HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgr 2012-06-13 (Marcello & Company)MARCELLO & COMPANY
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS
2701 Cottage Way, Suite 30 / Sacramento, California 95825 / 916.979.9079
June 30, 2012
Town Hall - Tiburon
Attention: Ms. Heidi Bigall, ASD
1505 Tiburon Boulevard
Tiburon, California 94920
RE: 2012 Audit Engagement Letter
TIBURON
We are pleased to confirm our understanding of the services we are to provide the Town of Tiburon for the year
ended June 30, 2012. We will audit the financial statements of the governmental activities, each major fund, and
the aggregate remaining fund information, which collectively comprise the basic financial statements of the Town of
Tiburon as of and for the year ended June 30, 2012. Accounting standards generally accepted in the United States
provide for certain required supplementary information (RSI), such as management's discussion and analysis
(MD&A), to accompany the Town of Tiburon's basic financial statements. As part of our engagement, we will apply
certain limited procedures to the Town of Tiburon's RSI. These limited procedures will consist principally of
inquiries of management regarding the methods of measurement and presentation, which management is
responsible for affirming to us in its representation letter. Unless we encounter problems with the presentation of
the RSI or with procedures relating to it, we will disclaim an opinion on it. The following RSI is required by generally
accepted accounting principles and will be subjected to certain limited procedures, but will not be audited:
1. Management's Discussion and Analysis.
2. Budget to Actual Comparisons.
Supplementary information other than RSI also accompanies the Town of Tiburon's basic financial statements. We
will subject the following supplementary information to the auditing procedures applied in our audit of the basic
financial statements and will provide an opinion on it in relation to the basic financial statements:
1. Combining financial statements of non-major governmental funds.
Audit Objective
The objective of our audit is the expression of an opinion as to whether your basic financial statements are fairly
presented, in all material respects, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles and to report on the
fairness of the additional information referred to in the first paragraph when considered in relation to the basic
financial statements taken as a whole. Our audit will be conducted in accordance with auditing standards generally
accepted in the United States of America and will include tests of the accounting records and other procedures we
consider necessary to enable us to express such opinion. If our opinion on the financial statements is other than
unqualified, we will fully discuss the reasons with you in advance. If, for any reason, we are unable to complete the
audit or are unable to form or have not formed an opinion, we may decline to express an opinion or to issue a
report as a result of this engagement.
Management Responsibilities
Management is responsible for the basic financial statements and all accompanying information as well as all
representations contained therein. You are also responsible for making all management decisions and performing
all management functions; for designating an individual with suitable skill, knowledge, or experience to oversee our
assistance with the preparation of your financial statements and related notes and any other nonattest services we
provide; and for evaluating the adequacy and results of those services and accepting responsibility for them.
Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal controls, including monitoring
ongoing activities; for the selection and application of accounting principles; and for the fair presentation in the
financial statements of the respective financial position of the governmental activities, each major fund, and the
aggregate remaining fund information of the Town of Tiburon, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted
accounting principles.
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Management is also responsible for making all financial records and related information available to us and for the
accuracy and completeness of that information. Your responsibilities include adjusting the financial statements to
correct material misstatements and confirming to us in the representation letter that the effects of any uncorrected
misstatements aggregated by us during the current engagement and pertaining to the latest period presented are
immaterial, both individually and in the aggregate, to the financial statements taken as a whole.
You are responsible for the design and implementation of programs and controls to prevent and detect fraud, and
for informing us about all known or suspected fraud or illegal acts affecting the government involving:
(1) Management,
(2) Employees who have significant roles in internal control, and
(3) Others where the fraud or illegal acts could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Your responsibilities include informing us of your knowledge of any allegations of fraud or suspected fraud affecting
the government received in communications from employees, former employees, regulators, or others. In addition,
you are responsible for identifying and ensuring that the entity complies with applicable laws and regulations.
With regard to using the auditor's report, you understand that you must obtain our prior written consent to
reproduce or use our report in bond offering official statements or such other documents.
With regard to the electronic dissemination of audited financial statements, including financial statements published
electronically on your website, you understand that electronic sites are a means to distribute information and,
therefore, we are not required to read the information contained in these sites or to consider the consistency of
other information in the electronic site with the original document.
Audit Procedures - General
An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial
statements; therefore, our audit will involve judgment about the number of transactions to be examined and the
areas to be tested. We will plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable rather than absolute assurance about
whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether from (1) errors, (2) fraudulent financial
reporting, (3) misappropriation of assets, or (4) violations of laws or governmental regulations that are attributable
to the entity or to acts by management or employees acting on behalf of the entity.
Because an audit is designed to provide reasonable, but not absolute, assurance and because we will not perform
a detailed examination of all transactions, there is a risk that material misstatements may exist and not be detected
by us. In addition, an audit is not designed to detect immaterial misstatements, or violations of laws or
governmental regulations that do not have a direct and material effect on the financial statements. However, we
will inform you of any material errors and any fraudulent financial reporting or misappropriation of assets that come
to our attention. We will also inform you of any violations of laws or governmental regulations that come to our
attention, unless clearly inconsequential. Our responsibility as auditors is limited to the period covered by our audit
and does not extend to any later periods for which we are not engaged as auditors.
Our procedures will include tests of documentary evidence supporting the transactions recorded in the accounts,
and may include tests of the physical existence of inventories, and direct confirmation of receivables and certain
other assets and liabilities by correspondence with selected individuals, funding sources, creditors, and financial
institutions. We will request written representations from your attorneys as part of the engagement, and they may
bill you for responding to this inquiry. At the conclusion of our audit, we will require certain written representations
from you about the financial statements and related matters.
Audit Procedures - Internal Control
Our audit will include obtaining an understanding of the entity and its environment, including internal control,
sufficient to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements and to design the nature, timing,
and extent of further audit procedures. An audit is not designed to provide assurance on internal control or to
identify deficiencies in internal control. However, during the audit, we will communicate to management and those
charged with governance internal control related matters that are required to be communicated under AICPA
professional standards.
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Audit Procedures - Compliance
As part of obtaining reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement,
we may perform tests of the Town of Tiburon's compliance with applicable laws and regulations and the provisions
of contracts and agreements. However, the objective of our audit will not be to provide an opinion on overall
compliance and we will not express such an opinion.
Engagement Administration, Fees, and Other
We may from time to time, and depending on the circumstances, use third-party service providers in serving your
account. We may share confidential information about you with these service providers, but remain committed to
maintaining the confidentiality and security of your information. Accordingly, we maintain internal policies,
procedures, and safeguards to protect the confidentiality of your personal information.
In addition, we will secure confidentiality agreements with all service providers to maintain the confidentiality of your
information and we will take reasonable precautions to determine that they have appropriate procedures in place to
prevent the unauthorized release of your confidential information to others. In the event that we are unable to
secure an appropriate confidentiality agreement, you will be asked to provide your consent prior to the sharing of
your confidential information with the third-party service provider. Furthermore, we will remain responsible for the
work provided by any such third-party service providers.
We understand that your employees will prepare all cash or other confirmations we request and will locate any
documents selected by us for testing.
We expect to begin our audit in September or October 2012 and to issue our draft report 45 days later or when all
issues have been resolved. Ralph Marcello is the engagement partner and is responsible for supervising the
engagement and signing the report or authorizing another individual to sign it. Our fee for these services will be at
our standard hourly rates plus out-of-pocket costs (such as report reproduction, word processing, postage, travel,
copies, telephone, etc.) except that we agree that our gross fee, including expenses is as follows:
Town Audit $ 25,000
SCO town report & filing 1,000
Outsourced report printing 150
Total $ 26,150
The above fee is based upon the following prerequisites:
1. The complete and fully adjusted year-end Trial Balance should be prepared and delivered to the auditor on
the first day of fieldwork.
2. Upon our arrival to perform field work, all requested documents, schedules, bank statements and invoices
shall be retrieved from their files and ready for us at 9am on the morning of the first day of field work.
3. Minutes of the city council meetings from June 2011 to the most recent meeting should be emailed to us as
soon as possible, no later than two weeks before fieldwork starts (preferably in WORD).
Our standard hourly rates vary according to the degree of responsibility involved and the experience level of the
personnel assigned to your audit. Our invoices for these fees will be rendered each month as work progresses and
are payable on presentation. In accordance with our firm policies, work may be suspended if your account
becomes 30 days or more overdue and may not be resumed until your account is paid in full. If we elect to
terminate our services for nonpayment, our engagement will be deemed to have been completed upon written
notification of termination, even if we have not completed our report. You will be obligated to compensate us for all
time expended and to reimburse us for all out-of-pocket costs through the date of termination. The above fee is
based on anticipated cooperation from your personnel and the assumption that unexpected circumstances will not
be encountered during the audit. Such unexpected circumstances might include, for example, a greater than
expected risk of material misstatement due to fraud. If significant additional time is necessary, we will discuss it
with you and arrive at a new fee estimate before we incur the additional costs.
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Financial Statement Report and Timing
• Field work is tentatively scheduled to begin in September or October 2012.
• Preparation of the final bound audited financial statement reports of the Town will be the responsibility of
the auditor. (10 reports)
• A Single Audit is not anticipated nor included with this engagement. (Single Audit fee: $7,500 for one major
program, additional major programs are $2,500 each)
• Preparation of Management's Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) and other Required Supplementary
Information (RSI) will be the responsibility of the Town.
• Preparation of the Town's State Controller Office report will be the responsibility of the auditor, due
electronically approximately on October 20, 2012.
We appreciate the opportunity to be of service to the Town of Tiburon and believe this letter accurately summarizes
the significant terms of our engagement. If you have any questions, please let us know. If you agree with the terms
of our engagement as described in this letter, please sign the enclosed copy and return it to us.
Very truly yours,
Marcello & Company, CPAs
RESPONSE:
This letter correctly sets forth the understanding of the Town of Tiburon.
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