City Hall’s P138M payables to suppliers ‘doubtful’ – COA

By: Gerome Dalipe

STATE auditors doubted the financial obligations of the Iloilo City Government to its suppliers and contractors amounting to P138.26 million in 2018.

In its annual report, the Commission on Audit (COA) questioned the accuracy and validity of “other payables” account as of Dec. 31, 2018 due to the existence of subsidiary ledger account balances.

These include “unreconciled or lack of detail” entries amounting to P91.20 million; negative balances of P10.25 million; settlement of audit disallowances of (P3.66 million); and stale checks (P.913 million).

The auditors concluded that the presence of the unreconciled and no detail and negative account balances are indications of lapses or deficiencies in the recording of transactions.

This practice by the City Hall violated COA Circular 2015-009, which prescribes the Revised Chart of Accounts for local government units, and Presidential Decree 1445, or the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines.

Thus, these affect the fair presentation of the affected accounts in the financial statements, the auditors noted.

In their annual report on the City Hall, the auditors asked the city accountant to exert efforts to trace and determine the unreconciled subsidiary ledger account balances.

The city accountant was urged to adhere strictly to COA Circular 2015-009 in the use of the prescribed accounts in the recording of transactions to ensure accuracy and reliability of the accounts in the financial statements.

The accountant was also tasked to review and analyze the lapses or errors in the recording of payables particularly those with negative balances, stale checks, and settlement of audit disallowances, among others.

“Each government agency shall record its financial transactions and operations conformably with generally accepted accounting principles and in accordance with pertinent laws and regulations,” read the COA report.