Management Responsibility
October 16, 1997
To the President and Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia:
We are pleased to submit the annual Financial Report of the University of Virginia for the year ended June 30, 1997. Management is responsible for the objectivity and integrity of the accompanying financial statements, which have been prepared in conformance with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' Audits of Colleges and Universities.
The financial statements, of necessity, include management's estimates and judgements relating to matters not concluded by year-end. Financial information contained elsewhere in the annual Financial Report is consistent with that included in the financial statements.
Management is responsible for maintaining the University's system of internal control that includes careful selection and development of employees, division of duties, and written accounting and operating policies and procedures augmented by a continuing internal audit program. Although there are inherent limitations to the effectiveness of any system of accounting controls, management believes that the University's system provides reasonable, but not absolute, assurance that assets are safeguarded from unauthorized use or disposition and that the accounting records are sufficiently reliable to permit the preparation of financial statements that conform in all material respects with generally accepted accounting principles.
The Auditor of Public Accounts for the Commonwealth of Virginia, independent certified public accountants, provide an independent opinion regarding the fair presentation in the financial statements of the University's financial position. Their examination was made in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards and included a review of the system of internal accounting controls to the extent they considered necessary to determine the audit procedures required to support their opinion. The Audit Committee of the Board of Visitors meets periodically and privately with the independent auditors, the internal auditors, and the financial officers of the University to review matters relating to the quality of the University's financial reporting, the internal accounting controls, and the scope and results of audit examinations. The committee also reviews the scope and quality of the internal auditing program.
Respectfully submitted,
Charles T. Gillet
Assistant Vice President for Finance and University Comptroller
Leonard W. Sandridge
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Auditor's Opinion
October 16, 1997
The Honorable George F. Allen
Governor of Virginia
The Honorable W. Tayloe Murphy, Jr.
Chairman, Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission
The Board of Visitors
University of Virginia
Independent Auditor's Report on the Financial Statements
We have audited the balance sheet of the University of Virginia as of June 30, 1997 and the related statements of changes in fund balances and current fund revenues, expenditures and other changes for the year then ended. These financial statements are the responsibility of the University's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit.
We conducted our audit in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards and the standards applicable to financial audits contained in Government Auditing Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the University of Virginia as of June 30, 1997, and the changes in fund balances and current fund revenues, expenditures and other changes for the year then ended in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.
In accordance with Government Auditing Standards, we have also issued our report dated October 16, 1997, on our consideration of the University's internal control over financial reporting and our tests of its compliance with certain provisions of laws, regulations, contracts and grants.
Walter J. Kucharski
Auditor of Public Accounts