Harvey said there is not a single fixed total cost for the agreement.

When a board member questioned how unbudgeted consulting expenses would be covered, Harvey said the district could reassign money within the existing budget or, if necessary, use the system’s fund balance.

The agreement took effect with the board’s approval and runs through June 30. It automatically renews for another 12 months unless terminated. Either party can end the arrangement with 30 days’ written notice.

Harvey said that provision gives the district the ability to end the consulting relationship once a permanent CFO is hired and the outside services are no longer necessary.