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,GOYSeoretary 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