NATCHEZ — Fifty-three days after the city’s 2013-2104 audit was due, the Natchez city clerk’s office on Friday sent its financial records to outside auditors to complete the annual audit.

Assistant City Clerk Wendy McClain said getting prepared for the audit was a time-consuming feat.

“We’ve been working after hours and some weekends to get this out,” McClain said Friday from her desk, surrounded by multiple stacks of paper.

The audit paperwork, which contains more than 80 city checking accounts, was due to The Gillon Group — a Natchez CPA firm contracted to perform the city’s audit — June 30.

Deputy City Clerk Dianne Holland said several checking accounts were coded incorrectly, which contributed to the city missing its deadline.

“There were a lot of accounts that had to be reconciled,” Holland said. “That’s the only way to say it.”

This is the second year in a row the city audit missed its state-mandated due date.

McClain, who began working at the clerk’s office in July, said the audit preparation process might be a shorter, less exhausting process if the city had fewer checking accounts.

Each city fund, McClain explained, has its own separate checking account.

“It would be easier if we had consolidated accounts,” said McClain, adding that consolidation might be a possibility in the future.

Holland said the city uses separate checking accounts for all of its funds because that was how the city’s previous accounting system operated.

With the audit preparation now under her belt, McClain said her next task is making sure the city’s 2015-2016 budget is completed and approved before Sept. 15.

McClain said she, Holland and Natchez City Clerk Donnie Holloway have already received worksheets from department heads detailing their budget needs, and the next step is to schedule work sessions with the Natchez Board of Aldermen to discuss a proposed budget.

Once a preliminary budget is set, a public hearing will be scheduled so the public can ask questions about the proposed budget.

The board adopted last year’s budget 14 days late.