Office of the Legislative Auditor - Financial Audit Division

Report Summary

Financial-Related Audit

Pine Technical College

July 1, 1996, through December 31, 1999

Pine Technical College operated within available financial resources. Except as noted below, the college complied with applicable legal provisions and its internal controls provided reasonable assurance that assets were safeguarded and financial activities were properly recorded. Our last audit report, issued in September 1997, found critical control issues in several areas. The college made significant improvement in administering its programs since that audit report was issued.

Key Findings:

• Pine Technical College did not adequately restrict certain computer security clearances. (Finding 1, page 7)
• The college did not properly code some financial transactions in the accounting system. (Finding 3, page 8)
• The college did not adequately control tuition and fee revenue. (Findings 4 - 7, pages 12-14)
• The college did not comply with federal requirements for awarding federal work-study and the Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants to students. (Finding 9, page 22)
• The college did not promptly request federal reimbursement of financial aid disbursements. (Finding 10, page 22)
• The college did not have adequate procedures for handling void and return transactions. (Finding 11, page 26)
• The college did not verify the accuracy of bookstore financial activity on the MnSCU accounting system. (Finding 12, page 27)

Pine Technical College is part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system. This financial-related audit report focused on financial management, tuition and fees, employee payroll, administrative expenditures, bookstore revenue, and the Employment and Training Center for the period July 1, 1996, through December 31, 1999. We also reviewed the college's internal controls over compliance with federal student financial aid for fiscal year 2000.

College Response:

In its response, Pine Technical College agreed with the report's findings and is taking corrective action to resolve the issues.