qathet Regional District and Powell River Regional Hospital District have received clean audits for 2022.
At the April 26 regional hospital board meeting and regional district board meeting, Cory Vanderhorst, from accounting firm MNP, presented his findings from audits carried out on both organizations’ books.
For the regional district, Vanderhorst went through the statement of financial position, which provides a snapshot of what is in the accounts at the end of December, 2022. He said the regional district had cash and investments of $19.9 million, which was a $2 million increase from 2021.
The total financial assets balance was $49.6 million. The regional district is carrying debt of $2.4 million, and total liabilities are $41.4 million. This results in net financial assets of $8.2 million, which is consistent with 2021, when the regional district had $8 million.
The tangible capital assets being managed by the regional district increased from $22 million in 2021 to $25 million in 2022. The regional district’s accumulated surplus was $33.6 million, up from $30.1 million the year before.
Vanderhorst then went through the statement of operations, which showed total revenues were $14.6 million, up from $13.4 in 2021. There were expenses of $11 million, up from $10.5 million in 2021. Vanderhorst said revenues and expenditures were both below what had been budgeted.
“It’s so important for expenses to come in below budget,” said Vanderhorst. “It’s an indicator of cost control.”
The annual surplus was $3.5 million, which was very close to what had been budgeted, according to Vanderhorst.
He said the auditors were happy to provide what is called an unqualified opinion, which is audit language for a clean audit.
“We are satisfied that the financial statements you have in front of you are prepared appropriately and all materials are in accordance with local government accounting standards,” said Vanderhorst. He said MNP would sign the report after board approval and ship it off to the government.
Vanderhorst said when conducting the audit, the auditors check internal controls to ensure the regional district is getting accurate reporting of financial results, and that assets are being safeguarded appropriately.
“We sample transactions throughout the year to form an audit opinion,” said Vanderhorst. “We don’t look at every transaction. We look at enough transactions to be comfortable that your statements are accurate.”
Vanderhorst said the auditors did not find irregularities materially impacting the statements, or evidence of conflicts of interest, unusual related party transactions, or illegal or questionable payments.
“If something comes to our attention in the course of the audit, we are required to report it to the board,” said Vanderhorst.
He wrapped by reviewing financial assets to liabilities, where a ratio greater than one means financial resources are available to finance future operations. qathet Regional District’s financial assets to liabilities is 1.2, which is consistent with the figures of the past five years.
The regional board and regional hospital board voted to approve the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2022.
