03/24/2021
State
Auditor Nicole Galloway today released an annual report on the state's
financial reporting processes. Each year, the Missouri State Auditor's Office
examines Missouri's annual statewide financial statements and makes
recommendations to ensure accurate financial reporting.
For
state fiscal year 2020, the state's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report
covered approximately $47 billion in assets and $31 billion in expenses. The
State Auditor's Office released a report on the Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report in February, which included work to ensure state agencies have effective
processes to ensure accurate financial reporting. Today's report details the
findings and makes recommendations to state agencies to prevent future errors.
Auditors
identified incorrect financial data submitted to the Office of Administration
by Department of Revenue. The Department of Revenue's system for tracking
delinquent motor vehicle sales tax does not include complete and accurate
information in some cases.
Additionally,
procedures used by personnel to calculate accounts receivable amounts were
inadequate. As a result, the Department of Revenue misstated $292 million
related to delinquent motor vehicle sales tax. This affects financial reporting
for several funds throughout state government.
The
errors were identified by auditors and corrected before the 2020 financial
statements were finalized. The misstatements also affect the state's 2019
financial statements, which the Office of Administration corrected. The report
recommended that the department improve its processes to ensure reports related
to motor vehicle sales tax accounts are accurate.
Additional
audit work related to the state's management and spending of federal dollars
administered by state agencies is ongoing. The annual Statewide Single Audit
will be released this spring.
The
complete report detailing the findings in the Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report is available online here.