Report Summary
Financial-Related Audit
Office of the Secretary of State
January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2002
Overall Conclusions:
The Office of the Secretary of State properly safeguarded assets and accurately recorded receipt and expenditure transactions in the state's accounting and payroll systems. The office was in compliance with applicable finance-related legal provisions and policies. However, as noted in Finding 1, the office needs to expand its controls over comparisons between its business systems and the state's accounting system.
Key Finding and Recommendation:
- The Secretary of State's Office needs to expand its controls over comparisons between its business systems and the state's accounting system (MAPS). The office did not identify and detail differences such as errors, adjustments, corrections, and timing differences when periodically comparing cumulative information between its internal business systems and MAPS. The office monitored collections and ensured the accuracy of the daily entry of receipt transactions into MAPS. In combination with the existing controls, such detailed review and documentation would provide greater assurance about the integrity of the state's accounting system by detecting any erroneous or inappropriate transactions. The Secretary of State's Office should expand controls over comparisons performed between its business systems and the state's accounting system.
Financial-Related Audit Reports address internal control weaknesses and noncompliance issues found during our audits of state departments and agencies. The scope of our work at the Office of the Secretary of State included revenue and revenue refunds, payroll expenditures, and other administrative expenditures for the period from January 1, 2001, through December 31, 2002.
