Auditor General, Heather Thomas, today commented on her qualified opinion on the financial statements of the Consolidated Fund of the Government of Bermuda for the year ended March 31, 2024, included in the financial statements laid for information March 21, 2025, in the House of Assembly, by the Junior Minister of Finance.
Similarly with the audit of the Consolidated Fund accounts for the year ended March 31, 2023, the Auditor General’s examination of the Government of Bermuda’s Consolidated Fund for the year ended March 31, 2024 concluded with a qualified opinion. Qualifications like the one in this report represent omissions or errors considered so significant that Auditor General Thomas says, ‘could make a difference to readers understanding of the financial statements, and its highlight areas where the Government of Bermuda may need to improve its financial reporting and administration to ensure better transparency and accountability on the government’s finances’.
Mrs. Thomas noted that her Auditor’s Opinion on the 2023/2024 Consolidated Fund financial statements was qualified with respect to insufficient support for the government asset retirement obligations. The Government has not provided sufficient audit evidence to allow me to verify the accuracy and completeness of the recorded valuation amounts included in the audited accounts.
Several discussions progressed and expanded on the commitments and topics addressed in the previous year. In October 2024, management submitted an updated asset retirement obligations (ARO) assessment
to my office. Although the supplied assessment was more thorough, it was devoid of the essential supporting evidence.
“Consequently, I was unable to acquire sufficient appropriate audit evidence to determine whether adjustments might be necessary to tangible capital assets, asset retirement obligation liability, expenses, total non–financial assets, total liabilities, annual deficit and accumulated deficit for the year ended March 31, 2024 ”, stated Mrs. Thomas.
In addition, in her Auditor’s opinion, the Auditor General included an Emphasis of Matter paragraph to highlight that the Consolidated Fund financial statements are not summary consolidated financial statements of the Government of Bermuda. There are roughly 50 entities with combined assets and liabilities totalling $4.4 billion and $3 billion, respectively, that are outside of the Consolidated Fund. She explained that the ‘Emphasis of Matter’’ does not represent a qualification of her Auditor’s Opinion, but is used to report matters that in her professional opinion should be brought to the attention of Parliament and the public; as permitted by professional auditing standards and the Audit Act 1990.
The Auditor General thanked the Ministry of Finance, the Accountant General Department and the OAG team of professionals dedicated to improving public sector financial management and accountability.
Any content which is considered unsuitable, unlawful, or offensive, includes personal details, advertises or promotes products, services or websites, or repeats previous comments will be removed.
User comments posted on this website are solely the views and opinions of the comment writer and are not a representation of or reflection of the opinions of TNN or its staff.
TNN reserves the right to remove, edit or censor any comments.
TNN accepts no liability and will not be held accountable for the comments made by users.