Committee chair opened a special hybrid meeting of the New Canaan Audit Subcommittee on Friday, Jan. 3, and the committee voted to recommend that the full audit committee consider contracting CLA to perform a procure-to-pay audit focused initially on operating expenses.

The committee chair said the engagement would take “an end to end procure to pay approach,” covering purchasing and procurement, pay cards, vendor management and accounts payable. The chair added that the review will include “any kind of related party types of transactions, conflicts of interest as just a part of the overall procurement process.”

Members discussed sequencing: the committee will start with operating expenses and, if that work is completed in a timely way, move to a second round covering capital spending. A committee member said there may be “one or two more ministerial changes” to the draft engagement letter before it goes forward to the full audit committee.

The committee also discussed outstanding legal points. A staff member said he had “reached out last night” and expected the town attorney’s follow-up “by probably mid next week” about an indemnity question; another member noted that town lawyers were still reviewing indemnity language.

Procedural business included approval of minutes from Nov. 1. The committee chair called for a motion to approve the minutes; a member moved and the motion was approved. Later the committee moved and approved recommending the CLA draft engagement/scope of letter to the full audit committee.

The meeting closed after the recommendation vote. The committee did not specify a firm contract award, exact contract value, or a final schedule for the CLA engagement during the discussion recorded in the transcript.