ST. PAUL 鈥� Smaller grain buyers in Minnesota faced with challenges of finding and paying for services of an accountant to review their finances may have some pressure released under a bill that has passed the Minnesota House and Senate. It now moves on to Gov. Tim Walz for consideration.
Minnesota Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, is chair of the House Agriculture Finance and Policy committee. He brought forth the bill for its final reading Monday, March 10, and said it was the result of a lot of compromise among the grain elevators and grain buyers in Minnesota, as well as between legislators.
ADVERTISEMENT
鈥淭he smaller elevators were telling us it was getting increasingly difficult to find a certified public accountant to do their yearly financials,鈥� he said.
It was also costly. He said costs ranged from $8,000 to $20,000 for smaller grain elevators to have financials reviewed by certified public accountants annually.
This bill lowers the threshold of those reporting requirements for those buying less than $7.5 million in grain in a year. Those falling under that amount are not subject to having an audit performed by a CPA. They are instead subject to a financial statement prepared by a third-party independent accountant or a CPA. The bill removes a section stating that the accountant is to perform the work following 鈥済enerally accepted accounting principles鈥� and more clearly defines those standards.
by on Scribd
Those selling between $7.5 million and $17.5 million in grain are subject to a review or audit by a CPA. For those buying $17.5 million or more, an audit is specifically required by a CPA.
The Senate bill (SF1552), sponsored by Sen. Rob Kupec, DFL-Moorhead; Sen. Aric Putnam, DFL-St. Cloud; Sen. Gene Dornink, R-Brownsdale; and Sen. Torrey Westrom, R-Alexandria, passed unanimously Feb. 27. That version was then passed 123-10 on Monday, March 10, in the House and was the first bill sent to Walz during the 2025 session. House authors of a similar bill included Reps. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck; Nathan Nelson, R-Hinckley; Ethan Cha, DFL-Woodbury; and John Burkel, R-Badger.
Rep. Ginny Klevorn, DFL-Plymouth, brought her concerns to the hearing Monday. She shared how these guardrails were put in place to protect grain elevators from failing, one reason a was approved previously. She said that just because it was difficult to get an audit did not mean they should remove guardrails.
"I think we need to be really careful that we don't start the precedent that just because it's difficult to get an audit, then we need to change the threshold. That makes me very nervous," she said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, voted in favor because he felt the concerns were heard on both sides of the aisle in shaping the bill. What helped him vote yes was a change that says that the board of directors and CEO of those businesses need to sign off on the financials, putting some fiduciary responsibility on them.
Several times, the failure of the was brought up as an example of fraud and a lack of checks and balances. Hansen said that at the time, the board of that elevator said they weren't aware of what was going on.
The Trust Project
