Example A-17 (SLG Chapter 16.91): Unmodified Opinions on Departmental Financial Statements

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT

[ENTITY NAME]

[COUNTY NAME]

[STREET ADDRESS]

[CITY], Ohio [ZIP CODE]

To the [GOVERNING BODY]:

Report on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying financial statements of the [governmental activities,] [the business type activities,] [each / the major fund,] [and the aggregate remaining fund information] of the [DEPARTMENT NAME], [ENTITY NAME], [COUNTY NAME], Ohio (the Entity), as of and for the year ended [FYE DATE], and the related notes to the financial statements, as listed in the table of contents.

Management’s Responsibility for the Financial Statements

Management is responsible for preparing and fairly presenting these financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America; this includes designing, implementing, and maintaining internal control relevant to preparing and fairly presenting financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

Auditor's Responsibility

Our responsibility is to opine on these financial statements based on our audit. We audited in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America and the financial audit standards in the Comptroller General of the United States’ Government Auditing Standards. Those standards require us to plan and perform the audit to reasonably assure the financial statements are free from material misstatement.

An audit requires obtaining evidence about financial statement amounts and disclosures. The procedures selected depend on our judgment, including assessing the risks of material financial statement misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In assessing those risks, we consider internal control relevant to the Entity's preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not to the extent needed to opine on the effectiveness of the Entity's internal control. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of management’s accounting policies and the reasonableness of their significant accounting estimates, as well as our evaluation of the overall financial statement presentation.

We believe the audit evidence we obtained is sufficient and appropriate to support our audit opinions.

Opinions

In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the respective financial position of the of [the governmental activities,] [the business type activities,] [each / the major fund,] [and the aggregate remaining fund information] of the Entity, as of [FYE DATE], and the respective changes in financial position and where applicable, cash flows,, thereof and the respective<<delete if only one budgetary fund comparison budgetary comparison[s] for the General and [list major special revenue funds] thereof for the year then ended in accordance with the accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Emphasis of Matter

Presentation

As discussed in Note X, the financial statements of the Entity, present only the financial position, changes in financial position, and where applicable cash flows, thereof and the respective <<delete if only one budgetary fund comparison budgetary comparison[s] of the [ENTITY NAME] attributable to the [DEPARTMENT NAME]. They do not present the financial position of the [ENTITY NAME] as of [FYE DATE], the changes in financial position or, where applicable, cash flows thereof or the respective budgetary comparisons of the [ENTITY NAME] for the year then ended in accordance with the accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Our opinion is not modified regarding this matter.

Accounting Change

As discussed in Note X to the financial statements, during 20XX, the [DEPARTMENT NAME] adopted new accounting guidance in Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement No. XX, [include name/title of GASB Statement in italics]. We did not modify our opinion regarding this matter.

Other Matters

Required Supplementary Information

Accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America require this presentation to include management’s discussion and analysis, [Required budgetary comparison schedule(s) and Schedules for infrastructure assets accounted for using the modified approach,] and schedules of net pension and other post-employment benefit liabilities and pension and other post-employment benefit contributions listed in the table of contents, to supplement the basic financial statements. Although this information is not part of the basic financial statements, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board considers it essential for placing the basic financial statements in an appropriate operational, economic, or historical context. We applied certain limited procedures to the required supplementary information in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America, consisting of inquiries of management about the methods of preparing the information and comparing the information for consistency with management’s responses to our inquiries, to the basic financial statements, and other knowledge we obtained during our audit of the basic financial statements. We do not opine or provide any assurance on the information because the limited procedures do not provide us with sufficient evidence to opine or provide any other assurance.

(Insert paragraph for supplementary and other information if there is any.)

Other Reporting Required by Government Auditing Standards

In accordance with Government Auditing Standards, we have also issued our report dated [REPORT DATE], on our consideration of the Entity’s internal control over financial reporting and our tests of its compliance with certain provisions of laws, regulations, contracts and grant agreements and other matters. That report describes the scope of our internal control testing over financial reporting and compliance, and the results of that testing, and does not opine on internal control over financial reporting or on compliance. That report is an integral part of an audit performed in accordance with Government Auditing Standards in considering the Entity’s internal control over financial reporting and compliance.

[Auditor Signature]

[City, State]

[REPORT DATE]

Revised October 2020 – Updated for COVID-19 Guidance (endnote 4), added county name to header, simplified language in opinion paragraph.

Insert only the opinion units that apply to the department.

Delete the reference to cash flows if none are presented. If all funds present cash flow statements, delete the phrase “where applicable.” See point 8 of SLG 16.103

Delete the reference to the budgetary comparisons from the opinion paragraph, and refer to it with the “MD&A / RSI paragraph” if the budgetary comparisons are presented as RSI.

COVID-19 Guidance:

Additional language regarding COVID-19 and a related draft disclosure, draft emphasis-of-matter paragraph, and draft GAGAS opening paragraph sentence can be found here.

See footnote 2

Modify this example when a client properly adopts a new GASB pronouncement (including required disclosures and restatements) and it materially affects the financial statement (see AU-C 708.08).

Do not include EOM paragraphs for new standards with immaterial financial statement effects, or standards that effect only disclosures.

Comparative Financial Statements

Note: “comparative financial statements” means only complete financial statements for one or more prior periods included for comparison with the current financial statements. (“Total only” columns are incomplete presentations.)

Per AU-C 700.44, when we are the continuing auditor we would refer to these statements in our opinion (See AU-C 700, Illustration 1); however, when the prior period was audited by a predecessor auditor the following is an example other matter paragraph (See AU-C 706.54).

Prior Period Financial Statements Audited by a Predecessor Auditor

The financial statements of the Entity, as of and for the year ended [FYE DATE], were audited by predecessor auditor whose report dated [DATE], expressed an unmodified opinion on those statements. << modify as necessary if other than an unmodified opinion was issued.

Comparative Information

AU-C 700 uses the term comparative information for partial presentations. (e.g. “Total Only” columns). (Comparative statements refer only to complete p/y presentations.)

Per AU-C 700.46 We should include one of the following other matter paragraphs to describe comparative information (from AU-C 700, Illustration 4):

Report on Summarized Comparative Information

We have previously audited the Entity's 20XX financial statements, and we expressed an unmodified audit opinion on those audited financial statements in our report dated [DATE]. In our opinion, the summarized comparative information presented herein as of and for the year ended December 31, 20XX is consistent, in all material respects, with the audited financial statements from which it has been derived. << modify as necessary if other than an unmodified opinion was issued.

Or:

The financial statements of the Entity as of and for the year ended December 31, 20XX were audited by a predecessor auditor. An unmodified opinion was issued [DATE] by the predecessor auditor. In our opinion, the summarized comparative information presented herein as of and for the year ended December 31, 20XX is consistent, in all material respects, with the audited financial statements from which it has been derived. << modify as necessary if other than an unmodified opinion was issued.

Modify this paragraph in the following circumstances. See AU-C 730 and SLG 16.66- .73 :

The required supplementary information is omitted.

Some required supplementary information is missing and some is presented in accordance with the prescribed guidelines.

The auditor has identified material departures from the prescribed guidelines.

The auditor is unable to complete the procedures in AU-C 730.05.

The auditor has unresolved doubts about whether the required supplementary information is presented in accordance with prescribed guidelines.