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.

In this episode of Full Disclosure – Live!, DebtBook product leaders Stephen Yokim and James Perez sit down with Joey Fuqua, Finance Director for the City of Henderson, North Carolina, to discuss modernization, resilience, and what's ahead for a small city on the cusp of growth.

In early 2024, a ransomware attack disrupted Henderson's access to critical financial data and reporting systems. Amid the challenge of restoring operations, DebtBook played a key role in helping the city maintain audit compliance and keep essential reporting processes running smoothly. Joey reflects on the experience as both a test of resilience and a turning point in how Henderson approaches data security and cloud-based systems moving forward.

Joey traces his ten years in Henderson, describing how he replaced paper-heavy workflows with automation which improved controls and generated more than $150,000 in unbudgeted bank rebates. He shares why Henderson adopted DebtBook for GASB lease and subscription compliance and how he's now evaluating a move from debt spreadsheets to DebtBook's debt management module for added resilience.

Looking ahead, Joey shares some of Henderson's opportunities: proximity to the Research Triangle, two interstates, and a $100M+ regional water plant upgrade that will double capacity and support new development. With council transitions and zoning work underway, he's focused on positioning the city for sustainable growth after decades of industrial change.

Top Takeaways:

(1) Cyber Lessons, The Hard Way: A late-February ransomware incident wiped local files, showing the need for independent backups, cloud-first operations, and rigorous vendor oversight.

(2) Hands-On Partnership Matters: DebtBook proactively reached out, restored access to key records already in the platform, and guided workflows, helping Henderson stay audit-ready while other systems were rebuilt.

(3) Positioned for Growth: With proximity to the Research Triangle, two interstates, and a $100M+ regional water plant upgrade set to double capacity, Henderson is aligning infrastructure and governance to capture incoming development.

In the premier episode of Full Disclosure – Live!, DebtBook product leaders, Stephen Yokim and James Perez, sit down with Michael Gaughan, Executive Director of the Vermont Bond Bank, to explore how bond banks drive access to affordable capital for communities across Vermont.

Michael shares his unique journey from community planning and public finance banking to leading the Bond Bank, where a staff of just four manages nearly $1 billion in loans supporting schools, infrastructure, clean water, disaster recovery, and more. He takes listeners through the Bond Bank's origins in the 1970s, its innovative state intercept mechanism, and its evolution toward what he calls Bond Bank 2.0, a new financing structure designed to strengthen resiliency while preparing for billions in school construction needs.

The conversation details how Vermont municipalities use pooled lending to finance everything from library renovations to gravel pit acquisitions, the latter proving surprisingly vital during recent flooding. Michael also explains how DebtBook's technology helps the Bond Bank maintain data integrity, streamline consent tracking, and ensure long-term organizational resilience.

From financing history to modern-day innovation, this episode offers a deeper look at how a small but powerful team is reshaping the way local governments in Vermont access and manage capital.

Top Takeaways:

(1) Resilience Through Data Integrity: Moving beyond spreadsheets, Michael explains how DebtBook helps the Bond Bank strengthen institutional memory, track resolutions, and ensure continuity for decades to come.

(2) From Bond Bank 1.0 to 2.0: To prepare for billions in future school construction, Vermont is shifting its pooled loan structure toward a senior/junior lien model that reduces reliance on state moral obligations.

(3) Creative Community Solutions: Beyond traditional schools and libraries, pooled financing has enabled surprising projects like joint gravel pit purchases—proving critical for disaster recovery when floods hit.