Purpose of Audit

The purpose of our audit was to review the internal controls over the Board’s claims auditing process for the period January 1, 2011, through October 31, 2012.

Background

The Town of Grafton is located in Rensselaer County. An elected five-member Town Board, which comprises the Town Supervisor and four Council members, governs the Town. The Town’s budgeted expenditures for the 2013 fiscal year totaled approximately $1.1 million.

Key Finding

• The Board did not ensure that detailed claims audit procedures were in place to enable it to perform a proper and thorough audit in a timely manner. As a result, claims totaling more than $11,200 were paid more than 90 days after the invoice date, and claims totaling more than $1,400 were paid for a service contract which was expired. Informal procedures were established and implemented in November 2012 which helped to improve the Town’s claims auditing process.

Key Recommendations

• Adopt a policy to compliment the procedures over their claims auditing process, to ensure that deliberate, thorough and timely audits are conducted, that each claim approved is a legitimate Town expenditure, and that vendor payments are made in a timely manner.
• Seek to recoup funds paid to the vendor for the services that were not provided.