New Braunfels corrected $6.4 million in liabilities that belonged in fiscal 2025 but were recorded in fiscal 2026, city finance staff told the Finance and Audit Committee.
The shift affected when the expenses appeared in the city’s books. Minutes included in the committee’s July 30 packet attribute the problem to Workday using purchase-order dates instead of invoice dates.
The same minutes say Crowe LLP issued an unmodified opinion on the city’s fiscal 2025 financial statements, meaning the auditors concluded the statements were presented fairly and free from material misstatement after the correction. The auditors also reported no federal compliance findings.
Most of the Error Involved Capital Projects
Assistant City Manager Jared Werner told the committee that about $5 million of roughly $6 million was related to capital projects, which the city budgets by project rather than fiscal year. Finance Director Sandy Paulos said the last audit finding before this review was in 2020.
Accounting and Treasury Manager Carren Ridge discussed new reports and other corrective steps the finance team could use to prevent the same problem. The preserved minutes do not specify those controls, their implementation date or whether the city independently tested them after the correction.
What the Audit Opinion Means
An unmodified opinion is the standard clean opinion in an external financial audit. It does not mean every transaction was initially recorded correctly; it means the auditors concluded the corrected financial statements were fairly presented under the applicable accounting rules.
The July 30 committee agenda also called for a fiscal 2026 annual external-audit presentation and an update on the city’s internal-audit program. The preserved packet names those topics but does not include the resulting discussion or any action from that meeting.