News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
A state comptroller audit of Tennessee Tech released Friday revealed two findings including improper bank reconciliations and inadequate internal controls.
The university’s Business Office was performing reports of operating and payroll bank accounts up to 230 days late. Comptroller Director of Communications John Dunn said bank reconciliations should be performed within 30 days after the end of the month.
“If you do spot an error, the bank will honor that request to fix it in most cases,” Dunn said. “If you let it go on past 30 days, that is when you get in to an issue where you are not able to reconcile or resolve some of those problems you might notice.”
The university also did not effectively monitor internal controls with software systems in a specific area throughout 2019. Dunn said the details of this finding are confidential under state law.
“From time to time, we take audit findings about software systems within government organizations and colleges and universities,” Dunn said. “But because those findings are somewhat sensitive and they are potentially a security risk for institutions.”
Since 2019, all university bank reconciliations have been completed in the 30 day time frame by a different accountant.
The previous individual that conducted the statements faced delays in May and June of 2018. Errors in March and April 2018 were found as well resulting in the significant delays. A new accountant was hired by the university in March 2019 after these delays but was unable to catch up.
In February, a more appropriate process was implemented to fix the internal control deficiency. The associate Vice President for Business and Fiscal Affairs along with the Directors of Accounting and Financial Services have tested the new system and routinely monitor it.
“Our audit findings are designed really to make government work better,” Dunn said. “We want to make sure the university has good controls over their money handling process and good controls over their software environments. So when we see issues, I think it helps for the university to be able know what the problems are to correct them. The good news here is that Tennessee Tech responded very quickly and corrected both of these issues.”
Dunn said the comptroller’s office is currently conducting a separate review of an allegation against the university made on its fraud hotline in June 2019.
