Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to evaluate the internal controls over the financial operations of the Brentwood Volunteer Fire Department for the period April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2012.

Background

The Brentwood Volunteer Fire Department is located in the Town of Islip in Suffolk County. The Department has a Chief, three Assistant Chiefs, a Secretary and a Treasurer. The Department is operated in accordance with its bylaws, and is governed by an eight-member Board of Trustees. The Department’s receipts totaled approximately $52,300 for the 2011-12 fiscal year.

Key Findings

• The Treasurer does not perform monthly bank reconciliations, or present bank statements or cancelled checks to the Board. This resulted in a bank balance that was about $34,100 higher than reported on the Department’s books.
• The Board allows two individuals, rather than the Treasurer, to manage the golf outing bank account and the Department Chief’s bank account, without oversight, and in violation of the bylaws. Records to support disbursements totaling $33,363 and deposits totaling $99,643 for these accounts are inadequate and inaccurate.
• The Board has not contracted for an audit of the Treasurer’s records for about 10 years.
• The Treasurer did not submit monthly or annual financial reports to the Board or Form 990 with IRS for 2010 or 2011.

Key Recommendations

• Prepare monthly bank reconciliations, and present them with bank statements and canceled checks to the Board for review for all accounts.
• Supervise any accounting activities for accounts handled by others.
• Ensure that an annual independent audit is conducted in accordance with the Department bylaws.
• Prepare and submit monthly and annual financial reports to the Board for review. Ensure that the Treasurer properly completes and files IRS form 990 for 2010 and 2011.