Keefe, Gov. Mgmt. Letters - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

CITY OF PLANTATION, FLORIDA SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS FEDERAL PROGRAMS AND STATE PROJECTS For the Year Ended September 30, 2009 B. FINDINGS - FINANCIAL STATEMENT AUDIT Material Weaknesses 2009-1: Reconcile accounts on a timely basis During the performance of our audit procedures we noted that certain normal routine account reconciliations were not performed in a timely manner. In order to make the financial reports generated by the accounting system as meaningful as possible, the City should reconcile the general ledger accounts for cash, accounts payable, and accounts receivable to supporting documentation on a monthly basis. A cash reconciliation that reconciles from the bank balance to the general ledger balance should be prepared to determine that all cash transactions have been recorded properly and to discover bank errors. A reconciliation of accounts payable from the general ledger to the outstanding accounts payable register should be prepared to determine that all additions to and payments of accounts payable are correctly recorded and to determine whether there are any disputed items. A reconciliation of accounts receivable from the general ledger to the accounts receIvable detail ledger should be prepared to check that the recording of transactions is accurate and proper and that any adjustments to or write-offs of accounts receivable have been approved. Also, timely reconciliations prevent errors from accumulating which would allow the city to properly identIfy issues and correct them in the correct period facilitating future reconciliations. Management's Response: This is the flISt full year that the Microsoft Dynamics GP system was in use for all areas within the Finance Department. During our last audit, there was only one month in which information was compiled into the generaf ledger system prior to the audit. Staff had the daunting task of learning how to properly record information into this system in a manner which was conducive to not only the recordmg of receipts and disbursements but also that of the end use to the bank reconciliation. Staff turnover caused a hardship on the timely completion of daily work and subsystem reconciliations. Many trial and errors were made in the first six months after implementation and then fine tuned to a more usable fashion over the last year. Besides procedurally, receipts that were combined into one cash account have now been isolated and are being deposited into a separate account for ease of reconciliation. Restructuring within the department has led to higher efficiency and accuracy of work with defined accountabilIty for all aspects within the department. With the appointment of a new Finance Operations Manager in April 2010 both areas, accounts payable and accounts receivable, will report to one supervisor whereas in the past these areas were segregated. Review processes are being refined and a general sense of teamwork has been instilled amongst staff to create a more efficient work environment. As these areas improve and become more efficient, this allows for the reconciliations of the cash accounts to be more streamlined and less cumbersome as these subsystems directly affect the reconciliation process. Processes and procedures set in place last fiscal year for reconciling the bank balances to the general ledger have proven to be viable methods for reconciling activity. As the department moves forward with all the various changes now in place additional areas will be reviewed for timely completion and accuracy of reconciliations. 2009-2: Accrual of Assets and Liabilities Necessary adjusting journal entries were presented by the auditor and recorded by management to account for retainage payable amounts that were not accounted for. As a result of this omission prior year's assets and liabilities were restated and an additional accrual was recorded during the current year. 11