Annual Financial Certification and Financial Sub-certification

Financial  Certification (late November)

University administrators in Finance & Operations are required to sign a Management Representation Letter at the end of the annual financial audit. This is called Financial Certification.  After receiving the certified Management Representation Letter, the State Auditor’s Office will issue an audit opinion as to whether our financial statements are presented fairly in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.

By signing the Management Representation letter, the university is confirming the following:

1. We are responsible for the fair presentation of our financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
2. We are responsible for adopting sound accounting policies.
3. We are responsible for establishing and maintaining internal controls.
4. We are responsible for preventing and detecting fraud.

Financial Sub-certification (mid-September)

Higher education has a high degree of decentralization of financial operations. In an effort to clarify business units’ (1) accountability for financial reporting and (2) responsibility for establishing underlying internal controls, we implemented Financial Sub-certification. Deans/VP's, Senior Business Officers, Senior HR Reps and Directors of central units are required to certify annually.

The Annual Financial Sub-certification is intended to serve two purposes:

1. To provide reasonable assurance of the underlying numbers in the University's financial statements, and
2. To provide reasonable assurance of a sufficient and effective internal control structure that can identify weaknesses in financial processes and systems