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• • • CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH, FLORIDA • • SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS • FOR THE YEAR ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2014 • • • SECTION H-FINANCIAL STATEMENT FINDINGS (CONTINUED) • Material Weaknesses (continued) • • 2014-001 Internal control over financial close and reporting (continued) • Recommendation • • We recommend a detailed general ledger account analysis of all accounts be performed on a • monthly or quarterly basis (in a timely manner) and reviewed by supervisory Finance Department staff to ensure accurate recording of transactions. Finance Department supervisory • personnel should also perform an analytical review of account balances with the prior year and • /or budget balances prior to closing the books and records to facilitate determining if significant • variances exist, the reasons that support the variance, and if any adjustments are required. We ® believe that the year-end closing could be expedited by developing a logical order for closing procedures dictated by a checklist and assigning responsibility for completing the procedures to • specific City personnel. We further recommend that City personnel responsible for the books • and records and approval of journal entries consult with their auditors in a timely manner or • others for unusual or difficult to record transactions prior to recording in the City's books and records especially given the complexities associated with the accounting standards. • • Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action • Several changes to the annual closing process are being put in place. The Finance Department • will ensure that the closing process is done on a monthly basis in our accounting software and • reconcile the general accounts as well as the funds. This will allow the Associate Controller to • perform various analytical reviews to address significant variances in a timely manner. The • Finance staff is also is currently working with other municipalities to create an accounting manual that will outline the monthly and yearly closing processes in our accounting software. • Finally. staff will be working on the audit schedules provided by client on a quarterly basis ® instead of creating them at year-end for the audit. This new procedure will give our finance staff ® time to complete the schedules throughout the year which will be updated for the audit. • The monthly, quarterly and annual processes and audit schedules will be assigned and reviewed • by the Associate Controller to ensure that they are completed in a timely manner and all ® transactions are recorded accurately to avoid audit adjustments. • In case of complex accounting issues, the Chief Financial Officer will be involved as well as the • external auditors to provide guidance for the best possible scenario. • 0 • 0 11 • 0