RSS
8/14/2017
Please see the attachments. A. B. C. D. E. F.
8/9/2017-
Q) What assistance is provided to the auditors by the internal audit function of the County?
RESPONSE: Internal reviews are routinely conducted. The County has documented internal control procedures for many of our financial processes.
Q) Does the County desire an opinion on the basic financial statements with an “in relation to” opinion on the combining and individual funds and Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards consistent with prior years?
RESPONSE: Yes. The County desires consistency and full compliance.
Q) May we receive copies of the following reports listed on pages 13-14 of the RFP:
a. Report on Internal Control
b. Lake County Health Department
i. FQHC Report
ii. Department of Human Services Grant Report
iii. Department of Human Services Consolidated Financial Report (CFR)
iv. Department of Children and Family Services CFR
v. Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services CFR
c. Office of Circuit Court Clerk – Supplementary Financial and Compliance Report
d. Lake County Public Works – Waterworks and Sewerage Systems Fund
e. Public Works – Regional Financial Reports
f. Emergency Telephone System Board (ETSB)
RESPONSE: Yes
Q) Page 14 of the RFP notes that County staff prepare the basic financial statements as well as the notes to the financial statements and the statistical section. Are these camera ready drafts? What about the remaining information in the CAFR (e.g., introductory section, letter of transmittal, management’s discussion and analysis) as page 15 notes that report preparation is the responsibility of the auditors.
RESPONSE: Financial statements and statistical section provided as formatted spreadsheets. Introductory sections, letter of transmittal, MD&A are prepared by County staff in word/excel format for compilation by auditors.
Q) May we receive a copy of the County’s most recent Indirect Cost Allocation Plan identified on page 15 of the RFP?
RESPONSE: Yes
Q) How many adjusting journal entries were proposed by the prior auditor? If any, may we obtain copies?
REPONSE: In FY16, there were two. The first reclassified amounts to adjust AR that was recorded in 2017 instead of 2016 “Accounts Receivable” to “Due from/to Governmental Agencies Other Governments.” The second adjust accounts receivable both in “regular receivable” and accounts receivable “adjusted.” In addition, there were other adjusting journal entries performed by the County after the Trial Balance was given to the auditors at the end of February. Some of these were necessary based on conversations with the auditors and some were timing issues (e.g., payroll accrual resulting from ongoing bargaining unit contract negotiation) for ETSB and SWALCO.
Q) What were the prior year audit fees? Are these fees for the same services requested in this request for proposal? Please provide a breakdown of the fees in the same manner as requested on page 21 of the RFP.
RESPONSE: The contract for the County, including Public Works, was for $206,400. ETSB was $8,200 and SWALCO was $7,400. This does not include the regional reports. The contract was based on not-to-exceed pricing and this information was not provided. The number of auditors and the length of visits varied depended on the nature of the fieldwork.
Q) Did the prior auditor issue a management letter? If so, may we obtain a copy?
RESPONSE: Yes. The letter will be made available to those firms who are invited for oral presentations.
Q) Does the County prepare all work papers related to the audit?
RESPONSE: Yes. All work papers are prepared by County staff for audit.
Q) What general ledger software is used by the County? What other financial software(s) is (are) utilized by the County?
RESPONSE: Oracle eBusiness Suite
Q) What case management system is utilized by the Office of the Circuit Court Clerk?
RESPONSE: The Circuit Clerk uses a software program (“CRIMS”) to account for the citations issued as well as the accounting transactions, including cash receipts and disbursements.
Q) Are all funds recorded in the general ledger software?
RESPONSE: Not all Agency funds are in Oracle. The County Collector, Drainage District, Circuit Court, County Clerk, Health Department, Sheriff, State’s Attorney and Winchester House have accounts that are not in the County’s general ledger.
Q) Are all trial balances by fund adjusted to GAAP?
RESPONSE: Yes.
Q) How does the County capture the information necessary to convert the governmental fund financial statements to the governmental activities statements?
RESPONSE: The complete trial balance for all funds is mapped to allow for sorting by function.
Q) Does the County’s chart of accounts have consistency of account number sequencing between funds?
RESPONSE: Yes.
Q) Are the County’s cash receipts and cash disbursements (purchasing) functions centralized or decentralized? If decentralized, what locations perform these functions?
RESPONSE: The County has centralized purchasing. The majority of revenues are processed by the treasurer’s office. Customers/residents can pay fines, fees and bills at the Central Permit facility.
Q) What long-term debt issuances are anticipated during the next two fiscal years?
RESPONSE: SSA water projects and refinancing.
Q) What actuary does the County utilize to perform the OPEB valuation? Are there any explicit benefits provided to retirees or is the liability based only on an implicit benefit?
RESPONSE: The County actuarial valuation for FY2016 was from Arthur J Gallagher & Co and based on implicit benefit.
Q) Does the County expect any changes to its self-insurance program?
RESPONSE: None
Q) Does the County utilize a third party administrator for its risk management program covering risks other than employee health?
RESPONSE: IPMG for property, liability and auto.
Q) Does the County prepare the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards?
RESPONSE: Yes
Q) What are the anticipated major programs for fiscal year 2017?
RESPONSE: Same as prior years, HUD, DCEO, DPH, EMA
Q) Is Federal funding expected to remain consistent with prior years?
RESPONSE: Yes
Q) The language in paragraph 18 on page 5 (“Indemnification”) of the request for proposal violates the independence standards set forth by AICPA professional standards. Will the County waive this condition for all proposers?
RESPONSE: YES
Q) Why is the County requesting RFPs this year?
RESPONSE: The contract with the existing auditor is up after several years and it is in the best interest of the County to seek a request for proposals for these services
Q) Is your current provider allowed to submit a proposal?
RESPONSE: Yes.
Q) Are there any service issues with the current provider?
RESPONSE: No.
Q)Will the County provide copies of the additional reports to be issued which are not located on the website?
a. Health Department reports
b. Circuit Court Clerk
c. Public Works audit
d. Public Works regional reports
e. ETSB
RESPONSE: Yes.
Q) Was there a management letter issued in 2016? If so, can the County provide a copy?
RESPONSE: Yes. The letter will be made available to those firms who are invited for oral presentations.
Q) Approximately how many and what types of audit entries were made in FY2016? Is this typical?
REPONSE: In FY16, there were two. The first reclassified amounts to adjust AR that was recorded in 2017 instead of 2016 “Accounts Receivable” to “Due from/to Governmental Agencies Other Governments.” The second adjust accounts receivable both in “regular receivable” and accounts receivable “adjusted”
In addition, there were other adjusting journal entries performed by the County after the Trial Balance was given to the auditors at the end of February. Some of these were necessary based on conversations with the auditors and some were timing issues (e.g., payroll accrual resulting from ongoing bargaining unit contract negotiation) for ETSB and SWALCO.
Q) When will the final adjusted trial balances and the draft of the CAFR be provided to the auditor for review each year?
RESPONSE: Yes. Refer to response(s) in the above questions
Q) When is the targeted issuance date for each report?
RESPONSE: The number of auditors and the length of visits varied depended on the nature of the fieldwork. The County tries to be flexible in scheduling fieldwork but it has historically been performed from October – April for the various aspects of the County’s audits and reports and Single Audit. Most reports should be complete 180 days after the end of the fiscal year, except for the regional reports, which are due 7 months after the end of the fiscal year. The Report J part of the Circuit Clerk report is due by January 31 and historically the whole Circuit Clerk report has been complete by this time. The Health reports should be complete 120 days after the fiscal year end.
Q) What is the typical prelim and fieldwork duration? How many auditors are normally in the field?
RESPONSE: Please refer to response above
A typical schedule is listed below:
Lake County
Fieldwork Schedule
Preliminary Fieldwork December 7-8
IT Controls February-March
Cash and Investments Pre-Audit January 23-25
Circuit Clerk Audit January 9-11
General Fund, ETSB February 20-February 24
Health financial audit and FQHC report February 27-March 3
DOT, County Capital Assets March 6-10
Public Works/SWALCO March 13-17
Single Audit (Health programs) March 27-31
Single Audit (non-Health programs) March 20-24
PW Regional Reports Late April
**CAFR Timeline - see separate document
CAFR Timeline
All audit work is completed and reviewed, including segments such as Winchester, DOT, Public Works. Any adjustments are communicated to Deputy for CAFR preparation. March 18
Provide a reviewed draft of the Public Works financial statements to Deputy for CAFR preparation. March 25
Conduct Exit Conference with County TBD
Complete draft financial statements to Auditor (schedules, notes, government wide). April 13
Review financial statements and provide feedback to county. Baker Tilly to maintain active version of report at this point. April 13
Formatting as needed April 20
Provide complete formatted report back to County. April 22
Send MD&A, transmittal letter, and statistical schedules to Auditor. April 26
Review MD&A, transmittal letter, and statistical schedules April 30
Incorporate all report elements, page number, etc. May 3
Send attorney letter to Auditor May 3
Send covers, spirals, dividers, etc. to Auditor for printing. May 4
Partner review of report May 5
Pre-issuance partner review May 10
Clear PI comments, any final report adjustments May 11
Report copying and production May 12
Receive assembled reports. Distribute as appropriate May 13
Q)Does the County prepare the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards? When is it ready for the auditors?
RESPONSE: Yes. Please see the Single Audit report for FY 2016. No major changes are expected. Refer to response(s) in pervious questions
Q)What assistance does the County expect they will need from the auditors for implementation of new GASB standards?
RESPONSE: The County expects a great deal of guidance and direction with the introduction of any new standards. However, the County will perform the implementation.
Q) Are all programs – i.e. payroll processing, fixed asset management programs, etc. – integrated with the general ledger?
RESPONSE: Yes. Oracle eBusiness Suite
Q)What system does the County use to track fixed assets?
Response: The County uses Oracle Assets module. Some capital assets are currently tracked on an Excel spreadsheet, including accumulated depreciation and depreciation expense by function.
Q) Does the County anticipate having any new bond issues for 2017?
RESPONSE: Yes.
Q) Is the County willing to release the prior year fee?
RESPONSE: The contract for the County, including Public Works, was for $206,400. ETSB was $8,200 and SWALCO was $7,400. This does not include the regional reports. The contract was based on not-to-exceed pricing and this information was not provided. The number of auditors and the length of visits varied depended on the nature of the fieldwork.
Q) Who provides the actuarial services for the OPEB plan?
RESPONSE: The County actuarial valuation for FY2016 from Arthur J Gallagher & Co.
Q) Were there any additional billings by the predecessor audit firm for services beyond the scope of the audit?
RESPONSE: No.
Q) Does the County maintain documentation of its processes and controls over significant transaction cycles such as payroll, cash disbursements, billings, etc.?
RESPONSE: The County has documented internal control procedures for many of our financial processes.
Q) Page 14 of the RFP states the County prepares the basic financial statements as well as the notes and statistical section. Does the County draft the other portions of the CAFR (other than the audit opinion)? Does the County prepare the other financial reports such as SWALCO, ETSB, Public Works, etc.?
RESPONSE: Yes, the County drafts the other portions of the CAFR other than the audit opinion and the table of contents and cover pages. Public Works creates the statements, schedules, and notes of its annual financial report. The Health Department prepares its own reports (CFR, FQHC, and Grant report). All other reports are prepared by the auditors.
Q) Are all County funds and transactions, including agency funds, maintained on the County’s general ledger? Please describe any that are not.
RESPONSE: Not all Agency funds are in Oracle. The County Collector, Drainage District, Circuit Court, County Clerk, Health Department, Sheriff, State’s Attorney and Winchester House have accounts that are not in the County’s general ledger.
Q) When was the complete draft of the CAFR (including MD&A, transmittal letter and statistical section) provided to the auditor for the FY2016 audit? What was the level of auditor edits to this draft (minor format changes, a few number / disclosure changes, or numerous number and / or disclosure changes)?
RESPONSE: Refer to response(s) in Question 8 and 9. The various pieces of the draft were provided in mid-April. There were numerous formatting changes made and some number/disclosure changes.
Q) What third party service providers does the County use (insurance claims, etc.)?
RESPONSE: The County does not use a third-party administrator. A SAS 70 has been provided from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois. A third-party audit of adjudicated claims from Health Insurance carrier are performed for contract compliance. The County has an annual actuarial study done to determine claims accrual information.
Q) Could the most recent reports of those entities listed on pg. 13 & 14 of the RFP be made available to bidders? Specifically, the various Health Dept. reports, Circuit Court Clerk report, Public Works report, regional audit reports, SWALCO report, and the ETSB report.
RESPONSE: Yes.
Q) Pg. 21 asks that bidders delineate price by service segment – in the name of transparency, could you please make available the fee breakdown by service segment for the past three audit cycles?
RESPONSE: Yes.
Q) Were any scope modifications made to the contract with the predecessor audit firm?
RESPONSE: No.
Q) Could you please tell us how many auditors and the timing of fieldwork (duration and time of year) of the predecessor auditor? How long for interim and how long for final fieldwork
RESPONSE: Refer to response(s) in Question 8 and 9. The County tries to be flexible in scheduling fieldwork but it has historically been performed from October – April for the various aspects of the County’s audits and reports and Single Audit. Most reports should be complete 180 days after the end of the fiscal year, except for the regional reports, which are due 7 months after the end of the fiscal year. The Report J part of the Circuit Clerk report is due by January 31 and historically the whole Circuit Clerk report has been complete by this time. The Health reports should be complete 120 days after the fiscal year end.
8/7/17- The RFP due date has been extended an additional week. RFP responses are now due by 8/17/17 no later than 2pm
Q) Page 9 of the RFP, section 35 refers to the County’s information security policy and privacy standards, and that the proposer agrees services will meet or exceed those. Can you please provide a copy of those standards / document for our review?
A) Please see the attached document
Q) We would like to request your guidelines for submitting the Audit Services proposal.
A) All the guidelines and submittal requirements for this solicitation can be found within the RFP document, please refer to the RFP