RSM presents FY2024 audit: unmodified opinion but two material weaknesses, including unreconciled bank variance

RSM US on Aug. 26 presented its audit of Platte County's fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2024, delivering an unmodified (clean) opinion on the financial statements but reporting two material weaknesses and one significant deficiency in internal control.

"We did issue an unmodified opinion," Kristen Hughes, managing director at RSM US, told the commission during the audit presentation. Hughes and county auditor Kevin Robinson walked commissioners through the compliance report and the single-audit testing for federal awards, noting that ARPA spending accounted for the majority of federal expenditures tested.

Hughes said the audit identified two material weaknesses: inadequate controls and untimely bank reconciliations, and a material error in the schedule of expenditures of federal awards (SEFA) in which about $1,500,000 was double-counted due to timing of accruals. She also described a significant deficiency related to capital assets purchased in 2023 that were expensed and later corrected in 2024. Robinson summarized the report as ""you're gonna hear about 2, 3 findings, 2 material and 1 significant weakness" and noted that corrective actions and the county's planned responses are included in the compliance report.

Commissioner comments after the presentation focused on the treasurer's office transition audit and the handling and publication of earlier findings. A commissioner who identified themself only as "Commissioner (unnamed)" criticized the timing and public disclosure, saying in part that "this is a lot of money that essentially is revenue that was booked but didn't make it to the bank in my understanding," and pressed the auditor on why a prior transition audit had not been published as promptly as other, smaller audits.

Robinson and RSM responded that some reconciling items were timing differences and that the $210,000 variance identified during bank-reconciliation work reflected interest income that was in the bank but not yet posted to the general ledger. RSM noted that the single-audit work gave the county a clean opinion for the major federal program tested (ARPA) and that corrective-action language is included in the posted compliance report.

Why it matters: An unmodified opinion means the auditors found no material misstatements in the consolidated financial statements, but the reported material weaknesses signal elevated risk in internal controls that the commission and county management must address. The findings prompted an extended exchange about prior oversight, audit publication practices and next steps for the treasurer's office and county reconciliations.

Next steps: RSM and county staff provided corrective-action language in the compliance report; commissioners requested follow-up and discussion on prior treasurer-office controls and the auditor's earlier transition-audit process.