Audit Objective

Determine whether the City of Amsterdam (City) Controller (Controller) effectively managed the Treasurer’s office cash collection process and ensured accounts receivable were reconciled.

Key Findings

The Controller did not effectively manage the Treasurer’s office cash collection process or ensure accounts receivable were reconciled.

• The Treasurer’s office cash collection process and software system were deficient, allowing for 916 unaccounted for receipt numbers.
• Large unreconciled accounts receivable variances remained in the accounting records throughout our scope period. As of January 31, 2022, the accounts receivable balances in the accounting system were $634,570 more than the balances in the collection system.
• The Controller did not periodically review the Treasurer’s office collection records.

As a result, errors and irregularities in the City’s financial operations may not be detected.

Key Recommendations

• The Controller should provide adequate oversight of the Treasurer’s office collections as required by the City charter.
• The software collection system should account for all receipt numbers.
• Users’ access to the software collection system should be restricted to prevent the clerks from purging receipts.
• Accounts receivable balances should be periodically reconciled, and all variances should be investigated and corrected in a timely manner.

City officials generally agreed with our recommendations and indicated they planned to initiate corrective action.