Finding 1182177 (2025-001)

Condition: During our review of internal controls, the existing procedures are evaluated in order to determine that incompatible duties, from a control standpoint, are not performed by the same employee. This segregation of duties helps to prevent losses from employee error or dishonesty and therefore maximizes the accuracy of Northeast Iowa Mental Health Center’s financial statements. The financial, grant and payroll reporting is primarily the responsibility of one person. As a result, interruption of some accounting functions could occur if they were unable to perform their duties. Criteria: A properly designed segregation of duties allows entities to initiate, authorize, record, process, and report financial data reliably in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Cause: The concentration of closely related duties and responsibilities such as the recording and processing of cash receipts, processing payroll, preparing grant expenditure reports, preparing financial information for posting and analyzing financial information by a small staff makes it impossible to establish an adequate system of automatic internal checks on the accuracy and reliability of the accounting records. Effect: This deficiency results in a reasonable possibility that the Center would not be able to detect misstatements that would be material in relation to the financial statements in a timely period by employees in the normal course of performing their assigned functions. Recommendation: We realize that with a limited number of office employees, segregation of duties is difficult. However, the Center should review the operating procedures to obtain the maximum internal control possible under the circumstances. The Center should also consider the potential consequence of reliance on one person for financial, grant and payroll reporting. Repeat Finding: Yes. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: This issue is reviewed annually through the audit review with the Board of Directors. The Center has implemented a segregation of duties action plan effective June 30, 2025 to address this issue going forward.