Setting the Stage

Before last night’s 4:30 pm Warren County Finance/Audit Committee meeting, members received a five-page document at 2:00 p.m. titled “Report on FY24 Audit Delays,” prepared by County Administrator Bradley Gotshall. He discussed it with the Committee, as well as the Board of Supervisors, at 6:00 p.m. on November 12, 2025.

Finance Director Alisa Scott made additional copies for the public, including me, Alex Bridges of the NV Daily, Supervisors Cheryl Cullers and Hugh Henry, and former Supervisor Vicky Cook.

Under § 15.2-2511 of the Code of Virginia, every locality is required to have its accounts audited annually, with a certified report presented publicly by December 31 of the following year. As of this report, Warren County stands 316 days past due for FY 2024.

Gotshall—who began his tenure on September 11, 2025—partnered with Finance Director Scott to merge her technical analysis with his administrative review. Their shared goal is to complete the FY24 audit by March 31, 2026.

The Technical Review: Persistent Weaknesses

Director Scott’s Summary Technical Review identified recurring problems:

• Timing discrepancies: revenues and expenditures are not consistently recorded in the correct period.
• Unrecorded expenditures: Transfers from the General Fund to the School Fund and the Department of Social Services are not reflected in the ledger.

Her remedy: record transactions within the fiscal period in which they occur. Every audit since 2020 has cited material weaknesses, and each since 2021 has been submitted late, amid turnover of six finance directors.

Systemic Strains and Software Failures

Two new SaaS systems—UKG/Kronos (2022 HR/Payroll) and VISION (2024 Commissioner of the Revenue)—were deployed without API integration into the legacy BAI (Bright) financial platform. Manual cross-department data exchanges have strained resources and magnified error risk.

Treasurer Transition

• Treasurer Shanks took office in January 2024 with limited experience.
• Former Treasurer Jamie Spiker provided a brief overview before leaving.
• CPA John Montoro began assisting in October 2024 but could not proceed until the required Turnover Audit (§ 58.1-3136) was complete.
• The RFCA-conducted Turnover Audit was delayed until August 28, 2025, despite all materials being submitted on May 21, 2025, due to manual payroll entries, unclaimed property, and scheduling conflicts with the auditor.

Without confirmed December 2023 balances, 2024 reconciliations could not begin. Public delay notices were posted on December 15, 2024, March 21, 2025, and June 12, 2025, which cited staffing and conversion challenges.

Bank Reconciliations and Independent Analysis

Bank Reconciliation Timeline

• Jan 2024 Treasurer Jamie Spiker finalizes Dec 2023 reconciliations
• March 25, 2024, Supervisor Vicky Cook requests updates for Jan–Feb
• Jun 2024 RFCA preliminary fieldwork
• October 21, 2024, Status call (RFCA, Montoro, Treasurer)
• November 21, 2024, Treasurer estimates completion by January 31, 2025
• December 13, 2024, Finance Director assists with Jan–Jun statements (accounts #8443 & #2941)
• Oct 17, 2025 Montoro projects #8443 done Oct 31; minimal progress on #2941; BerryDunn offers help

Independent Interviews

Gotshall interviewed ClearPoint, RFCA, and VML/VACO Finance for candid feedback. Themes emerged:

• The County once performed its own pre-audit work; outsourcing came late.
• External help was requested too late (April inquiry; June/July contracting).
• Both the Finance and Treasurer offices lack core accounting expertise.
• High turnover, software changes, and prior controversies eroded public trust.
• One firm “didn’t realize how far behind” reconciliations were until it was contracted—a point the Finance Administrator later disputed, noting that firms had been fully briefed.

“Cash Is King” and Project Management

Auditors emphasized:

“Cash is king. Once bank reconciliations are one month behind, each month thereafter the delay is doubled.”

Key points:

• The Treasurer’s Office now performs daily reconciliations but still lacks monthly closeouts.
• Until reconciliations are complete, RFCA cannot issue the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR).
• Auditors expressed more confidence in expenditure records than in revenues.
• One comment: “We’ve lost connection to what’s really in the bank.”
• Past finance directors were characterized as “budget guys, not credits-and-debits guys.”

Coordinated Recovery Effort

Gotshall convened ClearPoint, RFCA, VML/VACO, BerryDunn, Finance, and Treasurer staff to align roles and remove roadblocks. That session led to a BerryDunn proposal with a not-to-exceed $100,000 (time & materials) for FY24 cash-reconciliation work, discussed with the Board during the 6:00 p.m. work session.

Critical Deadlines and Reform Recommendations

Target Deadlines

• October 24, 2025: BerryDunn receives remaining #2941 materials
• November 25, 2025: Cash reconciled
• January 12, 2026 (Week of): Fiscal Year 2024 auditor fieldwork
• March 31, 2026: Final audit issued

Recommendations

The report recommended that the County tighten its year-end process by setting up clear checklists and assigning specific responsibilities to staff. Reconciliations should occur throughout the year, rather than being pushed to the end, and regular budget reviews help identify and correct discrepancies more promptly. Cross-training between the Finance Department and the Treasurer’s Office would reduce bottlenecks and ensure operations continue smoothly during staff changes. More frequent collaboration and communication between departments could also prevent issues from escalating. At the same time, a shared set of internal control procedures would provide a consistent approach to documentation, oversight, and accountability.

The Meeting in Context

During the discussion, the Treasurer outlined progress on daily reconciliations and departmental transmittal procedures. The Finance Administrator emphasized that her department is assisting but not assuming the Treasurer’s statutory responsibilities.

Tension arose over the Treasurer not being consulted in drafting the report and over transitions from prior administrations. Supervisor Cullers objected to criticizing an absent staff member. At the same time, Leslie Mathews questioned representation—capturing the friction inherent in cross-office coordination.

Members also discussed creating a “proxy audit”—a verified interim statement to guide budget decisions until the official audit is complete.

Additional Insights

• Outstanding Checks & Unclaimed Property: The Treasurer noted that uncleared checks dated back to 2014. Some checks were reissued and cashed. Many original checks were designated for the state’s unclaimed property process.
• Staff Continuity Gaps: Following Jamie Spiker’s departure, a former staff member with reconciliation experience declined to assist, further complicating the transition.
• Dual Reconciliation Burden: Since legacy systems don’t integrate, the County reconciles bank-to-bank and bank-to-General Ledger (GL) transactions separately.
• Complex Banking Structure: The County once maintained approximately 40 bank accounts, which have now been consolidated into two sweep accounts (#8443 and #2941)—a design that amplifies errors when any input is incorrect.
• Call for a Proxy Audit: Members are urged to create a verified interim statement to inform FY 2026 budgeting.
• BerryDunn’s Role: Despite cost concerns, BerryDunn committed to providing senior accountants, a weekly/biweekly cadence, and transparent burn-down reporting.
• Future Systems: An RFP for an integrated financial platform (with stronger transparency tools) is in development.
• Closing Sentiment: “Once it’s done, I wholeheartedly believe the new processes will put us in a much better position than we’ve been in years.”

Award of Contract for FY24 Cash Reconciliation Services

After the committee meeting, the Board held a work session to discuss awarding a contract for FY24 cash reconciliations (Jan–Jun 2024). The room was sparse—reporters from the Royal Examiner and NV Daily attended, along with me, Warren County School Board Elect George Cline, Supervisor Elect Tony Carter, Past Supervisor Vicky Cook, and the Treasurer.

Presentation & vendor team. Finance Director Alisa Scott presented; BerryDunn joined via Microsoft Teams. Engagement leads: Katie Lucas (Partner), Alan Goodwin (Manager), Kristen West (Governmental Consulting). They noted prior work with the County on FY25 audit prep and GL cleanup, plus familiarity with Bright/BAI.

Scope & price structure.

• Scope: Complete cash reconciliations for Jan–Jun 2024, focusing on sweep account #2941, coordinating with Finance/Treasurer and other vendors.
• Contract Terms: Not-to-exceed $100,000 on time-and-materials (may land lower, depending on findings and groundwork already done).
• Transparency: Biweekly written memos to management (shareable to the Board) showing tasks completed/in flight, blockers with due dates, hours-to-date, and remaining NTE “burn.”
• Modality: Primarily remote; onsite visits if that accelerates retrieval of paper records or reduces staff burden.

Timeline pressure & capacity. The County targets auditor fieldwork the week of January 12, 2026. BerryDunn called it aggressive but feasible, backed by a core team (3 managers/partner, two seniors, two staff) and an outsourced accounting pool if needed. Early weeks will focus on root-cause triage; risks will be surfaced promptly.

Data access & discovery. Because BerryDunn is already engaged in FY25 prep/GL cleanup, they have reviewed the GL and some reconciliation artifacts (e.g., Montoro’s work) and joined the October 21 all-firms call, informing them of the scope and the NTE estimate.

Board Q&A themes. Burn-down visibility, dependency management, tactical onsite time, and sustainability via cross-training. The Board encouraged budgeting for resources to ensure reconciliations aren’t a single point of failure.

Date cleanups. A misordered deadline on an earlier handout was clarified: “BerryDunn receives all #2941” is November 2025, not 2026. The intended sequence is: cash reconciled (November 25, 2025) → auditor fieldwork (week of January 12, 2026) → final audit issued (March 31, 2026).

My Contribution — Organizing the Data

To support clarity, I compiled a data mart from General Ledger data obtained through FOIA Request #25-899. It maps account numbers to the Chart of Accounts, linking each entry to funds, departments, account types, and revenue/expense classification. Unresolved entries are flagged with question marks—visual reminders of missing context.

I shared the dataset with Finance Director Alisa Scott and Supervisor Cheryl Cullers, who had previously voiced concerns about account-number-only reports. The resource may aid reporting, onboarding, or audit support.

Why It Matters

Audit delays aren’t just administrative—they affect public trust. When records and systems drift out of sync, citizens lose clarity on how funds are managed. Every reconciled entry and every connected dataset helps restore confidence.

Transparency isn’t a one-time task—it’s an ongoing practice of alignment, verification, and communication.

Energy Discrepancies

Earlier in the day, I also completed a preliminary report on electricity usage and addressed some concerns I had with a few accounts. The main thing is that I could not discern why some accounts were paying more for electricity than others. The obvious argument would be that they use more electricity, but there is no indication of how much electricity is being used to verify that the amount billed is accurate. In general, I believe a separate report on energy usage that breaks down the details may be ideal.

Looking Forward

The following months are pivotal: reconciling cash by November 25 and delivering the audit by March 31 are now explicit benchmarks. If the BerryDunn project and internal-control reforms take hold, Warren County can emerge stronger and more resilient.

As a resident observer, I’ll continue tracking progress through committee meetings and data updates—linking numbers to narrative so the community can see how our financial story unfolds from here.