PREPARED BY
Lance, Soll & Lunghard, LLP
Certified Public Accountants
License Number 2584
City of San Clemente
Financial Audit Services
Date of Submission: February 13, 2024
Authorized by
Ryan Domino, CPA, Partner
203 N. Brea Blvd., Suite 203
Brea, CA 92821
(714) 672-0022
Exhibit A
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................... 1 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL ................................................................................................................... 2 Specific Approach to Scope of Services ................................................................................................ 2 Qualifications/Personnel ........................................................................................................................ 2 Adapting to a Remote Working Relationship ......................................................................................... 3 Dollar-Cost Proposal ............................................................................................................................. 3 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 3 QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE ........................................................................................................ 4 License to Practice ................................................................................................................................ 4 Government Auditing Standards ........................................................................................................... 4 Desk Reviews/Disciplinary Action ......................................................................................................... 4 Continuing Education ............................................................................................................................ 4 Recent Experience ................................................................................................................................ 4 Peer Review .......................................................................................................................................... 4 BENEFITS OF WORKING WITH LSL ..................................................................................................... 7 Our Core Values .................................................................................................................................... 7 Best of Accounting Award ..................................................................................................................... 7 Accounting Today Regional Leader ...................................................................................................... 8 Training & Seminars .............................................................................................................................. 8 ENGAGEMENT TEAM RESUMES .......................................................................................................... 9
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LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
February 13, 2024
Jake Rahn
Financial Services Officer
City of San Clemente
910 Calle Negocio
San Clemente, California 92673
Dear Mr. Rahn,
LANCE, SOLL & LUNGHARD, LLP ("LSL CPAs," "LSL") is pleased to present our technical expertise of auditing services for the City of San Clemente ("City"). We value the opportunity to demonstrate our professional qualifications and why our services are second to none.
This qualifications proposal highlights our firm’s strength and stability, along with our knowledge, passion, and creative problem-solving capabilities as a leader in the field of governmental finance, accounting, and auditing. Our dynamic team is comprised of top talent within the industry, and with our comprehensive government experience we believe you will find that LSL CPAs is one of the best-qualified accounting firms to provide audit services for the City of San Clemente.
SPECIFIC APPROACH TO SCOPE OF SERVICES
LSL has a structured and well-tested approach to providing independent auditing services. Based on our understanding of the City’s needs, our team is ready to assist with the City’s annual comprehensive financial report audit, annual Coastal Animal Service Authority audit, and, if applicable, a single audit in accordance with General Accepted Governmental Auditing Standards (GAGAS) and Uniform Guidance for the year ended June 30, 2024, an extension of our previous agreement.
QUALIFICATIONS/PERSONNEL
LSL Partner, Ryan Domino, CPA, will be responsible for overseeing this engagement. He currently serves as a technical reviewer for the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) and regularly presents at our firm’s annual GASB Update and at CSMFO’s chapter meetings where he presents and trains on the latest GASB pronouncements. Ryan is an expert on Single Audit planning and execution and holds advanced certification from the AICPA. Ryan provides our clients with a competitive advantage as a member of GFOA’s Special Review Committee for the Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting and is able to provide valuable insights and recommendations to help organizations achieve excellence in financial reporting.
All of our government partners and team members have worked within government agencies for the majority of their careers and are experts in their respective fields. Ryan will assign the best professionals who have expertise in auditing and a range of complementary subjects. Their experiences and skills gained from previous assignments are tailored to meet the specific needs of the City.
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ADAPTING TO A REMOTE WORKING RELATIONSHIP
LSL is fully equipped with software and communication tools to support a remote process. We leverage Microsoft Teams to easily connect over a video call in a face-to-face setting, giving us the ability to share screens and information in real-time. Additionally, having the customizable LSL CaseWare Cloud Portal makes the exchange of secure information easy and painless. The LSL team is also accustomed to working with our client’s financial software solutions in a remote environment, taking advantage of VPN connections and remote desktops.
In an effort to reduce costs, our team works remotely using remote desktop technology. It is anticipated that the independent audit work for the City will be performed entirely remotely. If onsite time is required or requested, this can be discussed on a case-by-case basis.
DOLLAR-COST PROPOSAL
Description Fee
Proposed Services for One-Year Extension
$27,450
3,920
Annual Comprehensive Financial Report Audit
Single Audit
Coastal Animal Services Authority Audit 3,920
Total $35,290
Please note that any non-personnel-related costs will be billed and reimbursed as they are incurred, if necessary.
Progress bills will be sent monthly on the basis of hours of work completed during the course of the engagement plus out-of-pocket expenses incurred in accordance with our proposal.
CONCLUSION
Our collective experience in local government accounting and internal controls backed by our comprehensive understanding of all federal and state grant programs awarded to municipalities, has refined our development of efficient procedures and streamlined work plan approach to the City’s financial statement audit in accordance with General Accepted Governmental Auditing Standards (GAGAS). We believe that these qualities establish LSL as one of the most highly qualified teams to perform this engagement for the City.
Our proposal is a firm and irrevocable offer for 90 days following the closing date of receipt. For this proposal, Ryan Domino, CPA, Partner, is authorized to make representations for our firm. He can be reached at (714) 672-0022 or at [email protected].
Very truly yours,
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QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE
LICENSE TO PRACTICE
LSL CPAs is a limited liability partnership and is not a wholly owned subsidiary of a parent company. LSL is a public accounting firm licensed by the State of California Department of Consumer Affairs as a Public Accounting Partnership. Additionally, we are members of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the California Society of Certified Public Accountants (CalCPA).
All key members assigned to this engagement are licensed as Certified Public Accountants by the State of California or are in the process of obtaining their license.
GOVERNMENT AUDITING STANDARDS
LSL understands its responsibilities to perform audits and issue opinions on the City’s financial statements as well as its fair presentation. Our financial audits are performed in accordance with the Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS) issued by the Comptroller General of the United States, and Single Audits are performed in accordance with the requirements of the Uniform Guidance. We will also evaluate the City's internal control system and provide recommendations for growth and improvement.
DESK REVIEWS/DISCIPLINARY ACTION
There have been no disciplinary actions against our organization since its inception. There have been no litigations against our firm in the past three years. Our Single Audit reports are desk reviewed either by the federal cognizant agency or the State Controller’s Office acting as the Oversight Agency. We have never had a report rejected by any of these agencies, which demonstrates our thorough understanding of federal grant programs. LSL is highly regarded and recognized by the staff of the State Controller’s Office for top-quality reports.
CONTINUING EDUCATION
As a firm policy, all professional government staff meet the requirement of 40 hours of continuing education every year, with at least 24 hours in governmental accounting and auditing in a two-year period. Our educational programs include training from CalCPA, AICPA, Government Audit Quality Center, and GFOA.
RECENT EXPERIENCE
As a firm, we have extensive experience with municipalities including cities, counties, water and electric utilities, special districts, joint powers authorities, and compliance with OMB Uniform Guidance. We are familiar with all federal and state grant programs typically awarded to municipalities. Generally, our government sector services are broken down into the following major classifications: attestation, compliance, consulting, interim staffing, strategic planning, and tax services.
Our collective experience in local government accounting and finance, backed by our comprehensive understanding of all federal and state grant programs awarded to municipalities and internal controls, has refined our development of efficient procedures and streamlined work plan approach, which we believe makes LSL one of the best-qualified teams to perform these services.
PEER REVIEW
Our firm has participated in the AICPA Peer Review Program since its inception. All our peer reviews have covered governmental engagements and have received pass ratings. Our most recent peer review, conducted by Spafford and Landry CPAs, is provided on the following pages.
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BENEFITS OF WORKING WITH LSL
LSL is a multi-location firm with formidable resources that provides a personal feel and hands-on client experience.
OUR CORE VALUES
As we continue to grow and evolve, we recognized our core values needed to grow and change with us. Our values weren’t decided on by management and handed down, every member of the LSL team worked together to share what values matter most to us. From there, we came up with the following five core values that embody how we approach each other, our work, and our clients.
BEST OF ACCOUNTING AWARD
LSL CPAs delivers high-quality service and has consistently secured the ClearlyRated Best of Accounting award.
This exclusive program awards accounting firms who demonstrate high-level service of excellence within the accounting industry and solely leverages statistically validated survey responses from our clients.
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ACCOUNTING TODAY REGIONAL LEADER
LSL CPAs has been recognized as an Accounting Today Regional Leader in 2023. The list ranks the top CPA firms that have shown exceptional growth, embraced technology, and who ‘think outside the box’ when providing solutions.
TRAINING & SEMINARS
LSL regularly leads seminars and training courses on introductory governmental accounting, preliminary views on financial reporting, internal control risk assessments, and all GASB updates and best practices, which are made available to our clients for additional information and continued support. These will be opportunities made available through our firm to the City for training or continuing professional education credits on current issues or governmental auditing and accounting in general.
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ENGAGEMENT TEAM RESUMES
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Ryan Domino, CPA
ENGAGEMENT PARTNER
ACHIEVEMENTS
Ryan currently serves as a technical reviewer for the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) and has been a presenter at CSMFO’s chapter meetings. He has been involved with teaching current audit and accountingrelated material at LSL’s in-house training seminars, and annual GASB Update.
CONTINUING EDUCATION
231 total hours over the last three years, 204 of which were in governmental accounting and auditing subjects. Ryan meets the requirements of governmental CPE Government Auditing Standards.
EXPERIENCE
Ryan has over 11 years of experience in governmental auditing including financial statement audits, preparation of Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports, Housing Successor compliance audits, TDA compliance audits, Single Audits, Federal Student Financial Aid audits, and various consulting and agreed-upon procedures projects.
Ryan is one of the firm’s leaders in ensuring audit quality control and Government Practice training for staff. He is a regular presenter at the firm’s annual GASB Update where he has presented training to our clients on the latest GASB pronouncements and has been a presenter for CSMFO’s chapter meetings.
Some of his presentations have covered:
General auditing in accordance with GAGAS
Accounting for capital assets
GASB Statement Nos. 89, 90, 91, and 94
MEMBERSHIPS
AICPA, CalCPA, CSMFO, GFOA
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting – California State University, Fullerton
LICENSES &
CERTIFICATIONS
California CPA – 2014
Texas CPA – 2023
AICPA Advanced Single
Audit Certification – 2018
AUDIT ENGAGEMENTS
City of Agoura Hills, CA
City of Carlsbad, CA
City of Cathedral City, CA
City of Chula Vista, CA
City of Fullerton, CA
City of Indio, CA
City of Lompoc, CA
City of Moorpark, CA
City of Orange, CA
City of Pleasanton, CA
City of Rialto, CA
City of Riverside, CA
City of San Clemente, CA
City of San Juan Capistrano, CA
City of Santa Monica, CA
Eastern Municipal Water District
Jurupa Community Services District
Orange County Fire Authority
Orange County Water District
Orchard Dale Water District
Rainbow Municipal Water District
San Bernardino Muni. Water Dept.
Three Valleys Muni. Water Dist.
United Water Conservation Dist.
Yorba Linda Water Dist.
OTHER ENGAGEMENTS
California Dept. of Healthcare Svcs.
City of American Canyon, CA
City of Marfa, TX