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Motlow is 100% on state audit

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Motlow State Community College recently underwent a comprehensive audit, conducted by the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury, that resulted in zero findings. While this is not unheard of, it is extremely rare.  

“This zero finding is another example of how Motlow supports its students…how it works to provide students with the best financial aid,” Motlow president Michael Torrence told the Times-Gazette.  

He also emphasized how this is an example how the college is not independent as they worked with the State of Tennessee to complete this audit.  

“When we have zero findings, it’s a collective effort: it’s a team effort. I couldn’t be more pleased with our staff,” he said. And what people don’t see is the amount of work staff puts into what they do-coming in Saturday mornings and working late evenings to get these accomplishments done, Torrence said.  

Whenever you have an audit, it’s up to auditor and his or her judgement to assess risks of material misstatements that could be due to fraud or error.  

Auditing brings a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluating and improving risk management, control, and governance processes. It’s an independent and objective consulting activity. The audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements.  

The Financial and Compliance Audit Report reviewed Motlow’s financial statements for the years ending on June 30, 2019 and 2020. The areas that were reviewed in the audit include the Business Office functions, Financial Aid, Foundation Office, and Information Technology. 

“To achieve a zero-findings State Audit is a testimonial to the degree that the business/finance unit strives for to be accountable for student tuition dollars, grants, fundraising, and State appropriations,” said Hilda Tunstill, executive vice president for Finance and Administration at Motlow in a recent press release.  

How staff received that rare zero finding, Dr. Torrence explained, was in large part due to “attention to detail and painstakingly” going through all the accounts.  

“What Motlow has meant for the last 50 years to region is how seriously we take what we do. We want to exhaust our reliability for students and give them confidence…” he said