Our objective is to have your continuing involvement as well as constant communication at every stage, so that you understand what we are doing and why we are doing it. The most successful audit projects are those in which you, our client, and the auditors have a constructive working relationship. We try to avoid interfering with your unit’s usual routine and work with you to set up proper meeting times.
An audit normally consists of five states: Planning, Fieldwork, Exit Meeting, Audit Report, and Follow-Up.
I. Planning PhaseIn this stage, the auditors are gaining an understanding of your mission and objectives so to tailor the audit to your needs. During the planning process, we seek to determine:
- The objectives and goals of the unit being reviewed;
- The objective of the audit; and
- The approach the auditor will use to meet these audit objectives.
We begin by gathering information about your operations. We issue an announcement letter informing you about the audit and requesting an entrance meeting. We also may request your mission statement, organizational chart, and other pertinent forms.
At the
entrance meeting you may invite any staff member you wish to include. We need your assistance in learning about your unique operations. To that end, we will ask you and your staff question regarding your organization, personnel, facilities, equipment, funds, and other relevant information.
It is important that you use this initial meeting, to express issues that you would like us to consider in our review or areas of special concern.
We'll perform a
walk-through of selected important operations to obtain an overview of the area. We will interview people involved in the unit, review reports, files, and other sources of information related to the audit.
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II. Field Work Phase
Fieldwork begins with further interviews of departmental personnel, and includes continuing advice and informal communications with you and your staff.
The auditor reviews internal control’s documentation, such as job descriptions and procedures, they gather and analyze data, and perform other audit test for documenting observations. Also, in some cases there will be a need for transaction testing.
As fieldwork progresses, the auditor discusses with you any significant observations and recommendations. Usually these communications are oral. However, in more complex situations, memos are written in order to ensure full understanding by you and avoid misunderstandings by the auditor. Our goal is for you to experience no surprises.
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III. Exit Meeting Phase
At the conclusion of fieldwork, we meet with your unit's management team to discuss our observations and recommendations. We'll deliver to you a discussion tool approximately one week before this meeting. We use the discussion tool for documenting our observations, your related risks and our recommended actions.
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IV. Audit Report Phase
A principal product of an audit project is the final report in which significant observations are detailed and recommendations for improvement are described. To facilitate communications and to ensure that recommendations presented in the final report are practical, we have a
closing meeting to review and discuss the draft audit report.
This meeting is used to discuss the text of the draft in addition to the audit observations and recommendations. The draft report will be distributed as a final within three days of this meeting. The Audit Committee of the Board of Governors and Board of Trustees, the President, Senior Vice President and Treasurer, and the University Controller always receive a copy of the final report.
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V. Audit Follow-up Phase
We will request, from you, a written response which addressees each observation and recommendation made in the final report. You will have 30 days from the date of the report to provide us with your response to our recommendations. The Senior Vice President and Treasurer needs to receive a copy of the response from you.
The response should indicate any action already taken by management to correct the condition or the planned action to be taken in the near future. The reply should estimate the date when corrective action will be completed, as well as the names of the individuals whom will be responsible for implementing the recommendations. At a later date, within two months of the issuance of the report, Internal Auditing will follow-up with management to ascertain what improvements has been made.
Many clients extend this working relationship beyond the particular audit. Once we have worked with you on a project, we have an understanding of your unit's unique operations. Therefore, we can provide advice about the feasibility of future changes or modifications to your operations.
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