REPORT DIGEST

REGIONAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION #8: CARROLL,
JO DAVIESS, AND STEPHENSON COUNTIES

FINANCIAL AUDIT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2020

Release Date:  March 17, 2021

FINDINGS THIS AUDIT:  1

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

FINDINGS LAST AUDIT: 2

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

• (20-1) The Regional Office of Education
#8 did not have sufficient internal
controls over the financial reporting
process.

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

CONTROLS OVER FINANCIAL STATEMENT
PREPARATION

The Regional Office of Education #8 (ROE)
did not have sufficient internal controls
over the financial reporting process.
While the ROE maintained control over the
processing of most accounting
transactions, there were not sufficient
controls over the preparation of the
generally accepted accounting principles
(GAAP) based financial statements for
management or employees in the normal
course of performing their assigned
functions to prevent or detect and
correct financial statement misstatements
and disclosure omissions in a timely
manner.

The Regional Office is required to
maintain a system of controls over the
preparation of financial statements in
accordance with GAAP. The ROE’s internal
controls over GAAP financial reporting
should include adequately trained
personnel with the knowledge, skills, and
experience to prepare GAAP based
financial statements and include all
disclosures as required by the
Governmental Accounting Standards Board
(GASB).

During review of the ROE’s financial
information, it was noted the ROE did not
have adequate controls to ensure
financial statement balances were
accurate. While the ROE did maintain
records to indicate the balances of
financial statement accounts, material
audit adjustments were proposed in order
to ensure those balances were accurate.

The Regional Office’s management
indicated they did not effectively detect
all of the material adjustments needed in
order to present financial statements in
accordance with GAAP. (Finding 2020-001,
pages 11-12) This finding was first
reported in 2010.

The auditors recommended that as part of
internal control over the preparation of
financial statements, including
disclosures, the ROE should implement a
comprehensive preparation and/or review
procedure to ensure that the financial
statements, including disclosures, are
complete and accurate. These procedures
should be performed by a properly trained
individual possessing a thorough
understanding of applicable GAAP, GASB
pronouncements, and knowledge of the
ROE’s activities and operations.

ROE Response: The ROE understands the
nature of this finding and realizes that
this circumstance is not unusual in an
organization of this size. The ROE has
contracted with an outside company to
prepare financial statements in
accordance with GAAP. We will continue to
work on our internal procedures and with
our financial report preparer to improve
our accuracy in reporting.

AUDITORS’ OPINION

Our auditors state the Regional Office of
Education #8’s financial statements as of
June 30, 2020 are fairly presented in all
material respects.

This financial audit was conducted by the
firm of Winkel, Parker & Foster, CPA PC.

JOE BUTCHER
Division Director

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

FRANK J. MAUTINO
Auditor General

FJM:BAO