Town Accounting

The Town Accountant is responsible for numerous activities as required by Massachusetts General Law. Chief among them are the following: 

The Town Accountant is responsible for keeping the financial records for the Town, including all the budgeted appropriation amounts for all departments, boards, and committees as well as all the expenditures made by these same groups against those appropriations. 

All receipts, commitments, abatements, and adjustments are recorded in the Town Accountant’s general ledger. 

The Town Accountant is responsible for reviewing all invoices and requests for payment prior to issuance of any checks. The review requires the Town Accountant to determine if the expense is a legal and proper expenditure, that it is within the budget of the department, and that the request is completed as required. After this process, the warrant for payment is sent to the Board of Selectmen for review and approval and then to the Treasurer Collector who in turn issues the checks. 

The Town Accountant provides monthly reports to each department, committee, and board showing the activity on their accounts; these reports are used for their review of their departments' activities. 

The Town Accountant provides a report of the revenues and expenditures annually for the Town Report. 

The Town Accountant’s general ledger has the control accounts for Cash and Accounts Receivable. Monthly, this control is reconciled to the detail which is held in the Treasurer/Collector’s records. 

The Town Accountant works with the auditors annually to complete the required outside audit of records. The Accountant prepares the Balance Sheet for the certification of free cash as well as annual reports for the Community Preservation Committee and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, works with other departments to complete the Tax Recap form needed to certify the upcoming year’s real estate tax rate, and also works to complete the Schedule A report detailing all expenses – required by the Department of Revenue. 

The Town Accountant is a member of the Town’s Financial Management Team and the Capital Improvement Planning Committee as well as an ex-officio member of the Insurance Advisory Committee.