Legislative auditors report uncorrected findings, warn of delayed statewide audits

April Renfro, audit director in the Legislative Services Office, told the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee on Jan. 7 that the legislative audit division has seen a mix of new findings and older, unresolved issues and that delays in agency financial reporting are slowing statewide audits.

Renfro said the audit division has 30 financial and IT auditor positions and one administrative assistant, and that it typically plans about 28 reports a year, including the annual audit of the state’s comprehensive financial report (ACFR) and the single-audit report that covers federal awards. "We are required to present a report, annually to the legislature of uncorrected findings," Renfro said, and the office provides an annual uncorrected-findings report to help lawmakers identify which agencies have open issues that may need budget or policy attention.

The audit director told the committee that 70% of the uncorrected findings listed in the office’s report are from the current reporting period and thus have not yet had follow-up testing; about 30% represent older findings that have not been corrected in a reasonable amount of time. She said accountability reports (which test internal controls and compliance at the agency level) are the source of many findings, while single-audit work — required for entities that…