Item 4. Controls and Procedures
ITEM
4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Evaluation
of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Management,
which includes our President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure
controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange
Act”)) as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based upon that evaluation, our President, Chief Executive Officer and
Chief Financial Officer concluded that the disclosure controls and procedures were not effective. We specifically identified a combination
of control deficiencies relating to the accuracy and completeness of our accounting for stock-based compensation awards and inventories
at one of our subsidiaries, which constitute material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting. Notwithstanding such material
weaknesses, we believe the financial information presented herein is materially correct and fairly presents the financial position and
operating results of the quarter ended July 31, 2021 in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial
information and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the SEC.
As
previously disclosed in Item 9A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2020, management has identified
material weaknesses as of that date. The identified material weaknesses related to the accounting for stock-based compensation awards
and inventories at one of our subsidiaries. A “material weakness” is a deficiency, or 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 financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. To remediate the material weakness, we are initiating
controls and procedures in order to:
●
Reinforce
the importance of a strong control environment, to emphasize the technical requirements for controls that are designed, implemented
and operating effectively and to set the appropriate expectations on internal controls through establishing the related policies
and procedures; and
●
Review
the processes for documenting and alerting key personnel, including our board members, officers, auditors and outside accountants,
of non-reoccurring events related to stock-based compensation awards to ensure such events are timely and adequately recorded and
communicated to the appropriate parties.
●
We
have replaced and hired new employees in the accounting department at the subsidiary where the inventory analysis issue occurred
and have made upgrades to the computer systems at the subsidiary. Further, we hired a new director of finance at the subsidiary that
is responsible for overseeing inventory counts and we are enhancing controls in the inventory business process over (i) inventory
count procedures by requiring more frequent physical audits of our inventory, and (ii) review of inventory adjustments and approvals.
The
material weaknesses identified above will not be considered remediated until our remediation efforts have been fully implemented and
we have concluded that these controls are operating effectively.
Management
does not expect that our internal control over financial reporting will prevent or detect all errors and all fraud. A control system,
no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control systems
are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls
must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, no evaluation of
internal control over financial reporting can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that
all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, have been or will be detected.
Changes
in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Other
than the changes intended to remediate the material weakness as discussed above and in Part II, Item 9A of our Annual Report on Form
10-K for the year ended October 31, 2020, there was no change in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f)
and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2021 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely
to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
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PART
II - OTHER INFORMATION
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