REPORT DIGEST

EASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY

FINANCIAL AUDIT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2023

Release Date:  February 6, 2024

FINDINGS THIS AUDIT: 3

CATEGORY:  NEW -- REPEAT -- TOTAL
Category 1:  1* -- 2 -- 3
Category 2:  0 -- 0 -- 0
Category 3:  0 -- 0 -- 0
TOTAL:  1 – 2 -- 3

FINDINGS LAST AUDIT:  2

* Finding 2023-003 is considered a new
finding for the 6-30-23 financial audit, but
was reported in the compliance examination
for the period ended 6-30-22.

Category 1: Findings that are material
weaknesses in internal control and/or a
qualification on compliance with State laws
and regulations (material noncompliance).
Category 2: Findings that are significant
deficiencies in internal control and
noncompliance with State laws and
regulations.
Category 3: Findings that have no internal
control issues but are in noncompliance with
State laws and regulations.

State of Illinois, Office of the Auditor
General
FRANK J. MAUTINO, AUDITOR GENERAL

To obtain a copy of the Report contact:
Office of the Auditor General, Iles Park
Plaza, 740 E. Ash Street, Springfield, IL
62703
(217) 782-6046 or TTY (888) 261-2887

This Report Digest and Full Report are also
available on the worldwide web at
www.auditor.illinois.gov

INTRODUCTION

This digest covers Eastern Illinois
University’s Financial Audit as of and for
the year ended June 30, 2023.  Digests
covering the University’s Single Audit and
the University’s Compliance Examination for
the year ended June 30, 2023 will be issued
at a later date.

SYNOPSIS

(23-01) The University did not have adequate
internal control over reporting its census
data and did not have a reconciliation
process to provide assurance census data
submitted to its pension and other
postemployment benefits (OPEB) plans was
complete and accurate.

(23-02) The University’s year-end financial
reporting in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles (GAAP)
contained inaccurate information.

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

INADEQUATE INTERNAL CONTROLS OVER CENSUS
DATA

Eastern Illinois University (University) did
not have adequate internal control over
reporting its census data and did not have a
reconciliation process to provide assurance
census data submitted to its pension and
other postemployment benefits (OPEB) plans
was complete and accurate.

During testing, some of the more significant
issues we noted include the following:

• The University had not performed an
initial complete reconciliation of its
census data recorded by SURS to its internal
records to establish a base year of complete
and accurate data.
• During our testing of instructor
eligibility testing, we noted 19 instructors
were not reported as eligible to participate
in SURS by the university. All of these
instances have been previously reported,
however still impacted the June 30, 2021
census data. SURS determined the total
potential impact of this error was the
instructor’s total service credit was off by
a combined 41.5 years.  (Finding 1, pages
5-8)

We recommended the University continue to
work with SURS to complete the base year
reconciliation of fiscal year 2021 active
members’ census data from its underlying
records to a report of census data submitted
to SURS’ actuary and CMS’ actuary.

The University agreed with the
recommendation.

WEAKNESSES IN PREPARATION OF YEAR-END
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Eastern Illinois University’s year-end
financial reporting in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles
(GAAP) contained inaccurate information.

The University did not have adequate
controls over the completeness and accuracy
of year-end financial reporting which
resulted in errors in the GAAP basis
financial statements and supporting
schedules provided to us during our audit.
The University did not perform a sufficient
supervisory review of all amounts recorded
in its financial statements and footnotes.
Also, as a result of audit differences
identified by us as well as additional
corrections subsequently identified by the
University, the University provided us with
several revisions to its draft financial
statements, with significant modifications,
before providing its final draft revision on
January 10, 2024.

We noted the following issues while testing
the year-end financial reporting process,
which were corrected by the University after
we brought them to its attention:

• Restricted net position for the bond
system was understated by $3,308,576 and
unrestricted net position was overstated by
the same amount due to an adjustment made to
the year ended June 30, 2022, financial
statements but not carried forward to the
current fiscal year.

• Tuition discounts for the MAP grant were
understated by $1,832,800, resulting in the
overstatement of revenue and operating
expenses by the same amount due to a
calculation error.

• We also identified several errors in the
Management   Discussion and Analysis section
of the financial report as well as the
footnotes to the financial statements.  The
University corrected each of these
accordingly. (Finding 2, pages 9-10)
We recommended the University strengthen its
internal controls to ensure financial
statements are prepared in a complete and
accurate manner and are subjected to an
appropriate supervisory review.  We also
recommended the University’s procedures
address all elements of the University’s
financial reporting process.

The University agreed with the
recommendations.

OTHER FINDING

The remaining finding pertains to lack of
adequate review of service providers’
internal controls. We will review the
University’s progress towards the
implementation of our recommendation in our
next financial audit.

AUDITOR’S OPINION

The auditors stated the financial statements
of the University as of and for the year
ended June 30, 2023 are fairly stated in all
material respects.

This financial audit was conducted by Sikich
LLP.

JANE CLARK
Division Director

This report is transmitted in accordance
with Section 3-14 of the Illinois State
Auditing Act.

FRANK J. MAUTINO
Auditor General

FJM:TLK