State audit finds weaknesses in Clark County financial reportsFree

A recently released audit found some deficiencies in how Clark County reports capital expenditures. The audit, which was released Thursday and was prepared by the Washington State Auditor’s office, found “material weaknesses” in the county’s internal controls for financial reporting.

However, the audit found no significant deficiencies with the financial reports and no deficiencies in the county’s reporting for major federal programs.

The audits covered financial reporting for Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2022.

The auditor’s office selected several federal programs for audit, including several state and federal funds related to COVID-19 assistance.

“The county has a system in place to capture and track capital asset activity. Various county departments are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the information reported in the tracking system, including key data like dates and determining whether the transaction is capitalizable, before reporting it to the Auditor’s Office for recording in the accounting system,” the report said.

According to the report, the audit found the county did not ensure key data was entered into the capital asset tracking system accurately. Additionally, the county also did not have an effective review in place to detect errors before recording entries into its accounting system.

County Auditor Greg Kimsey said staff were already working to address any issues uncovered during the audit.

“We are providing additional training to staff in that department and have lowered the dollar amount of the capital item that was acquired where staff in the auditor’s office gives the transaction greater review to ensure the department entered the data correctly,” Kimsey said by email on Monday.

To read the full audit report, go to https://portal.sao.wa.gov/ReportSearch/Home/ViewReportFile?arn=1033262&isFinding=false&sp=false.