Are you reporting your activities in the correct fund type? Local governments should analyze the services they are providing and determine if the fund types used are appropriate.
An enterprise fund is a fund that may be used to report any activity for which a fee is charged to external users for goods or services.
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In 2013, the Legislature asked us to review ALE programs by auditing their finances and measuring student outcomes. Since then, we’ve audited the compliance of every ALE program in the state with more than 10 full-time students. We’ve visited ALE programs in person, interviewed educators and surveyed students and parents. The reports released today meet the intent of the Legislature’s request.
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Are you unsure when the formal competitive bidding process is required?
The Performance Center recently released two new resources to help local governments determine when they must use a formal competitive bidding process for purchases or public works projects.
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While cash transactions might be less frequent than those involving credit or debit cards, or have individual low dollar values, over time small daily losses can add up. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ (ACFE) 2016 Report to the Nations, the average median loss when cash was misappropriated ranged from $25,000 to $90,000.
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As local governments in Washington and across the United States deal with increasingly sophisticated attacks aimed at bringing down vital government services residents depend on, the need for careful controls and cyber security measures grows ever more crucial. At the Office of the Washington State Auditor, one of the resources we provide local governments with is helping them increase their cyber security in anticipation of just such events as outlined in the New York Times below. Are you interested in learning more about how we can help? Click here to read cyber security resources.
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The Pacific Northwest Intergovernmental Audit Forum (PNIAF) held its annual training March 15-16 in Victoria, B.C. Auditors came from state, local, federal and provincial audit agencies, representing Washington, Oregon, California and British Columbia. The weather was beautiful and we had a great agenda.
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May is approaching quickly, and so is the annual report deadline for governments whose fiscal year ends December 31, 2017. These governments’ annual reports are due on
May 30, 2018. State law does not provide for any exceptions, so we are available to help you meet the deadline.
With the condition of infrastructure serving as a point of national discussion, useful life estimates for capital assets make for a timely accounting topic. Governments must maintain support for the useful life estimates they use for assets, and have a process to reassess the estimates periodically.
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Your public auditors were busy in 2017. The Office of the Washington State Auditor published more than 2,000 reports covering a wide spectrum of topics.
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At the Office of the Washington State Auditor, one of our primary functions is to evaluate the finances of governments across the state. But did you know that what we do goes beyond the bottom line, and into the very heart of what makes a government function well and connect to its residents? This emotional connection is what is at the heart of our newest video, “For the Love of Kenmore.” It’s about helping local governments in Washington find, as Kenmore City Manager Rob Karlinsey puts it, “value beyond the purely financial.”
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