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Home My WebLink About20033115.tiff RESOLUTION RE: APPROVE ENGAGEMENT LETTER FOR 2003 AUDIT SERVICES AND AUTHORIZE CHAIR TO SIGN -ANDERSON AND WHITNEY, P.C. WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, Colorado, pursuant to Colorado statute and the Weld County Home Rule Charter, is vested with the authority of administering the affairs of Weld County, Colorado, and WHEREAS, the Board has been presented with an Engagement Letter for 2003 Audit Services between the County of Weld, State of Colorado, by and through the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, on behalf of the Department of Finance, and Anderson and Whitney, P.C.,with further terms and conditions being as stated in said Engagement Letter, and WHEREAS,after review,the Board deems it advisable to approve said Engagement Letter, a copy of which is attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference. NOW,THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County,Colorado,that the Engagement Letter for 2003 Audit Services between the County of Weld, State of Colorado, by and through the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County,on behalf of the Department of Finance, and Anderson and Whitney, P.C., be, and hereby is, approved. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Board that the Chair be,and hereby is,authorized to sign said Engagement Letter. The above and foregoing Resolution was,on motion duly made and seconded,adopted by the following vote on the 10th day of November, A.D., 2003. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS W COUNTY, COLD ADO ATTEST: tateil :' �`� «, . % D vid E. Long, it Weld County Clerk t ttb- ti Robert D. en, Pro-Tem Deputy Clerk to thears : :. .' M. J. eile APP D AS TO F - i m H. Jerk r e —`Will n y Attorney SA...4...-A I/LA /2/ Glenn Vaad Date of signature: 2003-3115 FI0037 D ' Ti ANdERSON A Professionaled Corporation ccun of Certified Public Accountants ©M ITNEy ■ ■ ■ • ■ November 3, 2003 Don Warden Weld County 915 10th Street Greeley, Colorado 80631 Dear Don: This letter will confirm our understanding of the terms and objectives of our engagement and the nature and limitations of the services we will provide. We shall be pleased to discuss this letter with you at any time. AUDIT SERVICE Audit Scope and Objective: We will perform an audit of the Weld County's governmental activities, business-type activities, aggregate discretely presented component units, each major fund, and aggregate remaining fund information as of December 31, 2003 and for the year then ending, which collectively comprise the basic financial statements, as well as the Weld County Fair, Weld County Retirement Plan, and Weld County Treasurer's office as applicable. We understand that these financial statements will be prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. The objective of our audit is the expression of an opinion as to whether your financial statements are fairly presented, in all material respects, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, and to report on the fairness of the additional information when considered in relation to the basic financial statements taken as a whole. The objective also includes reporting on the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards and the Weld County's compliance with laws and regulations and its internal control as required for a single audit. Our audit will be made in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States; the standards for financial audits contained in Government Auditing Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States; the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996; and the provisions of OMB Circular A-133, Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations. As such, the audit will include tests of your accounting records, a determination of major program(s) in accordance with Circular A-133, and other procedures we consider necessary to enable us to express an opinion on your financial statements and to render the required reports. If our opinion is other than unqualified, we will discuss the reasons with management in advance. If for any reason, we are unable to complete the audit or are unable to form or have not formed an opinion, we may decline to express an opinion or to issue a report as a result of this engagement. 5801 West 11th Street • Suite 300 (970) 352-7990 Greeley,Colorado 80634-4813 FAX(970)352-1855 ,Q1a3- // Don Warden Weld County Page 2 November 3, 2003 Audit Procedures: Our procedures will include tests of documentary evidence supporting the transactions recorded in the accounts, tests of physical existence of assets, and direct confirmation with selected customers, creditors, legal counsel and banks. Whenever possible, we will use your personnel as well as their schedules, reports and correspondence. At the conclusion of our audit, we will request certain written representations from you about the financial statements and related matters. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the basic financial statements; therefore, our audit will involve judgment about the number of transactions to be examined and the areas to be tested. We will plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable rather than absolute assurance about whether the basic financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether caused by errors, fraudulent financial reporting, misappropriation of assets, or violations of laws or governmental regulations that are attributed to the entity or to acts by management or employees acting on behalf of the entity. As required by the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996 and OMB Circular A-133, our audit will include tests of transactions related to major federal award programs for compliance with applicable laws and regulations and the provisions of contracts and grant agreements. Because an audit is designed to provide reasonable, but not absolute, assurance and because we will not perform a detailed examination of all transactions, there is a risk that material misstatements may exist and not be detected by us. In addition, an audit is not designed to detect immaterial misstatements or violations of laws or governmental regulations that do not have a direct and material effect on the financial statements or major programs. However, we will inform you of any material errors and any fraudulent financial reporting or misappropriation of assets that comes to our attention. We will also inform you of any violations of laws or governmental regulations that come to our attention, unless clearly inconsequential. We will include such matters in the reports required for a single audit. Our responsibility as auditors is limited to the period covered by our audit and does not extend to any later periods for which we are not engaged as auditors. Audit Procedures -Internal Control: In planning and performing our audit, we will consider internal control sufficient to plan the audit in order to determine the nature, timing, and extent of our auditing procedures for the purpose of expressing our opinions on Weld County's financial statements and on its compliance with requirements applicable to major programs. We will obtain an understanding of the design of the relevant controls and whether they have been placed in operation, and we will assess control risk. Tests of controls may be performed to test the effectiveness of certain controls that we consider relevant to preventing and detecting errors and fraud that are material to the financial statements and to preventing and detecting misstatements resulting from illegal acts and other noncompliance matters that have a direct and material effect on the financial statements. Tests of controls relative to the financial statements are required only if control risk is assessed below the maximum level. Our tests, if performed, will be less in scope than would be necessary to render an opinion on internal control and, accordingly, no opinion will be expressed in our report on internal control issued pursuant to Government Auditing Standards. Don Warden Weld County Page 3 November 3, 2003 As required by OMB Circular A-133, we will perform tests of controls to evaluate the effectiveness of the design and operation of controls that we consider relevant to preventing or detecting material noncompliance with compliance requirements applicable to each major federal award program. However, our tests will be less in scope than would be necessary to render an opinion on those controls and, accordingly, no opinion will be expressed in our report on internal control issued pursuant to Government Auditing Standards and OMB Circular A-133. An audit is not designed to provide assurance on internal control or to identify reportable conditions. However, we will inform the governing body or audit committee of any matters involving internal control and its operation that we consider to be reportable conditions under standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Reportable conditions involve matters coming to our attention relating to significant deficiencies in the design or operation of the internal control that, in our judgment, could adversely affect the entity's ability to record, process, summarize, and report financial data consistent with the assertions of management in the financial statements. We will also inform you of any nonreportable conditions or other matters involving internal control, if any, as required by OMB Circular A-133. Audit Procedures-Compliance: Our audit will be conducted in accordance with the standards referred to above. As part of obtaining reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, we will perform tests of Weld County's compliance with applicable laws and regulations and the provisions of contracts and agreements, including grant agreements. However, the objective of these procedures will not be to provide an opinion on overall compliance and we will not express such an opinion in our report on compliance issued pursuant to Government Auditing Standards. OMB Circular A-133 requires that we also plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the auditee has complied with applicable laws and regulations and the provisions of contracts and grant agreements applicable to major programs. Our procedures will consist of the applicable procedures described in OMB Circular A-133 Compliance Supplement for the types of compliance requirements that could have a direct and material effect on each of Weld County's major programs. The purpose of those procedures will be to express an opinion on Weld County's compliance with requirements applicable to major programs in our report on compliance issued pursuant to OMB Circular A-133. Management Responsibilities: We understand that you will provide us with the basic information required for our audit and that you are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of that information. We will advise you about appropriate accounting principles and their application and will assist in the preparation of your basic financial statements, including the schedule of expenditures of federal awards, but the responsibility for the basic financial statements remains with you. This responsibility includes the establishment and maintenance of adequate records and effective internal control over financial reporting and compliance, the selection and application of Don Warden Weld County Page 4 November 3, 2003 accounting principles, and the safeguarding of assets. Management is responsible for adjusting the financial statements to correct material misstatements and for confirming to us in the management representation letter that the effects of any uncorrected misstatements aggregated by us during the current engagement and pertaining to the latest period presented are immaterial, both individually and in the aggregate, to the financial statements taken as a whole. Additionally, as required by OMB Circular A-133, it is management's responsibility to follow up and take corrective action on reported audit findings and to prepare a summary schedule of prior audit findings and a corrective action plan. Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining internal control and for compliance with the provisions of contracts, agreements, and grants. In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and judgments by management are required to assess the expected benefits and related cost of the controls. The objectives of internal control are to provide management with reasonable, but not absolute, assurance that assets are safeguarded against loss from unauthorized use or disposition, that transactions are executed in accordance with management's authorizations and recorded properly to permit the preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that federal award programs are managed in compliance with applicable laws and regulations and the provisions of contracts and grant agreements. Certain information returns (such as tax forms related to retirement plans, payments to outside contractors, and interest and dividend payments) may be required for your entity. Also, most organizations providing employee benefits, such as health insurance, should review their benefit plans to insure compliance with applicable rules and regulations. We are available to assist you in fulfilling these requirements at your request. GENERAL TERMS If you intend to publish or otherwise reproduce the basic financial statements and make reference to our firm, you agree to provide us with printers' proofs or masters for our review and approval before printing. You also agree to provide us with a copy of the final reproduced material for our approval before it is distributed. Our fees for these services will be based on the actual time spent at our standard hourly rates, plus out-of-pocket costs. Our standard hourly rates vary according to the degree of responsibility involved and the experience level of the personnel assigned. Invoices will be rendered each month as work progresses and are payable on presentation. A finance charge is added on balances unpaid from prior months at the rate of 1.5% per month (18% per annum). We anticipate our fee to be $72,000 for the audits. Should circumstances arise which would cause us to exceed our estimate, we will discuss the circumstances with you before proceeding further. It is agreed that any unresolved disputes concerning the quality or timeliness of our services will be submitted to final and binding arbitration conducted under the rules of the American Arbitration Association which pertain to the resolution of claims against accountants. There shall be a single arbitrator, who shall be a member of the Colorado Society of Certified Don Warden Weld County Page 5 November 3, 2003 Public Accountants, with a minimum of ten years in practice. The arbitrator shall have authority to award compensatory damages, but only for such damages as found to have been directly and solely caused by acts, errors, or omissions committed in violation of our professional duties. Our firm has joined the SEC Practice Section of the Division for CPA Firms sponsored by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. This requires that our firm submit itself to a peer review by independent, outside personnel, approved by the AICPA, once every three years. The review team will not be from Colorado and will not disclose any of the information obtained in the review process. The client files selected for review will be on a random basis and will be chosen by the review team. It is our mutual understanding that the review team has permission to examine your files should they be selected for review. The working papers for this engagement are the property of Anderson & Whitney, P.C. and constitute confidential information. However, as required by regulation, we are required to make certain work papers available to regulators upon request for their regulatory oversight purposes. Access to the requested work papers will be provided to regulators under the supervision of Anderson & Whitney, P.C. audit personnel and at a location designated by our firm Attached is a copy of our most recent peer review report. We are pleased to serve as your independent certified public accountants and look forward to a continuing pleasant relationship. Please indicate the agreement of your organization with the arrangements discussed herein by signing and returning the enclosed copy of this letter using the enclosed envelope. Sincerely, c- A&W:meh Enclosure $ 044. 0. This letter co ctly sets forth the understanding of Weld County, Colorado. (1�I Signature: c.N � Date: 11/10/2003 Title: David E. Lon ,4. oard of Weld ounty Co .1: .- oners Attest Clerk to the Bo.E a By c Deputy Clerk to thW tabard �� 7. _ .. (�n e A C 1 MERICA INTERNATIONAL World's largest network of Independent CPA and consulting firms July 27,2001 To the Stockholders Anderson&Whitney,P.C. We have reviewed the system of quality control for the accounting and auditing practice of Anderson & Whitney, P.C. (the "Firm") in effect for the year ended March 31, 2001. A system of quality control encompasses the Firm's organizational structure and the policies adopted and procedures established to provide it with reasonable assurance of complying with professional standards. The elements of quality control are described in the Statements on Quality Control Standards issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (the "AICPA"). The design of the system, and compliance with it, are the responsibilities of the Finn. In addition, the Firm has agreed to comply with the membership requirements of the SEC Practice Section of the AICPA Division for CPA Firms (the "Section"). Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the design of the system, and the Firm's compliance with that system and the Section's membership requirements based on our review. Our review was conducted in accordance with standards established by the Peer Review Committee of the Section. In performing our review, we obtained an understanding of the system of quality control for the Firm's accounting and auditing practice. In addition, we tested compliance with the Firm's quality control policies and procedures and with the membership requirements of the Section to the extent we considered appropriate. These tests covered the application of the Firm's policies and procedures on selected engagements. Because our review was based on selective tests, it would not necessarily disclose all weaknesses in the system of quality control or all instances of lack of compliance with it or with the membership requirements of the Section. Because there are inherent limitations in the effectiveness of any system of quality control, departures from the system may occur and not be detected. Also, projection of any evaluation of a system of quality control to future periods is subject to the risk that the system of quality control may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. In our opinion, the system of quality control for the accounting and auditing practice of Anderson & Whitney, P.C. in effect for the year ended March 31, 2001, has been designed to meet the requirements of the quality control standards for an accounting and auditing practice established by the AICPA, and was complied with during the year then ended to provide the Firm with reasonable assurance of complying with professional standards. Also, in our opinion, the Firm has complied with the membership requirements of the Section in all material respects. our tru y, /2 Jpck Sprawls Team Captain 11801 Research Dr. Ph:(386)418.4001 Fax:(386)418-4002 • 47:- MoKt - A Professional Corporation of ANdERSON Certified Public Accountants ©WHITNEY ■ . • • ■ TO(Don Warden DATE November 5, 2003 Weld County FROM Alan Holmberg SUBJECT Engagement Letter Following is an engagement letter for the County's 2003 audit. Please review the letter, have the signature portion completed, and return in the self-addressed envelope. We anticipate a fee of$72,000 for the audits. This represents a cost of living increase from last years fee of$70,000. Last year we also billed the County for some GASB 34 consulting in addition to our base fee. That is not anticipated this year, but if it is necessary it will be charged in addition to the base. Please contact me with any questions. We look forward to working with you and the County again. 2003-3115 5801 West 11th Street•Suite 300 (970) 352-7990 Greeley, Colorado 80634-4813 FAX (970) 352-1855 Hello