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Assessment: Volunteer fire companies show improved controls; vendor management weakest area
Summary
A county-commissioned internal control maturity assessment found credit/debit card controls strongest and vendor management the most common weakness among volunteer fire and rescue companies; cohort 2 included eight companies and the county will provide training and follow-up assessments.
County finance staff and forensic auditors presented results of the second cohort of a multi-year internal control maturity assessment for volunteer fire and rescue companies at the March 11 meeting. The assessment, developed with Cherry Bekaert and adopted by the finance committee in 2020, evaluates five core process areas: cash receipts, expenditures, vendor management, account reconciliation and credit/debit cards.
Tiffany McCoy, forensic manager at Cherry Bekaert, described a four-phase engagement that uses interviews, walkthroughs, sampling and documentation review to score companies against the approved tool. For cohort 2, eight companies were assessed. McCoy said credit and debit card controls scored highest overall and vendor management showed the largest opportunities for improvement across the cohort.
Department of Finance and Procurement staff said cohort 1 (seven companies) showed similar distribution of results and that the overall direction has been improvement since the program began. Next steps include working with Loudoun County Fire-Rescue (LCFR) administrative staff to strengthen vendor-management policies, adding examples and training to the treasurer quarterly meetings, and preparing cohort 1 for its second assessment in FY26.
Committee members recognized the volunteer nature of the companies and thanked the volunteers and county staff for the work to build controls that balance oversight with operational capacity. Staff said most companies concurred with findings or provided clarifying comments, and that the county will provide templates and examples drawn from nonprofit literature to guide implementation.
Why this matters: Volunteer fire and rescue companies handle public funds and purchases; improved internal controls reduce financial risk and support transparency.
