REPORT DIGEST

OFFICE OF THE STATE APPELLATE DEFENDER

COMPLIANCE EXAMINATION
FOR THE YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2022

Release Date:  March 2, 2023

FINDINGS THIS AUDIT:  4

CATEGORY:  NEW -- REPEAT -- TOTAL
Category 1:  1 -- 0 -- 1
Category 2:  2 -- 1 -- 3
Category 3:  0 -- 0 -- 0
TOTAL:  3 -- 1 -- 4

FINDINGS LAST AUDIT: 1

Category 1: Findings that are material
weaknesses in internal control and/or
a qualification on compliance with
State laws and regulations (material
noncompliance).
Category 2: Findings that are
significant deficiencies in internal
control and noncompliance with State
laws and regulations.
Category 3: Findings that have no
internal control issues but are in
noncompliance with State laws and
regulations.

State of Illinois, Office of the
Auditor General
FRANK J. MAUTINO, AUDITOR GENERAL

To obtain a copy of the Report
contact:
Office of the Auditor General, Iles
Park Plaza, 740 E. Ash Street,
Springfield, IL 62703
(217) 782-6046 or TTY (888) 261-2887

This Report Digest and Full Report are
also available on the worldwide web at
www.auditor.illinois.gov

SYNOPSIS

• (22-01)  The Office of the State
Appellate Defender’s (Office) internal
controls over its voucher processing
function were not operating
effectively during the examination
period.

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

VOUCHER PROCESSING INTERNAL CONTROL
NOT OPERATING EFFECTIVELY

The Office’s internal controls over
its voucher processing function were
not operating effectively during the
examination period.

Due to our ability to rely upon the
processing integrity of the Enterprise
Resource Planning System (ERP)
operated by the Department of
Innovation and Technology (DoIT), we
were able to limit our voucher testing
at the Office to determine whether
certain key attributes were properly
entered by the Office’s staff into
ERP.  In order to determine the
operating effectiveness of the
Office’s internal controls related to
voucher processing and subsequent
payment of interest, we selected a
sample of key attributes (attributes)
to determine if the attributes were
properly entered into the State’s ERP
based on supporting documentation.
The attributes tested were 1) vendor
information, 2) expenditure amount, 3)
object(s) of expenditure, and 4) the
later of the receipt date of the
proper bill or the receipt date of the
goods and/or services.

Our testing noted three of 140 (2%)
attributes were not properly entered
into the ERP System.  Therefore, the
Office’s internal controls over
voucher processing were not operating
effectively.

Due to this condition, we qualified
our opinion because we determined the
Office has not complied, in all
material respects, with applicable
laws and regulations, including the
State uniform accounting system, in
its financial and fiscal operations.

Even given the limitations noted
above, we conducted an analysis of the
Office’s expenditures data for fiscal
years 2021 and 2022 to determine
compliance with the State Prompt
Payment Act and the Illinois
Administrative Code.  We noted the
following noncompliance
• The Office owed three vendors
interest totaling $38 in fiscal years
2021 and 2022; however, the Office had
not approved these vouchers for
payment to the vendors.
• The Office did not timely approve 48
of 3,716 (1%) vouchers processed
during the examination period,
totaling $175,383.  We noted these
late vouchers were submitted by the
Office to the Comptroller’s Office
between 2 and 172 days late.  (Finding
1, pages 9-10)

We recommended the Office design and
maintain internal controls to provide
assurance its data entry of key
attributes into ERP is complete and
accurate.  Further, we recommended the
Office process proper bills within 30
days of receipt and approve vouchers
for payment of interest due to
vendors.

The Office accepted the recommendation
and stated management will work to
strengthen these controls.

OTHER FINDINGS

The remaining findings pertain to
weaknesses in cyber security, lack of
controls over the review of service
providers, and failure to fully
utilize the Enterprise Resources
Planning System. We will review the
Office’s progress towards the
implementation of our recommendations
in our next State compliance
examination.

ACCOUNTANT’S OPINION

The accountants conducted a State
compliance examination of the Office
for the two years ended June 30, 2022,
as required by the Illinois State
Auditing Act.  The accountants
qualified their report on State
compliance for Finding 2022-001.
Except for the noncompliance described
in this finding, the accountants
stated the Office complied, in all
material respects, with the
requirements described in the report.

This State compliance examination was
conducted by West & Company, LLC.

JANE CLARK
Division Director

This report is transmitted in
accordance with Section 3-14 of the
Illinois State Auditing Act.

FRANK J. MAUTINO
Auditor General

FJM:skm