North Carolina local governments and public authorities using automated systems for preaudits are reminded that these systems must be certified annually to ensure that they meet certain technical requirements.
Certifications must be filed with the secretary of the Local Government Commission (LGC) within 30 days of the start of the fiscal year. This can be done quickly and easily through the LGC File Transfer Portal. Read on for additional information and instructions.
Background
Under North Carolina Session Law 2021-58, units of local government and public authorities subject to the preaudit requirements of North Carolina General Statute 159-28 may now use an automated system to meet those requirements if:
- An annual certification is filed with the secretary of the LGC by the unit’s finance officer
- The system has all of the following:
- Embedded functionality that determines that there is an appropriation to the department, function code, or project in which the transaction appropriately falls.
- Functionality ensuring that unencumbered funds remain in the appropriation to pay out any amounts that are expected to come due during the budgeted period.
- Real-time visibility to budget compliance, alert threshold notifications, and rules-based compliance measures and enforcement.
Filing Your Certification
To file a certification with the secretary of the LGC, please visit the LGC File Transfer Portal.
You will be presented with a form in which the finance officer can provide unit information, confirm that the automated system meets the requirements of the statute, and file a certification. Note that the secretary may reject or revoke the certification if the annual audit for the unit's or public authority's immediately preceding fiscal year includes a finding of budgetary noncompliance or if the secretary determines that the automated financial computer system fails to meet the requirements of the statute.
Please read the full text of the requirements in G.S. 159-28 prior to filing a certification. Feel free to contact LGC staff with questions at SLGFD@nctreasurer.com or 919-814-4300.