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Auditors warn software conversion left accounting gaps; remediation underway in Gilliam County
Summary
Marina and Company told Gilliam County commissioners that conversion from the county’s previous accounting system to the new platform left missing and misclassified entries, distorting fund balances and property‑tax accounting; auditors said corrections are in progress and weekly reconciliation meetings are scheduled.
Marina and Company partners told the Gilliam County Court on May 6 that a recent accounting-system conversion produced data errors that are currently distorting the county’s financial position.
Tanya Moffet, partner at Marina and Company, said the county’s prior system (referred to in the briefing as "Chavs") did not export consistently to the new system ("Cassell"), and several items—including some entries around the year‑end cutoff—did not transfer. Some manually entered items had reversed signs, producing accounts‑payable balances that appeared as receivables. The auditors also found property‑tax receipts that posted in the old system but were not recorded in the new system, causing mismatches between revenue and payments remitted to districts and cities.
"It's kind of like picking at a string," Moffet said of the remediation effort; when the auditors correct one set of records they often find related issues elsewhere. Marina and Company did not give an exact completion date and said the work has to proceed carefully to avoid reintroducing errors. Michelle Duncan, part of the audit team, said the auditors are focusing first on property‑tax reconciliation and cash reconciliations and have proposed journal entries to correct identified items.
County staff and the auditors are meeting weekly; the auditors said they have involved legal counsel because remediation and procurement work may push the project above the county’s $25,000 informal-procurement threshold. The court agreed to schedule another virtual update in roughly 30 days and requested a final audit report when corrections are complete.
The briefing made clear the issues are primarily timing and data‑conversion problems, not necessarily new inappropriate transactions. Auditors emphasized that corrections will affect fund balances and financial statements while they continue reconciliation.
Next steps: auditors will continue reconciliations, county staff will supply requested schedules promptly, legal counsel will advise on procurement thresholds, and the court will receive a further status update within approximately 30 days.
