Legislative auditors report many uncorrected findings, warn of delayed statewide audits after late financial statements

April Renfro, director of Legislative Audits at the Legislative Services Office, told the Joint Finance and Appropriation Committee on Jan. 7 that the audit division has dozens of open findings and expects to miss statutory deadlines for the statewide financial statement audit and the federal single-audit because the State Controller’s office provided financial statements too late.

The finding count matters because the division’s reports inform appropriation and oversight decisions: “We complete the audit of the annual comprehensive financial report each year,” Renfro said, and the division must report uncorrected findings annually to the Legislature so lawmakers can “work with the agency on solutions.”

Renfro described how the audit shop is organized and how it follows standards. The office has 30 financial and IT auditor positions and one administrative assistant and plans roughly 28 reports a year, she said. Audits fall into several types: the annual audit of the state’s comprehensive financial report (ACFR), the single audit of federal awards (SEFA), recurring accountability reports of individual agencies and special agreed‑upon procedures.

Renfro told the committee that the office is required to complete the audit of the ACFR after the State Controller submits financial statements (typically due Dec. 31 and statutorily submitted to the governor and Legislature by Jan. 1) and that the single…