Report Summary
Management Letter
Department of Finance
Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2000
Key Findings and Recommendations:
- The Department of Finance did not make entries in the accounting system to move cash from the state's General Fund to the Minnesota State College and University system's fund. Until the Department of Finance made the correcting entries in November 2000, the accounting system overstated the General Fund's cash balance by $51,300,000, and understated MnSCU's cash balance by the same amount. We recommended that the department ensure that it records cash in the proper funds on the state's accounting system.
- The Department of Finance did not provide state agencies with adequate direction for certain types of transactions to ensure that the state's financial statements properly present this financial activity. Agencies needed better guidance to properly account for advanced grant funds and reporting encumbrances on some multi-year projects. By improving guidance for these concerns now, the department may prevent a material error in the future. The Department of Finance could also improve its annual requests to agencies for financial statement information. We recommended that the department provide state agencies with guidance in the proper financial statement presentation of advance grant transactions and multi-year projects. We also recommended that the department review its annual requests for agency financial statement data and make revisions to improve the quality of the data submitted.
Agency Response:
The Department of Finance agreed with the report's findings and is taking corrective action to resolve the issues.
Our work at the Department of Finance focused on auditing their financial statements. We reviewed the agency's internal controls and compliance with legal provisions in relation to that objective.
