Legislative auditors tell JFAC many findings remain open; statewide financial audit delayed by late statements

April Renfro, director of Legislative Audits in the Legislative Services Office, told the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee on Jan. 7 that auditors are issuing fewer multi‑year uncorrected findings than in recent years but still face follow‑up challenges and a delayed statewide financial statement submission that will push back scheduled audits.

Renfro said the audits division has 30 financial and IT auditor positions and that the division plans roughly 28 accountability reports each year and performs the audit of the state’s annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) and the statewide single audit of federal awards. “We complete the audit of the annual comprehensive financial report each year,” she said, adding that the ACFR work typically follows a schedule tied to agencies’ year‑end reporting.

The audit office is required to present an annual report of uncorrected findings to the Legislature. Renfro said the current open findings cover four years’ worth of reports (the division only lists open findings for the most recent four reporting years) and that roughly 70% of the uncorrected findings are from the current reporting period because they have not yet had follow‑up procedures. “So we really only have 30% that the entities have not been able to get their findings corrected in a reasonable amount of time,” she said.

Renfro identified three common drivers of uncorrected or significant findings: missing or weak internal controls, noncompliance with statutes or rules, and substantive or systemic errors tied to information systems. She gave two examples from recent accountability and single audit work.

Departmen…