Finding 8053 (2022-001)

Material Weakness
Requirement
A
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2022
Accepted
2024-01-09
Audit: 10565
Organization: Alvis, Inc. (OH)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: Insufficient internal controls over financial reporting led to material adjustments during the audit.
  • Impacted Requirements: Management failed to reconcile accounts and maintain records according to GAAP due to staffing turnover.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Assess accounting staff levels and skills, and improve documentation and training for internal controls.

Finding Text

Finding 2022-001 - Material Adjustments Criteria: Management is responsible for reconciling the accounts at end of year and ensuring accounting records are kept in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Condition: There were insufficient internal controls over financial reporting requiring material audit adjustments during the audit to prevent the consolidated financial statements from being materially misstated. Cause: Due to staffing turnover and shortages all required entries needed were not recorded and management relied on auditors to propose entries after audit procedures. Effect or potential effect: Most adjustments were due to staffing issues or lack of knowledge of GAAP with new staffing to properly make the required adjustments. The risk with this condition is that necessary adjustment to the financial statements to record material misstatements may be missed, and there is no control in place to detect and correct this condition. Recommendation: The Organization and accounting industry in general have had some significant staffing issues over the past few years that have led to the issues noted. The Organization needs to:  Assess accounting staff to ensure you have the correct number for size of Organization and proper skill set.  Ensure processes and internal controls are documented and staff has appropriate training. Views of responsible officials: See attached.

Corrective Action Plan

Corrective Action Plan 2023: Alvis, Inc. recognizes that significant turnover in accounting operations and financial reporting teams resulted in a material number of adjustments, proposed by our accounting firm, in order to complete the 2022 audit. To properly address this matter, Jacqueline Neal has been tasked with improving upon the corrective actions which began in 2023 in order to comprehensively address this gap: 1) Fill vacant positions and redefine job responsibilities; 2) Implement an accounting workflow automation solution; 3} Hold internal trainings to increase our Finance Team's technical accounting knowledge and operational efficiencies. Fill vacancies and redefine job responsibilities: 1. The first order of business was to hire a seasoned payroll employee to handle all functions of payroll processing and recording related journal entries. This role was hired in September 2023. This was followed with an Accounting Manager and accounts payable coordinator hires in April 2023, which has resulted in critical accrual accounts being recorded and reconciled accurately and timely. 2. The team then redefined jobs and responsibilities of each team member, resulting in much greater communication and understanding around required job functions. This has resulted in substantial growth in our teamwork and collaboration. 3. The entire month-end close process was redefined with new expectations and tracking. This has resulted in the closing of the monthly books within 15 days after month end. Automation of month-end close workflows and centralization of reconciliations: 4. The Finance team implemented an automated accounting workflow software (FloQast or FQ) in April 2023. FQ allows the Team to streamline recurring tasks, checklists, and centralized documentation to increase the accuracy of our Close Data. For example, the system provides the team with a centralized view of the reconciliation status of each account with balance comparisons to the general ledger, preparers, reviewer, and signoff dates. Additionally, FQ sends automatic notifications when reconciliations are due, items are ready for review, or if the platform detects an unexpected out of balance condition. Internal accounting trainings 5. The team is in the process of creating an ongoing monthly hindsight meeting to review the previous month end process. This will be used to identify opportunities and training needs of the team. 6. The team plans to continue our quarterly lunch and learns which began in July 2023. •

Categories

Reporting Internal Control / Segregation of Duties

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 584495 2022-001
    Material Weakness

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
93.959 Treatment of Substance Abuse $767,563
93.498 Provider Relief Fund $532,139
93.788 Opioid Str $305,961
93.243 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance $126,835
17.270 Hopes $126,739
16.593 Residential Substance Abuse Treatment $100,892
16.575 Crime Victim Assistance/catch Court $70,298
93.558 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families $6,716