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County auditors issue clean FY2023 opinion but flag controls, timeliness issues
Summary
Contract auditors gave Greenlee County an unmodified (clean) opinion on its fiscal 2023 financial statements and major federal programs but reported significant deficiencies: late audit completion, untimely single-audit reporting, inaccurate federal-expenditure period reporting, repeated cash-reconciliation issues, and weak credit-card documentation.
Greenlee County received an unmodified (clean) audit opinion for fiscal year 2023, but contracted auditors told the Board of Supervisors on Aug. 19 that several significant deficiencies need correction.
Robert Snyder of Snyder and Brown CPAs and Carla Wall of the Arizona Auditor General’s office presented the audit. Snyder said the auditors issued an unmodified opinion on the county’s financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2023, and an unmodified opinion on compliance for major federal programs, including Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds and watershed protection and flood-prevention programs. "An unmodified opinion is the highest form of assurance that an auditor can provide," Snyder said.
Auditors also reported several findings. They described significant deficiencies in internal control over major federal programs including an untimely single-audit reporting package and inaccurate reporting of federal expenditures by time period. On financial statement matters, auditors repeated findings on cash monitoring and reconciliation differences between the general ledger and final cash balances across certain county accounts. They also noted recurring weaknesses in credit-card approvals and documentation, where the county’s policy forms sometimes lacked a written purpose and the purchaser’s attestation.
Snyder emphasized the audit’s delayed timeline: the 2023 audit was not completed until May 2025, and auditors said they could not begin substantial work until mid to late 2024. That delay contributed to the single-audit report not being timely, the auditors said.
County officials accepted proposed audit adjustments to correct due-from-other-governments balances, accounts payable, and capital-asset records, and Snyder said there were no disagreements with management. "We had no difficulties during the performance of the audit that are significant that need to be discussed," he said.
The board did not take formal action on the audit presentation at the meeting; county leaders thanked the auditors and noted an intention to address the findings through strengthened reconciliation and documentation controls. The county will receive the full audit reporting package, which includes management responses and required corrective-action plans.
