STEP 1:
Engagement Letter
(1 Week)
|
The Onondaga County Comptroller’s Office will mail an “engagement” letter via U.S. mail to the hotel, as well as an electronic copy via email, to the hotel’s General manager. Upon receipt, hotels should provide the reports identified in the letter for the audit period specified to the Comptroller’s Office as soon as possible. The reports should be those that were used when completing the quarterly tax returns filed with Onondaga County. Once reports are received from the hotel, the Comptroller’s Office will identify the testing quarter and notify the hotel. |
STEP 2:
Pre-audit Conference Call / Fieldwork Prep
(1 Week)
|
The engagement letter identifies the date, time and the call-in information for the pre-audit conference call. During this call we will inform hotels of the audit process, inquire about the hotel’s knowledge of Room Occupancy Taxes, Tax Exempt documentation, and their filing process etc. We will also answer any questions the hotel may have at the time. We will also remind the hotel of the audit period and the selected testing quarter that we will need to see the Tax Exempt documentation for during our fieldwork testing |
Step 3:
Fieldwork
(1 day)
|
During fieldwork, we’ll travel to the hotel and test the Room Occupancy Tax Exempt Guests who stayed at the hotel during the identified testing quarter. We will need to see the guest folios and the required supporting documentation to verify each guest’s tax exempt status. Our aim is to complete fieldwork in a single day and to do so, we may send multiple auditors to perform this work. We ask hotels to please take the time between the pre-audit conference call and the day of fieldwork to adequately prepare and we encourage hotels to reach out to us if they have any questions. |
Step 4:
Exceptions List
(1 Week)
|
After fieldwork has been completed, we’ll send the hotel an exceptions list that details guest stays that we need additional documentation for in order to verify their tax exempt status. We allow a timeframe of one week for the hotel to provide this documentation. |
Step 5:
Update Testing
(1 Day)
|
After the one week allowed for exceptions has expired, we’ll examine the additional information and update our testing accordingly. We will compare the amount of exempt revenue that was verified through testing to the amount of exempt revenue claimed on the corresponding quarterly tax filing with Onondaga County. The determined error rate will be extrapolated across the remaining quarters of the audit period. |
Step 6:
Review
(1 Week)
|
Upon completion, the audit will enter the review phase where it will be checked for accuracy and completeness. Once the review is complete, both the Hotel and the Onondaga County Financial Operations will be notified of the audit results. |
