State University of New York

Empire State College: Internal Controls Over Selected Financial Management Practices

Empire State College, one of 13 university colleges within SUNY, was founded in 1971 to offer nontraditional methods of taking college courses and obtaining college degrees. We found that, generally, the College has established policies and procedures that provide for an adequate level of internal control over its basic financial operations. However, certain improvements are needed in controls over revenue collection activities, payroll processing, and equipment and asset management. For example, we found that the College’s total accounts receivable balance for unpaid tuition and student fees of $3,000 or more ($359,783) was overstated by $148,508 due to erroneous data entries. We also determined that an additional $50,056 could be written off as uncollectible because of the age of the receivable and the lack of any current collection efforts. We recommended that certain improvements be made in the College’s financial management practices.

For a complete copy of Report 2005-S-73 click here.
For a copy of the 90-day response click here.
For a copy of the associated follow-up report click here.