The Washington State Auditor’s Office (SAO) found SCC to be out of compliance with generally accepted accounting procedures in an audit of the college’s finances completed last month.

A draft of those audits, obtained by The Ebbtide, stated that SCC had “material weaknesses in internal controls over financial reporting.” Those weaknesses resulted in “material misstatements” in the college’s revenue and expenses.

Due to accounting errors, SCC overstated its 2018 current accounts balance by nearly $9 million in its financial statements. The college fixed the error, which they told the SAO was a result of turnover in the financial department.

The SAO finding said that prior to last month’s audit, SCC had not “prepared financial statements or undergone a financial statement audit since fiscal year 2013.”

Under accreditation guidelines, colleges must prepare financial statements and audit them within nine months of the end of a fiscal year, the report said.

In a written response to the SAO’s finding, contained in the report, SCC acknowledged the errors made and pledged to perform additional review of their financial statements for the next fiscal year.

“We are presently implementing controls and timetables related to Financial Statement reporting and classification of assets and liabilities,” the college wrote. “We appreciate the opportunity to address this finding and thank the audit team for their time and guidance.”

News Editor Juan Páez contributed reporting.