City auditors report unmodified opinions; committee accepts audit plan

The Government Audit and Oversight Committee heard presentations from the controller's office and the city's external auditors on Nov. 2 and filed the annual audit reports and the fiscal-year 2023 audit plan.

Carmen LaFrank of the controller's office introduced the auditors and the scope of deliverables. Annie Louis, engagement partner for MGO, reported that the city received unmodified opinions on the financial statements and related compliance audits for the reviewed fiscal years and that the auditors found no internal control deficiencies that rose to the level of reportable findings. "For both fiscal years, the city had received unmodified opinions on the financial statements," Louis said.

Audit partners explained recent accounting pronouncements affecting the city's reporting (notably changes affecting lease reporting and several Governmental Accounting Standards Board pronouncements) and described the audit timeline: planning, interim fieldwork, final year-end fieldwork and reporting. Crowe LLP partner Kathy Lai introduced Crowe's role in auditing the San Francisco Airport and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

Supervisor Connie Chan asked for clarification about the "single audit" requirement for entities that expend federal awards in excess of the OMB threshold; auditors said the city maintains a citywide single audit and separate single audits for the airport and MTA because of program-specific federal requirements.

There were no public speakers. After discussion, the committee recorded three ayes (Chan, Joel Engadio and Vice Chair Catherine Stephanie) and voted to file the audit plan and related reports.