STATE OF DELAWARE
OFFICE OF AUDITOR OF ACCOUNTS.
THOMAS WAGNER, JR, CFE, CGFM, CICA
‘AubrTor oF ACCOUNTS
‘302-739-5055
THOMAS. WAGNER@STATE.DE.US
June 21,2016
‘The Honorable Thomas J. Cook
Secretary of Finance
Department of Finance
Carvel State Office Building,
820 North French Street, 8"" Floor
Wilmington, DE 19801
As yoletfay know, my office reviewed the use of petty cash accounts at various charter schools earlier
this year.
‘The State’s petty cash policy, as set forth in the State of Delaware’s Budget and Accounting Manual
(BAM), states that once the Division of Accounting and Office of the State Treasurer approve the
establishment of an organization's petty cash account, “The names and signatures of those persons
authorized to sign petty cash checks must be on record with the Secretary of Finance.”"
At the onset of our engagement, we requested a list of authorized signers on file for all charter school
petty cash accounts; however, we were informed that your office did not maintain this information. In
addition, officials for all five charter schools we reviewed (The Charter School of Wilmington,
Delaware Academy of Public Safety and Security, Delaware Military Academy, Odyssey Charter
School, and Sussex Academy of Arts and Sciences) stated they were not aware of the regulations
surrounding the approval process for opening a petty cash account and providing your office with their
authorized signers.
‘We wanted to make you aware of this issue for your consideration. We also have concerns that the
BAM only requires this level of oversight for petty cash accounts and not for other external bank
accounts for additional purposes.
"BAM, Section 7.12.2 (5), v4.26
401 FEDERAL STREET + TOWNSEND BUILDING + SUITE ONE * DOVER, DE 19901
MAIN OFFICE: 302.739-4241 FRAUD HOTLINE: 1-80055-FRAUD
Vist OUR WEBSITE TO VIEW, DOWNLOAD, OR PRINT AUDIT REPORTS AND OTHER INFORMATION
[HTTPi/ AUDITOR DELAWARE,GOYSeoretary Cook
Page 2
June 21,2016
Please feel free to contact me at (302) 739-5055 with any further questions you may have.
Sincerely,
on
ROThomas Wagner, Jr., CGFM, CICA, CFE
State Auditor