Finding 537327 (2024-001)

Condition: The County’s offices are not large enough to permit an adequate segregation of duties for effective internal controls. Management has not separated incompatible activities of personnel, thereby creating risks related to the safeguarding of cash and the accuracy of the financial statements. Criteria: Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining internal control. A good system of internal control provides for adequate segregation of duties so no one individual handles a transaction from its inception to completion. In order to maintain proper internal control, duties should be segregated so the authorization, custody and recording of transactions are not under the control of the same employee. This segregation of duties helps prevent losses from employee error or dishonesty and maximizes the accuracy of the County’s financial statements. Cause: The concentration of closely related duties and responsibilities such as the recording and processing of cash receipts, 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 County would not be able to detect misstatements that would be material in relation to the financial statements and/or federal award programs in a timely period by employees in the normal course of performing their assigned functions. Recommendation: The County should review the operating procedures of the County offices to obtain the maximum internal control possible under the circumstances utilizing currently available staff, including elected officials. While we do recognize that the County is not large enough to permit a segregation of duties for effective internal controls, we believe it is important the Board be aware that this condition does exist. Repeat Finding: Yes. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Management is cognizant of this limitation and will implement additional procedures where possible.