La Verne Chamber Of Commerce: City Of La Verne Financial Audit Earns Positive Results

Press release from La Verne Chamber of Commerce:

March 10, 2022

On Tuesday, February 22, Rogers, Anderson, Malody & Scott, LLP (RAMS) presented its audit of the City’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) for FY 2020-2021 during the City Council meeting. Brianna Schultz and Brad Welebir from RAMS indicated that their annual audit report did not detect any major accounting or policy deficiencies. Additionally, RAMS rendered an unmodified audit opinion on the City’s ACFR, which is the highest level of assurance an auditor can provide.
“We are extremely pleased with the results of the audit and would like to thank RAMS for their detailed analysis,” said Mayor Tim Hepburn. “These positive results would not be possible without our City staff’s diligence and hard work they put forth on a daily basis to keep our internal operations running smoothly and efficiently.”
All policies reviewed in La Verne’s financial statement audit, including procurement, investment and financial reporting procedures, were found to be in compliance without any deviations or deficiencies. Financial statements were deemed to be fairly presented in all material respects, and all significant accounting policies were consistently applied to the areas reviewed in the audit. Disclosures were properly reflected in the City’s financial statements, and RAMS did not find any material errors, irregularities or significant accounting issues. Based on their detailed analysis, RAMS did not recommend any changes to the City’s current financial processes, confirming that the City has maintained effective internal controls of their financial tracking and reporting.
For the past couple of years, the annual auditing process has been conducted remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The process is broken up into two phases: The interim phase and the year-end phase. The interim phase occurs in the summertime and sets the framework in which the auditor examines compliance and internal controls. This part of the process allows the La Verne City Council to suggest areas for the auditors to review and requires the auditors to communicate with external entities involved, such as the city’s bank, to gather necessary information. The auditors will use the feedback and information received to design the internal control analysis. Audits by their nature do not include review of 100% of financial transactions. Instead, based on the results of the auditors’ interim fieldwork, high risk areas are identified, and these areas are subject to audit review.
The City recently was awarded the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting, for its Fiscal Year 2020-21 ACFR and has submitted its completed 2021-22 ACFR for review and consideration for the award.

This press release was produced by La Verne Chamber of Commerce. The views expressed here are the author’s own.