ACORN ENERGY INC
For the period ended Dec 31, 2024. Filed Mar 6, 2025.
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FY2024 · Filed Mar 6, 2025
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Item 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Our management, with the participation of our CEO and CFO, has evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this annual report on Form 10-K. Based on this evaluation, our CEO and CFO concluded that, due to the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting as described below, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of December 31, 2024.
Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f). Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our CEO and CFO, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, based upon the document “Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013)” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”). Based upon this assessment and those criteria, management concluded that due to the material weaknesses described below, our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2024.
The Company employs a decentralized internal control methodology, coupled with management’s oversight, whereby its subsidiary is responsible for mitigating its risks to financial reporting by implementing and maintaining effective control policies and procedures and subsequently translating that respective risk mitigation up and through to the parent level and to the Company’s external consolidated financial statements. Also, as the Company’s subsidiary is not large enough to effectively mitigate certain risks by segregating incompatible duties, management must employ compensating mechanisms throughout the Company in a manner that is feasible within the constraints it operates.
The material weaknesses management identified were caused by an insufficient complement of resources at the Company’s OmniMetrix subsidiary and limited IT system capabilities, such that individual control policies and procedures could not be implemented, maintained, or remediated when and where necessary. Management identified the following material weaknesses set forth below in our internal control over financial reporting:
| ● | The Company had ineffective design and operation of information technology general controls (ITGCs) over logical access, program change management, and vendor management controls. |
| ● | The Company had ineffective design and operation of internal controls over financial reporting related to segregation of duties and journal entries. The weakness related to segregation of duties arises due to insufficient segregation of duties within the Company’s ERP system. Specifically, two individuals currently have access to both the recording and approval of financial transactions, which increases the risk of unauthorized adjustments. The weakness related to journal entries stems from the ERP’s functionality that allows users to modify journal entries after they have been posted. This capability creates a risk of unauthorized changes to financial records. |
| ● | The Company had ineffective design and operation of controls including management review controls, over the Company’s projected financial information within the Company’s deferred tax asset valuation allowance analysis. |
A material weakness is defined as a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the Company’s annual or interim consolidated financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. The material weaknesses identified, and the related risks are not uncommon in a company of our size because of the limitations in the location, size and number of our staff. The material weaknesses identified, however, did not result in any material misstatements of the Company’s consolidated financial statements and disclosures for any interim periods during, or for, the annual period ended December 31, 2024.
Remediation Actions
Management intends to continue to focus on strengthening the Company’s internal controls. Management expects to make progress towards reducing the risk that the material weakness could result in a material misstatement of the Company’s annual or interim consolidated financial statements. As business conditions allow and resources permit, management will continue to systematically build the necessary capabilities and infrastructure to implement corrective actions.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
During the year ended December 31, 2024, we have implemented the following (i) a process pursuant to which System and Organization Controls (SOC) reports are obtained from third-party vendors on a recurring schedule and such reports are evaluated for any issues, (ii) provisioning/termination controls with signed and authenticated authorizations, and (iii) change controls for development processes that require authorizations, peer review, quality assurance documentation, ticket matching of changes to work authorizations and overall change controls. It is our belief that these added controls and related actions will effectively remediate the existing material weaknesses. The material weaknesses will not be considered remediated, however, until the applicable controls operate for a sufficient period of time and management has concluded, through testing, that these controls are operating effectively.
Other than the remediation actions described above, there were no other changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the period covered by this report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
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