Greenville auditors issue clean FY2024 opinion but flag material weaknesses in reconciliations

Laura Lynch, audit senior manager with Whitley Penn, told the Greenville City Council the firm issued an unmodified, or "clean," opinion on the city's FY2024 financial statements but identified material weaknesses related to account reconciliations.

"We do have an unmodified or clean opinion," Lynch said, adding that the audit was conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and government auditing standards. Lynch reported total assets and deferred outflows of $604,000,000 as of Sept. 30, 2024, including cash and investments of $231,000,000 and capital assets net of depreciation of $351,000,000. She said the city's net position was $185,800,000.

Lynch told the council auditors found material weaknesses "related to the account reconciliations, not being performed throughout the year," which required multiple correcting entries to bring the statements into a materially correct position. She said there were no instances of noncompliance or fraud noted.

Council members asked about remediation. Summer and staff said they have already met with finance staff (Michelle and Ben were named in discussion) and plan planning meetings and checklists so future audits begin with reconciled books. "The plan is...this year, we'll start off with reconciled balances," Lynch said.

Why it matters: a clean audit opinion affirms the city’s financial statements are presented fairly, but the identified internal‑control weaknesses create work for staff and increase the risk of future misstatements until reconciliations are performed more regularly. Council and staff told the body they will implement processes to reconcile accounts earlier in the fiscal year and reduce reliance on year‑end adjusting entries.

Speakers quoted in this article are drawn from the meeting transcript and include Laura Lynch (Whitley Penn) and Summer (city staff).