PSSD trustees select Deloitte as auditor for next five years

Deloitte will be the auditor for Prairie South School Division (PSSD) for the next five years after division administration recommended it to trustees over three other proponents.

The current auditor, Stark and Marsh CPA LLP, has reviewed the division’s finances for the past few years, but its contract expires this year. So, the division posted a request for proposals (RFP) for a new five-year term with an option for five more years. An administrative team reviewed the submissions from four proponents and then created a shortlist of two proponents to interview.

The team reached a consensus after the interviews and then submitted a recommendation to the board of education, encouraging the hiring of Deloitte for the next half-decade. Trustees agreed with the recommendation during their most recent board meeting and vote in favour of the company.

“It’s good governance to switch up our auditor so we can get fresh eyes on things,” trustee Shawn Davidson said. Trustee Lew Young was curious as to how the administration team landed on Deloitte, asking how the company was selected, why it was selected, whether it had a lower price, and whether it offered services that others didn’t. The team used a scoring matrix that gave grades to such areas as cost and previous experience, while it scored each proposal using that matrix and then included the interviews as well, explained board chair Robert Bachmann. After that process, Deloitte was the consensus choice among the administration team.

Deloitte will carry out the 2019-20 school year audit once this year is finished.