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MARTIN ❖ STARNES Sz ASSOCIATES, CPAs, P.A. :4 Pro fessional Association of Certified Public dccountants and Afanagement Consultants" October 15, 2010 Board of County Commissioners Cabarrus County Concord, North Carolina In planning and performing our audit of the basic financial statements of Cabarrus County, North Carolina for the year ended June 30, 2010, we considered the County's internal controls to determine our auditing procedures for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the basic financial statements and not to provide assurance on internal controls. However, during our audit we became aware of a several matters that are opportunities for strengthening internal controls and operating efficiency. The following comments summarize our findings and suggestions regarding these matters. We previously reported on the County's internal controls in our report dated October 15, 2010. This letter does not affect that report or our report on the basic financial statements dated October 15, 2010. Finding 2010 -1: Criteria: Management should have a system in place to reduce the likelihood of errors in financial reporting. Condition: While performing procedures related to internal controls over data processing, we noted that access to modules of the financial software need to be strengthened. This access does not allow duties to be fully segregated and weakens internal controls. Recommendation: Employees should only have access rights to modules that they need to perform their daily functions. Read -only access can be granted for other modules as necessary. The access rights should be changed as job duties change. Management's Response /Corrective Action: In response to this finding, as stated above in finding 2010 -1, all Finance staff members' access to Munis, the computer financial software, will be reviewed and restrictions put in place to enhance the segregation of duties. Not only will computer access be restricted, duties will be redistributed to strengthen internal controls within the department. The following procedures were performed prior to August 1, 2010. The ITS department has modified the Munis access rights for all county employees as directed by the Assistant Finance Director. ITS provided Finance with a worksheet that outlined the access rights available and roles for each. ITS created the appropriate roles and applied rights as outlined in the completed worksheet. The finance staff tested each of their access rights and corrections were made based on the direction of the Assistant Finance Director. The Cabarrus County Finance Director and Assistant Finance Director will review the new procedures identified above in six months for efficiency and effectiveness. 730 13th Avenue Drive SE ♦ Hickory, North Carolina 28602 ♦ Phone 828 - 327 -2727 ♦ Fax 828 - 328 -2324 13 South Center Street ♦ Taylorsville, North Carolina 28681 ♦ Phone 828 - 632 -9025 ♦ Fax 828 - 632 -9085 Toll Free Both Locations 1- 800 - 948 -0585 ♦ Website: www.martinstarnes.com Attachment number 5 G -2 Page 661