According to auditors, the audit process was especially complex this year. | Stock Photo
According to auditors, the audit process was especially complex this year. | Stock Photo
Auditors report that Massac County’s 2019 audit was rife with significant complications, according to Metropolis Planet.
The results of the the Massac County 2019 audit was presented to the County Commission by Jeff Stroder of CPA firm Beussink, Hey, Roe & Stroder, a firm that has audited for the county for several years.
Stroder noted that the process was especially complex this year.
“We had some difficulties completing this audit. There was also a new section in this audit for your federal expenditures that we didn’t have before,” Stroder said.
Stroder presented three reports on the county’s financial statements, the first report being on the financial statements themselves.
“Our job as the auditor is to gather enough evidence to put an opinion on those financial statements and whether or not they’re prepared in accordance with the basis of accounting and also to understand the internal control structure and whether it’s operating effectively or not,” Stroder explained. “It is our opinion these financial statements are fairly stated in all material respects in accordance with the modified cash basis of accounting.”
The second report brought up internal controls and compliance, where the firm ran into most of the complications with the audit.
“These are where we had the difficulties with the audit. We had several problems but they boiled down to two main reasons: 1) the bank accounts weren’t reconciled to financial statements; 2) there were a lot of errors in the financial statements, as journal entries were significantly adjusted,” Stroder said.
Storder went on to say that the firm had to make so many corrections to the financial statements that they had to audit themselves which was causing conflicts with the firm’s need to be an independent entity and a local CPA had to be brought in to help with reconciliations.
“I think we finally got the balances to where we are able say they were fairly stated in all material respects,” Stroder said. "The main thing, in my opinion, we need to get those cash balances tied down because that’s what rolls over as the beginning balances for the next year. We wanted to make sure we had a good number to work off. The adjustments have been made, and we believe they have the right starting point for next year.”
The third report dealt with the county's federal funding and expenditures.
“When you spend more than $750,000 of federal money, the federal government kicks in another layer of audit,” Stroder explained. The firm went on to report that the audit’s results were clean pertaining to the county’s handling of federal expenditures.
According to Stroder, the original cost to the county for this audit was $31,500, but the price was raised to just over $82,000 as a result of the complications that arose during the audit. He went on to add that the firm’s senior partner agreed to discount the cost by a third to $54,000 since the county was a long-standing client.
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