The Auditor-General has raised serious concerns over a $5.35 million inventory discrepancy at Post Fiji Pte Limited in 2024, along with insufficient evidence to verify cash balances.
The findings are contained in the Auditor-General’s Report on Public Enterprises and Other Entities, tabled in Parliament yesterday.
The report reveals that Post Fiji recorded inventory valued at $10.78 million in 2024, compared with $6.71 million in 2023.
However, independent stock counts identified significant differences between physical inventory and amounts recorded in the company’s general ledger.
The discrepancies amounted to $1.06 million in 2023 and increased sharply to $5.35 million in 2024.
According to the Auditor-General, the company failed to adequately reconcile the variances.
An exercise was subsequently undertaken to identify obsolete inventory from the 2024 records, resulting in a $1.32 million adjustment to the general ledger.
However, the audit found insufficient supporting documentation to substantiate the adjustment.
The report also raised concerns over Post Fiji’s cash and cash equivalents, recorded at $4.94 million as at June 30, 2024.
This included a reported Postmasters’ cash balance of $1.12 million.
The Auditor-General stated that limitations in conducting physical cash counts prevented auditors from obtaining sufficient evidence to confirm the existence and valuation of a reported $1.23 million relating to Postmasters’ cash balances.
As a result of the inventory and cash verification issues, the Auditor-General issued a qualified audit opinion on Post Fiji’s 2023 and 2024 financial statements.
The report stated that because inventory and cash balances affect financial performance and cash flows, auditors could not determine whether adjustments were required to the company’s reported income and operating cash flows.
The findings raise concerns about the reliability of Post Fiji’s inventory records, supporting documentation and financial reporting controls.
A qualified audit opinion indicates that auditors identified material issues affecting parts of the financial statements, rather than concluding that the entire financial statements were unreliable.
