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Full Disclosure: The Public Treasury Podcast from DebtBookAuthor: DebtBook
Hosts Tyler Traudt and Nina Enholm explore how technology, capital markets, the economy, and public policy collide with the realities of state and local governments, nonprofits, higher education, and more. Featuring industry-leading guests, each episode breaks down the trends and events shaping public treasury today. DebtBook Disclaimer: https://hubs.la/Q02bT2Yw0 Language: en Genres: Business, Government Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Full Disclosure—Live! with Ana Machado, Vista Unified School District (CA)
Episode 3
Thursday, 15 January, 2026
Episode Summary In this episode of Full Disclosure – Live!, DebtBook product leaders Stephen Yokim and James Perez sit down with Ana Machado, Director of Fiscal Services for Vista Unified School District in San Diego County, California, to discuss how school district finance teams balance broad operational responsibilities with tight reporting timelines — and how purpose-built software supports consistency, transparency, and team-wide confidence. Ana shares what her team oversees across Vista Unified's 27 campuses, including payroll, budgeting, accounting, purchasing, and procurement — plus managing general obligation bonds and certificates of participation tied to facilities. She highlights the importance of trust and transparency in public finance, and the role technology plays in building standardized processes across a large, segmented team. Ana also walks through Vista Unified's decision to adopt DebtBook in 2023 to support GASB 87 (leases) and GASB 96 (subscriptions) compliance. With hundreds of contracts to evaluate and new reporting requirements to meet, she explains why the district chose a structured system and hands-on implementation support over building everything in Excel. Today, DebtBook helps Vista Unified maintain clear schedules, generate reports and journal entries, and access the data needed to meet internal, state, and federal reporting deadlines. Finally, Ana shares how her team approaches professional development and knowledge-sharing — including how they use DebtBook University, webinars, and in-app chat support to reinforce training, navigate workflows, and onboard new staff. She closes with a look at what's ahead for Vista Unified: enrollment forecasting, budget development, and stakeholder engagement with the community and board of trustees. Featured Guest Ana Machado serves as Director of Fiscal Services for Vista Unified School District in San Diego County, California. In this role, she oversees fiscal services across the district, including accounting, budgeting, payroll, purchasing, and procurement. Ana joined Vista Unified in 2007, returned to the district in 2015, and has served as the Director of Fiscal Services since 2023. Top Takeaways From Session 03 (1) Standardization Builds Trust: With a broad finance operation supporting 27 campuses, Vista Unified prioritizes transparency and consistent processes — and views technology as a key driver of reliability across the team. (2) GASB 87 & 96 Compliance at Scale: Facing complex lease and subscription reporting requirements and hundreds of contracts to assess, Vista Unified implemented DebtBook in 2023 to create clear schedules, support journal entry reporting, and meet ongoing compliance needs. (3) Training That Scales With the Team: DebtBook University, webinars, and in-app support help reinforce knowledge, answer workflow questions quickly, and support onboarding as staff roles evolve over time.
