MONROE - The City of Monroe Finance and Taxation Committee had hoped to see the audited 2011 financial statement by mid-September, before settling into approving a proposed 2013 budget. But the audit process is being delayed until the cash account can be reconciled with the city's bank accounts.
"The general cash account has not been reconciled for 2011, which is creating an issue with the audit," Comptroller Bridget Schuchart told members of the Finance and Taxation Committee Tuesday.
Schuchart sought and received permission from the committee to contract with CIVIC Systems, LLC, which provides the city's financial software, for up to $5,000 for services to help clear up the outstanding transactions still on the books. CIVIC is a subsidiary of Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP, an accounting and advisory firm with offices in Madison. The reconciling services are outside the contract support services provided by the software firm.
The reconciliation is expected to be done within a week, once Schuchart signs a contract with CIVIC, and the audit could then be finished by the end of September. The committee could proceed with the 2013 budget planning without the audit, she said, but with the understanding that the current cash balance on the books would appear different than the actual cash available.
"There are a lot of outstanding checks and automatic payments where the money has come out (of the bank accounts), but the checks haven't been cleared (on the city books)," Schuchart said.
"We have taken it as far as we can in-house," she added. "The problem goes back quite some time."
The city's Finance Department needs to verify some $2.4 million worth of transactions on the books. Department staff has "done a lot" - some eight months' worth, Schuchart said after the meeting, but because 2011 cash accounts were not reconciled with the bank accounts, the problem continues to roll forward.
Clearing cash transactions, deposits and payments, requires staff members to manually "click off" each bank transaction in the city's financial system, using bank statements with as many as 10 pages per month. Automatic payments create a particular problem, Schuchart said, because those have no check numbers or notations to cross reference, forcing staff members to search the books for dollar amounts only.
"There's got to be a better way," Schuchart added.
Along with the reconciling services, CIVIC will also provide more staff training and, Schuchart hopes, advice on how to make the financial software more efficient to use.
"At this point," Schuchart told the committee, "it pays to get it updated, and get (more staff) training on the system."
"I don't think the money is missing," she assured the committee, "but it needs to go to the right accounts."
The problem seems to have appeared around the spring of 2011, when the city switched to the new financial software, "where (reconciling) starts not being done at all," she added.
Schuchart recommended the city implement policies to prevent future problems, once the cash reconciliation is completed.
"The general cash account has not been reconciled for 2011, which is creating an issue with the audit," Comptroller Bridget Schuchart told members of the Finance and Taxation Committee Tuesday.
Schuchart sought and received permission from the committee to contract with CIVIC Systems, LLC, which provides the city's financial software, for up to $5,000 for services to help clear up the outstanding transactions still on the books. CIVIC is a subsidiary of Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP, an accounting and advisory firm with offices in Madison. The reconciling services are outside the contract support services provided by the software firm.
The reconciliation is expected to be done within a week, once Schuchart signs a contract with CIVIC, and the audit could then be finished by the end of September. The committee could proceed with the 2013 budget planning without the audit, she said, but with the understanding that the current cash balance on the books would appear different than the actual cash available.
"There are a lot of outstanding checks and automatic payments where the money has come out (of the bank accounts), but the checks haven't been cleared (on the city books)," Schuchart said.
"We have taken it as far as we can in-house," she added. "The problem goes back quite some time."
The city's Finance Department needs to verify some $2.4 million worth of transactions on the books. Department staff has "done a lot" - some eight months' worth, Schuchart said after the meeting, but because 2011 cash accounts were not reconciled with the bank accounts, the problem continues to roll forward.
Clearing cash transactions, deposits and payments, requires staff members to manually "click off" each bank transaction in the city's financial system, using bank statements with as many as 10 pages per month. Automatic payments create a particular problem, Schuchart said, because those have no check numbers or notations to cross reference, forcing staff members to search the books for dollar amounts only.
"There's got to be a better way," Schuchart added.
Along with the reconciling services, CIVIC will also provide more staff training and, Schuchart hopes, advice on how to make the financial software more efficient to use.
"At this point," Schuchart told the committee, "it pays to get it updated, and get (more staff) training on the system."
"I don't think the money is missing," she assured the committee, "but it needs to go to the right accounts."
The problem seems to have appeared around the spring of 2011, when the city switched to the new financial software, "where (reconciling) starts not being done at all," she added.
Schuchart recommended the city implement policies to prevent future problems, once the cash reconciliation is completed.