CC PACKET 06081993 - Laserfiche WebLink

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STUART J. BONNIWELL • Certified Pztblic Accountant 7101 York Avenue South Minneapolis, Minnesota 55435 (612) 921-3354 April 27, 1993 Members of the City Council City of St. Anthony, Minnesota I have audited the general purpose financial statements -of the City of St. Anthony as of and for the year ended December 31 , 1992, and have issued my report thereon dated April 27, 1993. In planning and performing the audit of the general purpose financial statements, I considered the system of internal control structure in order to determine the extent of auditing procedures necessary for expressing an opinion on the general purpose financial statements of the City and not to provide assurances on the internal control structure. My study and evaluation of the internal control structure made for the limited pur- pose described in the first paragraph would not necessarily disclose any material weaknesses in the structure. Had I performed additional procedures or performed an audit of the internal control structure in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards, other matters might have come to my attention that would have been reported to you. Accordingly, I do not express an opinion on the City's system of internal control structure taken as a whole or on any of the categories of controls. The purpose of this letter is to communicate certain matters involving the City's internal control structure and other operational procedures noted during the audit. These. comments are presented for your consideration and are not intended to be a criticism of the performance of City management in fulfilling its duties and responsibilities. This report is intended solely for the information and use of the City Council , management and others within the organization. Recommendations made are intended to improve internal control structure or financial management and administration. Segregation of Duties The City has a limited number of office personnel involved with certain accounting procedures. The limited number of personnel responsible for recording, reconciling and reporting of financial transactions and performance of related accounting pro- cedures prohibits optimum segregation of duties. The segregation of duties and responsibilities of individuals is a fundamental principal and key element of a system of internal control structure. This contemplates that no one individual has access to both the physical assets and related accounting records or handles a transaction from its inception to its completion. I recognize that employment • of additional personnel for the purpose of improving the segregation of duties is not practical from a financial standpoint. Therefore, accounting duties, policies and procedures should be periodically reviewed to determine if they are being adhered to or whether circumstances have changed necessitating modification of existing accounting duties, policies and procedures.