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Fair officials address accounting issues based on recommendations from state
By EMMALEE C. TORISK
CANFIELD
Canfield Fair officials have addressed recommendations made by the state auditor’s office to rectify past accounting issues, such as some found in fiscal years 2010 and 2011.
“We’re hoping to be the gold standard in the state of Ohio for agricultural societies, which we will be,” said George Berlin, board member.
The 17-member fair board assembled an audit committee shortly after the report’s release, consisting of Berlin, along with Chuck Booth, board president; Craig L. Myers, board vice president; and Donald Snyder Jr., board member.
This committee spent the past few months examining the board’s accounting policies and procedures, some of which were outdated but were subsequently revised. The group also worked to “devise a safeguard so those recommendations didn’t come up again,” said Berlin, who acted as chairman of the committee.
“The recommendation was to create a better paper trail, which we think we have done,” he said.
Though the audit report, dated Feb. 12, does not allege dishonesty, it does outline issues with the accounting for campsite rental receipts and grandstand receipts, and also with the issuance of purchase orders at the Mahoning County Agricultural Society, which sponsors the Canfield Fair.
Specifically, the auditors found that though the campsite office collects rental receipts and turns them into the fair office each day, no one reconciled them each night, checking that the proper amounts have been collected, recorded and deposited.
The auditors discovered the same issue at the fair’s grandstand, albeit regarding the reconciliation of ticket sales with grandstand receipts.
In addition, they found that 62 out of 64 expenditures tested were not approved in accordance with the board’s policy, which states that purchase orders must be used for all purchases and approved by three board officials.
Although “no real violations” had taken place, Berlin said, all recommendations made by the state were addressed as mandates. He noted, too, the board had requested that the state do a more-thorough audit for 2010 and 2011, simply to ensure it was in compliance. The Canfield Fair’s fiscal year ends Nov. 30.
“All of these were recommendations, but we treated each individual one very seriously,” Berlin said.
This led to the board’s hiring of Rick Kubic, who previously was chief auditor for the Youngstown region of the state auditor’s office, as its chief financial officer. Kubic began working for the board June 4.
In addition, Frank L. Paden, retired president of Farmers National Bank, joined the board in early July and also is “working to improve” the accounting situation, Berlin said.
Kubic said all issues raised by the state auditor’s office have been “brought under our control,” mainly through the implementation of “more efficient and streamlined” processes.
For example, a process involving three-part receipts, all of which list the customer’s name and address, has been instituted for campsite rentals. One receipt is kept at the campsite office, the second is given to the customer, and the third is brought to the fair office, along with a prepared report, Kubic said.
He added that the receipts are reconciled with the report each day there is activity at the campsite rental site, namely toward the beginning of the fair.
Similar policies regarding documentation and record-keeping also have been implemented at the fair’s entrance gates and concession stands.
For the latter, revenues are collected each day by fair employees and recorded using pre-numbered receipt books, Kubic said.
He added that the money is then twice-counted, but “nine times out of 10” balances on the first count. The money is taken that night to deposit, and a complete report is prepared at the culmination of the fair.
Berlin said the grandstand is “a work in progress,” but that all of the fair’s accounting “is hopefully pretty tight right now.” It’s a continual process, he said, adding that situations will be addressed “as they come up.”
“We worked really hard, and we want to be the best,” Berlin said. “We’re kind of anxious for the next audit to show how much we’ve done.”