Audit committee approves $975,000 amendment to Plante Moran contract for out‑of‑scope audit services
Loading...
Summary
Wayne County Committee on Audit approved Amendment 1 to a multi‑year contract with Plante Moran for out‑of‑scope audit services to support annual financial statements and the single audit amid staffing shortages and an ERP transition.
At a meeting of the Wayne County Committee on Audit, members approved Amendment 1 to the county's external audit contract with Plante Moran, authorizing up to $325,000 per audit year for three fiscal years — a total of $975,000 — to provide out‑of‑scope services to support the county’s annual financial statement and single audit.
Committee leaders said the extra services are meant to help the county manage audit preparation while the finance team faces staffing shortages and completes a transition to a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. County staff and the auditor's office told commissioners the amendment covers advisory and facilitation tasks, not management authority over county operations.
The amendment covers out‑of‑scope services including advisory assistance on new accounting standards and unique transactions, help reconciling accounts based on supporting documentation, creating a detailed audit preparation timeline, scheduling and leading progress meetings, preparing and tracking provided‑by‑client (PBC) documentation, coordinating document flows to auditors, and implementing an escalation process to communicate delays. County presenters said Plante Moran will maintain independence consistent with professional standards and will not make management decisions for the county.
County staff said the contract was originally approved in August and that the amendment formally adds the out‑of‑scope funding. The county’s auditor general’s office will retain contract management authority in line with the county charter, a point staff emphasized to preserve auditor independence. Finance staff also told the committee the current audit will be performed from the county’s legacy financial system and that audits in later years will be performed using the new ERP.
Commissioner Killeen moved approval of the amendment; Commissioner Garza provided the support. The committee voted to approve the motion; the clerk recorded the outcome as “motion carried.” No vote tally was read into the record.
There were no public comments on the item. The committee moved on to other business after approving the amendment.
