Cleveland Heights finance committee hears audit delays may push full 2025 budget until spring

An independent CPA advising Cleveland Heights City Council told the Finance Committee on Jan. 21 that preparation of the city’s 2023 financial statements is about 70% complete and that the formal audit is unlikely to be finished before late March — after the council’s preferred timetable for passing a full 2025 budget.

The advisory firm’s representative, Frank (independent CPA/adviser), said he had spoken with Scott Reeves of Schoenhardt and Kyle Doherty of Zepka, the firms performing the statement preparation and audit, and that Schoenhardt’s financial statement work resumed in earnest after a new staff member, Phil Willie, joined the engagement. “The financial statement preparation … is about 70% complete,” Frank said, adding that the audit itself would take at least another month after statement preparation finishes.

That delay means councilors will likely receive unaudited or partial year‑end information when they consider the 2025 appropriations. The advisory consultant flagged a new Governmental Accounting Standards Board standard related to subscription‑based information technology agreements, which may require the city to record some multi‑year software contracts as both an asset and a liability — an accounting change the consultant called…