Finding Text
Identification: Significant deficiencies in internal control over compliance. There was inadequate internal controls in place over cash disbursements for financial statement reporting
which causes inadequate internal controls over compliance related to federal programs. See Financial
Statement Findings 2021‐002 and 2021‐003 for a description of these deficiencies, including the views of
responsible officials. 2021-002: Identification: Significant deficiency in internal control over financial reporting. Criteria: SAS 115 requires significant deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting identified in an
audit to be communicated in writing to management and those charged with governance. Management is
responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal controls over financial statement reporting. Condition: During our audit, we identified 19 out of 66 expenditures selected for testing that lacked
approval of the invoice. In addition, two of the expenditures selected for testing were credit card
transactions in which the credit card statement was approved, but was missing supporting documentation
for the specific credit card transaction and, therefore, individual approval of those transactions. Cause: The Authority has policies and procedures in place for maintaining supporting documentation and
approval of invoices, however, we found that the Authority did not consistently implement the policies and
procedures. Effect: Without adequate internal controls in place, there is increased risk of improper payments and financial statement misstatements. Repeat Finding: N/A. Recommendations: We recommend that the Authority review and strengthen their internal control policies and procedures related to cash disbursements including monitoring activities to ensure that the policies and procedures are being followed. Views of Responsible Officials: During the year ended June 30, 2020, the Authority implemented procedures
requiring a payment request form approval form be included with all cash disbursements documenting the
levels of approval required for each invoice, which must be attached and kept with the invoice and check
stub. No payments should be processed by Accounts Payable without the properly completed payment
request form. A written policy will be created by accounting department and communicated to both
leadership team and accounting department. 2021‐003 Identification: Significant deficiency in internal control over financial reporting. Criteria: SAS 115 requires significant deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting identified in an audit to be communicated in writing to management and those charged with governance. Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal controls over financial statement reporting. Ideal segregation of duties involves segregation of responsibilities for the authorization of transactions, recording of transactions, and maintaining custody of the related assets. Condition: We noted that the Authority has limited staff completing incompatible accounting functions
pertaining to cash disbursements due to the size of the entity and employee turnover. The Controller has
access to assets, posting access, reconciling responsibilities, and prepares journal entries. There is no review
of journal entries prepared by the Controller. Cause: A limited number of accounting personnel prevent a proper segregation of functions necessary to assure optimal internal control. This is not an unusual condition in similar sized organizations. Effect: Limited segregation of duties could result in misstatements not being prevented or detected on a timely basis in the normal course of operations. Repeat Finding: N/A Recommendations: We realize that with a limited number of office employees, segregation of duties is difficult or it may not be cost effective to employ additional personnel for the purpose of segregating duties. However, we recommend that the Authority continually review its internal control procedures, other compensating controls, and monitoring procedures to obtain the maximum internal control possible under the circumstances. Views of Responsible Officials: It is not cost effective for the Authority to justify staffing the number of positions necessary to have proper segregation of duties over cash disbursements. The Authority is aware of the lack of segregation of duties. The Board of Trustees and management will keep close supervision and review of accounting information as best means of preventing and detecting errors and irregularities.