County auditors deliver clean opinion for FY2025; flag segregation-of-duties weakness

Josh Carroll, an auditor with Malden and Jenkins, told Stephens County commissioners that the county’s fiscal year 2025 financial statements received an "unmodified or a clean opinion," meaning the accountants found the statements to be materially correct.

Carroll said his firm focuses on state and local government audits and reviewed transaction cycles including cash receipts, disbursements, payroll and purchasing. He told the board the audit followed generally accepted auditing standards and government auditing standards.

Carroll highlighted the county’s fiscal position: property and sales tax remain the largest revenue sources and the county’s general-fund balance is roughly 50 percent of operating expenses — about twice the minimum recommended by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). He described that fund-balance level as "really healthy."

The auditor also identified one persistent material weakness: some employees perform multiple parts of the same transaction (for example, receiving and disbursing cash or approving checks), increasing the potential fraud risk. Carroll said eliminating that weakness typically requires either hiring additional staff or implementing compensating controls.

In a separate management-letter discussion, Carroll recommended that someone review journal entries made by the county finance director (referred to as James), urged the county to develop a written disaster-recovery plan for IT systems, and reported approximately $18,000 in jail-inmate funds for which the owner is unknown. He said the State of Georgia should be contacted to attempt to locate owners if the county cannot identify them, and he noted occasional delays in sheriff’s office deposits.

Carroll offered optional advisory services — including operations reviews and IT/cybersecurity assistance — and reiterated that the firm issued a clean opinion on the county’s financial statements.

The board thanked James and the finance team for preparing schedules and supporting the audit. The presentation ended with commissioners and staff inviting follow-up questions and considering advisory work next steps.