12-11-1991 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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November 25, 1991 Mr. Joel Hanson City of Little Canada 515 Little Canada Road St. Paul, MN 55117 Dear Joel: TAUTGES, REDPATH & CO., LTD. CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS Pursuant to your request and our past discussion, we offer this revised proposal for the City's audit for the year ended December 31, 1991. Our past audit/accounting services to the City have been based upon the level of internal accounting expertise available at the City. As you are aware, the City does not employ any degreed accountants. The City's finance department is composed of a portion of your time plus one full -time accounting clerk and approximately one full-time equivalent secretary. I think we can agree that the City does not budget an excessive amount for internal accounting expertise. In fact, the City's finance department can be considered to be "bare bones ". There are inherent benefits to the City for having a "bare bones finance department ". First and foremost is cost. The City does not incur the personnel cost of a fully- staffed finance department. There are also inherent limitations in this situation. Under a "bare bones finance department"; the City does not have the internal accounting expertise (nor time availability) to perform all of its own accounting functions. The City's "bare bones finance department" is geared towards monthly bookkeeping and monthly reporting. Cash is receipted and disbursed. The monthly accounting records of the City contain a record of such receipts and such disbursements. The City's "bare bones finance department" is mg geared towards annual accounting nor the preparation of the City's Annual Financial Report. This Report requires a level of accounting expertise not available at the City. (i.e.: bare bones finance department) The City contracts with outsiders (i.e. our firm) for such accounting expertise. The existing situation is no necessarily the best situation for the City at this time. The existing situation is a "throw back" to the needs of the City prior to your employment. Your background and financial management abilities add a new dimension to this situation. Prior to your employment, the City relied almost exclusively upon my office for financial management and financial expertise. My office augmented the City's "bare bones financial department" with my services plug the accounting expertise of my professional staff. You have assumed the financial management responsibilities of the City. However, you do not have the back -up (i.e.. internal accounting expertise) by which to easily and readily meet your responsibilities. r! 1 i N /nut 1 Page 46 'ti IF Bear L.nkc 1 rota 551.10 • 612,426-7000 • FAX/426 -5004