Responsibilities

II. Responsibilities of the County Auditor

  1. Accounting and Financial Reporting
    1. The County Auditor specifies the system of accounting for the County as a whole and for individual fee offices.
    2. Responsibility for the chart of accounts and the design of the accounting system rests with the County Auditor.
    3. The County Auditor must maintain the general ledger of the County throughout the year.
    4. Preparation of the annual financial report is the responsibility of the County Auditor.
    5. The County Auditor is responsible for the accounting and reporting of grants.
  2. Accounts Payable and Payroll
    1. Processing of these are optional duties by law (Agan versus Titus County, AG Opinion DM-440). These are often processed by the County Auditor to meet the County Auditor’s duty for verification of financial transactions.
    2. Payables and payroll directly relate to the responsibility to manage the County budget and to verify the correctness and legality of claims against the County before they are processed.
  3. Budgeting
    1. The County Auditor is the budget officer in some counties.
    2. The County Auditor has the authority to estimate revenues from all sources in counties over 125,000 in population.
    3. The County Auditor must exercise his oversight authority to see that only properly budgeted expenditures are approved for payment by the County.
  4. Auditing
    1. The goals of internal audit are:
      1. To ensure the accuracy of accounting and budgeting information
      2. To safeguard the assets of the county
      3. To ensure the efficiency of county operations
      4. To ensure compliance with legal requirements regarding the collection and reporting of fees and fines
    2. The County Auditor is to examine all reports about the collection of money for the County Local Government Code (LGC) 115.002).
    3. The County Auditor is to examine the books of County officials for correctness (LGC 115.003).
    4. The County Auditor is to examine the County Treasurer’s books and reports.
    5. The County Auditor is to examine the books and dockets of court clerks and Justices of the Peace for accuracy.
  5. Purchasing and Approval of Claims
    1. The County Auditor may not pay for supplies or materials that have not been properly requisitioned and approved by the Purchasing Agent (LGC 113.901).
    2. The County Auditor must co-sign disbursement checks to validate them as proper and budgeted expenditures (LGC 113.043).