Beaufort County’s financial dealings in the 2012-2013 fiscal year got a clean bill of health in the county’s latest audit report.

That report was presented Monday during the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners’ meeting. Martin Starnes & Associates, CPAs, the county’s auditors, gave an unmodified opinion, according to Matt Braswell, who works for the firm. It’s the highest-level opinion awarded, he told the commissioners.

The county’s fund balance (rainy-day fund) increased by $3.3 million from the 2011-2012 fiscal year to the 2012-2013 fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2013. That meant the fund balance increased from 25.56 percent of the county’s general fund to 32.68 percent of the county’s general fund.

As of June 30, 2013, the fund balance was at $21 million, but almost $5 million of that fund balance is not available for immediate use by the county.

Although the county has a $21 million fund balance, that doesn’t mean the county can use all of it in any way it sees fit. State law places restrictions on how some of the fund balance may be spent. The county restricts use of some of the fund balance. With the available fund balance at nearly 33 percent of general-fund expenditures, the county more than meets the Local Government Commission’s recommendation that a local government have an amount equal to at least 8 percent of its general fund in its fund balance, or “rainy day” fund to cover unexpected expenditures. That 8 percent equates to a month’s revenues for a local government.

The county’s policy is to have a fund balance that’s 34 percent of its general fund, according to Jim Chrisman, the county’s assistance county manager and chief financial officer. The county sets a higher standard so it is in a better position to pay for expenses related to natural disasters such as hurricanes, he said.

With the county’s fund balance at nearly 33 percent of its general fund, the county has almost four months’ worth of cash in reserve.

For at least fiscal two years in a row, the county’s revenues exceeded its expenditures, according to the report. The annual audit makes sure the county’s financial dealing comply with federal, state and other financial-reporting standards.