By Martin Couch
The Arkansas Legislature did an audit report on the City of Bryant for the years 2008 and 2009 calendar years and made suggestions for back-up data plans[more] and implementation of a disaster recovery plan.
"They did two years at a time after they got behind last year, because they were doing the school audits," said city accountant Gary Hollis. "They got behind in many of the municipalities. The good thing about it is it's free and the bad thing is it takes forever to get it. It equates for a CPA like me that it takes some time to go over the parts and pieces, but like an architect with a new blueprint, you just want to know where the front door is."
Hollis stated that the report said Bryant is keeping accurate financial records.
"It also goes on to say that there is always going to be internal control findings that segregate duties," Hollis said. "This is something we have been working on to redefine job descriptions and process that."
There were some minor things recommended by the auditors and number one on the short list was backing up the city's data to make sure of accurate back-ups if there is a disaster and, secondly, it suggested to put a recovery plan in place.
"There has been more and more emphasis on this," Hollis said. "It's a universal thing, but it’s to make sure they bring it to the forefront that tornadoes, earthquakes, natural disasters and others things happen so we need to make sure we have a disaster plan in place, so we can have a payroll, get water and utility bills out to customers and so forth."
The audit includes the general funds and street funds of the city. The water and wastewater fund is audited by a separate independent firm.
"All in all, it's a good report," Hollis said.
