Shawnee’s financial audit report for the 2008-09 fiscal year has been released and city leaders said they are pleased with the results.
“We worked very hard this year and I’m very pleased, very proud of the job we did,” City Manager Brian McDougal said. “Back about mid-year 2009, we began meeting every Wednesday morning to see what needed to be done in preparation of having it done in time.”
The documents are required to be submitted within six months of the end of a city’s fiscal year but until the latest report, Shawnee had not met that requirement in several years, McDougal said.
Stephen Nolen, the city’s interim finance director, said this was his first year “being this involved in the audit process” and that this year was more involved for him and Gaila Hatler, senior accountant.
Nolen said that he believed a good level of communication between parties involved was the primary factor in having the report submitted on time and having it result in no more than the two findings.
“This year went very well and in my opinion, is due to several things,” he said. “First, the connections and communications between the city’s finance staff, Crawford and Associates, the audit firm Eide-Bailly and the city manager was very consistent, constant and complete. This insured that nobody was waiting on the other for information or tasks to be completed. Additionally, it was understood from the city manager that the audit was No. 1 priority and each participating party knew that, helping to keep it high on the project list.”
The city paid Eide-Bailly $63,000 for the audit, as agreed for the current contract amount. The city originally awarded the auditing contract to Murrell, Hall, McIntosh and Co., which merged with Eide-Bailly, Nolen said.
“The contract was set for three years with the option to extend it,” he said. “We have just completed the third year of the contract and will be reviewing if we desire to extend it or not for the fiscal year 2009-2010, ending June 30.”
McDougal said the findings of the audit were “really minor, as far as from a city manager’s standpoint.”
“We would love to have no findings...but neither are findings that should cause the public concern,” he said. “The city’s cash position is in a very good place, as we don’t have a lot of debt.”
The city’s full audit report is available at City Hall and will become available on the city’s Web site in the near future, McDougal said.
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Johnna Ray may be reached at 214-3934.
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Shawnee’s financial audit report for the 2008-09 fiscal year has been released and city leaders said they are pleased with the results.
“We worked very hard this year and I’m very pleased, very proud of the job we did,” City Manager Brian McDougal said. “Back about mid-year 2009, we began meeting every Wednesday morning to see what needed to be done in preparation of having it done in time.”
The documents are required to be submitted within six months of the end of a city’s fiscal year but until the latest report, Shawnee had not met that requirement in several years, McDougal said.
Stephen Nolen, the city’s interim finance director, said this was his first year “being this involved in the audit process” and that this year was more involved for him and Gaila Hatler, senior accountant.
Nolen said that he believed a good level of communication between parties involved was the primary factor in having the report submitted on time and having it result in no more than the two findings.
“This year went very well and in my opinion, is due to several things,” he said. “First, the connections and communications between the city’s finance staff, Crawford and Associates, the audit firm Eide-Bailly and the city manager was very consistent, constant and complete. This insured that nobody was waiting on the other for information or tasks to be completed. Additionally, it was understood from the city manager that the audit was No. 1 priority and each participating party knew that, helping to keep it high on the project list.”
The city paid Eide-Bailly $63,000 for the audit, as agreed for the current contract amount. The city originally awarded the auditing contract to Murrell, Hall, McIntosh and Co., which merged with Eide-Bailly, Nolen said.
“The contract was set for three years with the option to extend it,” he said. “We have just completed the third year of the contract and will be reviewing if we desire to extend it or not for the fiscal year 2009-2010, ending June 30.”
McDougal said the findings of the audit were “really minor, as far as from a city manager’s standpoint.”
“We would love to have no findings...but neither are findings that should cause the public concern,” he said. “The city’s cash position is in a very good place, as we don’t have a lot of debt.”
The city’s full audit report is available at City Hall and will become available on the city’s Web site in the near future, McDougal said.
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Johnna Ray may be reached at 214-3934.
