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External auditor: 2025 draft mostly finished but fixed-asset reconciliations delay delivery
Summary
Ritchie May told the Grand County Audit Committee the 2025 audit draft is 'mostly finished' but fixed-asset reconciliations, long‑term debt roll‑forwards and a few state‑compliance items remain; the firm said a draft could be possible in early August if follow‑ups go smoothly.
Ritchie May auditors updated the Grand County Audit Committee on the status of the county's 2025 audit, saying the engagement is progressing but not complete. Michael Whipple of Ritchie May told the committee the audit team has the draft "mostly finished" but is working through outstanding questions, particularly around fixed assets and several state compliance procedures.
"One of which is about fixed assets, you know, trying to get the activity in that account to make sense," Whipple said, adding that internal reviews of long‑term debt and state compliance items remain. Tyler, a county accounting staffer, explained the technical issue: capital purchases were expensed and must be capitalized to appear correctly on the government‑wide financial statements. "Fixed assets, a lot of it's just coming down to getting everything to properly reconcile to work with the financials," Tyler said.
Whipple described slow back‑and‑forth responses and several unexpected reconciliation issues — for example, accounts receivable reports that initially did not tie to trial‑balance balances — which multiplied the audit timeline. He said, if follow‑ups proceed without delay, the firm hopes to complete internal reviews and deliver a draft to the county in roughly two weeks plus a week for internal reviews, i.e., early August on an optimistic schedule. He cautioned that external statutory deadlines remain: single‑audit compliance tied to a September 30 milestone and potential state‑auditor timelines could force different actions if those deadlines tighten.
The committee pressed for clear deadlines and stronger responsiveness from county staff. A long‑time auditor on the panel recommended improved coding and upfront accounting practices so future audits can move faster, and committee members discussed practical steps the clerk‑auditor's office could take to prevent similar delays next year. Whipple and county staff said they would continue working with county finance (Gabe and team) to resolve remaining items and deliver a quality draft for committee review.
