11-2 Funding claim audits and record keeping audits

Purpose of the funding claim audit

The purpose of a funding claim audit is to:

• verify that the service is claiming and receiving the correct amount of funding
• verify that a service is meeting the record keeping requirements 
• provide advice and assistance to services about record keeping requirements.

Documentation required

You must supply the following documentation for the period you are being audited on to the Ministry’s Resourcing Auditors as part of the funding claim audit:

• RS7 Form
• Attendance Registers
• Enrolment Records
• Staffing Record and copies of practising certificates and Early Childhood qualifications (teacher-led services only)
• copies of New Zealand primary teacher qualifications
• completed EC12 and EC13 Forms
• audited general purpose financial statements or special purpose financial report
• documentation to verify PRT Support Grant claims.

Services will be audited on:

Services of all types will be audited to verify the accuracy of their funded child hour entitlement claims.

Teacher-led services will also be audited on:

• claims for the Support Grant for Provisionally Registered Teachers
• Registered and Other Teacher Hour claims (education and care services and all day kindergartens only)
• qualifications of registered teachers (education and care services and all day kindergartens only)
• record keeping requirements for 20 Hours ECE.

Education and care services that attest to paying their Registered Teachers at the level of the Consenting Parties Collective Agreement¹  must hold verification of this attestation.

The audit visit and report

The Resourcing Auditor will write to your service before the visit takes place, advising the time of the visit and the documentation you will need to have available.

Funding claim audits of home-based care networks will take place in the area in which the network operates.

An audit of a centre will generally take a full day, though sometimes longer periods may be required. The Resourcing Auditor will need a quiet place in which to work and access to a staff member who can answer any questions that arise.

At the end of the visit the Resourcing Auditor will provide a verbal report of the findings to the to the licensee or the licensee's authorised delegate.

A formal written report will be sent to the service provider contact person. This will usually be within two weeks of the audit.

Funding and staffing adjustment

If the audit determines the service has been incorrectly funded the service will have their funding adjusted in the next funding cycle.

Appeals

The service provider contact person is able to appeal any audit findings in the report. The appeal must be filed within 20 working days of the receipt of the audit letter advising of the audit findings.

The letter of appeal should be addressed to the Manager, Monitoring, Resourcing Division, Ministry of Education.

¹The Consenting Parties Early Childhood Agreement is negotiated by NZEI Te Riu Roa and a group of ECE employers.