To provide a greater measure of financial transparency and accountability, the Board of Directors of the Cannon River STEM School will make available to the public its annual financial audit reports. These reports have been prepared by the accounting firm of LarsonAllen LLP. If you have any questions about these reports, please contact the school. All files are .pdf.
Audit Reports for the Year Ending June 30, 2009
Commentary. There were two findings in the 2009 audit. These are also explained on pages 49-51 of the 2009 Financial Statements document above.
Finding: Limited Segregation of Duties
CRSS received the limited segregation of duties comment in the 2008-2009 audited financial statements. This comment stemmed from the very limited financial activity that occurred during the first few weeks of the School’s start-up phase. Although the financial activities were very transparent and well managed, the audit firm determined that for a very small scope of time the segregation of duties was compromised. Shortly after the development of the accounting processes and the development of the internal control structure this issue was alleviated.
Finding: Minnesota Legal Compliance
During the first few weeks of the School’s start-up phase there were several checks written that lacked the required verbiage pursuant to MN Statute 471.38. The Statute requires the following verbiage be present on every account payable check written by the School: “I declare under the penalties of laws that this account, claim or demand is just and correct and that no part of it has been paid.” This is a very common circumstance that almost every start-up charter school experiences. Shortly after the development of accounting processes and the development of the internal control structure proper check stock including the required verbiage was used.
The Board of Directors has implemented the recommended changes to insure full compliance.
UPDATE (January 28, 2010): Corrective Action Plan (CAP) letter from the Minnesota Department of Education (.pdf).
