The current governance and management decisions of colleges and universities being made now, in the wake of a global pandemic, will reverberate for years to come. How institutions leverage their existing resources to grapple with the unforeseen challenges will test both fiscal stability and fiscal sustainability.
While all institutions expect to continue operations during the Fall 2020 semester, it remains uncertain whether students will be served via remote instruction or served in traditional, though modified, ways on campus (Kim et al., 2020). Regardless of the modality of service, Boards of Trustees, CEOs and CFOs must be courageous in making sound, strategic and informed decisions which reduce vulnerability and help to move institutions to positions of strength.
Independent auditors traditionally serve higher education institutions after a fiscal year has ended to determine the adequacy of internal controls, financial reporting, and compliance with formal accounting procedures. Influenced by both retrospection and projection, the authors, who include CPAs and higher education leaders, offer real-time fiscal management strategies to navigate this real-time crisis while there is time to make course corrections before the audit begins.
