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County gets clean audit but auditor flags internal‑control weaknesses
Summary
An independent auditor gave Franklin County an unmodified (clean) opinion on its 2025 financial statements but reported numerous GAAP departures and material adjustments, and recommended the county hire or contract qualified accounting staff to prepare statements before audits to avoid repeated adjustments.
An independent auditor told the Franklin County Board of Commissioners the county’s 2025 financial statements received a clean, unmodified opinion but that the audit required numerous journal entries to bring records into GAAP-compliant form.
“The financial statements referred to above present fairly in all material respects,” the auditor said. Later he summarized for commissioners: “All that to say, clean opinion.” The auditor warned, however, that the county’s financial records contained “numerous departures from GAAP” and that auditors made many material adjustments during the review.
The presentation, delivered by Jake (the lead auditor), noted the county’s net position improved in 2025 and that unrestricted net position provides a healthy cushion. Still, the audit report included required communications on internal control that called out deficiencies and a material‑weakness determination by the auditors’ professional judgment because of the volume and size of adjusting entries.
“We recommend the county either hire an outside qualified contractor — another CPA firm — to come in and get the books ready as of Sept. 30, or obtain the qualifications necessary internally,” Jake said. The recommendation was framed as a tradeoff between cost and timeliness: hiring outside help requires money but produces GAAP-ready statements at year end and reduces the need for auditors to make post‑audit adjustments.
Commissioners asked questions about why the issues were not raised previously and whether the change was procedural. The auditor said different firms and evolving standards can surface issues that were not previously called out and reiterated the objective: reliable, timely financial information throughout the fiscal year.
The board did not vote on any immediate remedial action at the meeting; commissioners thanked the auditor and said they would take the recommendations to management and legal counsel for next steps.
