11-08-2000 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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City of Little Canada, Minnesota Audit Contract October 10, 2000 Page 2 Management Responsibilities The management of the City of Little Canada, Minnesota is responsible for establishing and maintaining internal control. In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and judgments by management are required to assess the expected benefits and related costs of the controls. The objectives of internal control are to provide management with reasonable, but not absolute, assurance that assets are safeguarded against loss from unauthorized use or disposition and that transactions are executed in accordance with management's authorizations and recorded properly to permit the preparation of general purpose financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Management is responsible for making all financial records and related information available to us. We understand that you will provide us with the basic information required for our audit and that you are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of that information. We will advise you about appropriate accounting principles and their application, but the responsibility for the financial statements remains with you. That responsibility includes the establishment and maintenance of adequate records and effective internal control over financial reporting, the selection and application of accounting principles, and the safeguarding of assets. Management is also responsible for identifying and ensuring that the entity complies with applicable laws and regulations. Audit Procedures - General An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements; therefore, our audit will involve judgment about the number of transactions to be examined and the areas to be tested. We will plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable rather than absolute assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement whether caused by error or fraud. Because of the concept of reasonable assurance and because we will not perform a detailed examination of all transactions, there is a risk that material misstatement may exist and not be detected by us. In addition, an audit is not designed to detect errors, fraud or other illegal acts that are immaterial to the general purpose financial statements. However, we will inform you of any material errors and any fraud that come to our attention. We will also inform you of any other illegal acts that come to our attention, unless clearly inconsequential. Our responsibility as auditors is limited to the period covered by our audit and does not extend to matters that might arise during any later periods for which we are not engaged as auditors. Our procedures will include tests of documentary evidence supporting the transactions recorded in the accounts, and may include tests of the physical existence of inventories, and direct confirmation of receivables and certain other assets and liabilities by correspondence with selected individuals, creditors, and financial institutions. We will request written representations from your attorneys as part of the engagement, and they may bill you for responding to this inquiry. At the conclusion of our audit, we will also request certain written representations from you about the financial statements and related matters. Page 21