Voices from the Field

FINDING WHERE THE PIPELINE LEAKS: TIPS FOR AUDITING RESULTS AND IDENTIFYING ROOT CAUSES

by Neil Maxwell, CAAF Associate

Since their origin 40 years ago, public sector performance audits were designed to examine the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of government activities. However, over the years, the practice of performance auditing has tended to focus on systems and practices and relatively little attention has been paid to whether government programs achieve their intended results.

In this article, Neil Maxwell presents an approach, based on a simple analogy, that can help public sector auditors to plan and conduct results-focused audits and report their findings effectively. This approach can also help auditors to identify the root causes of observed deficiencies.

HOW “POSITIVE AUDITING” ASSURES RELIABLE REPORTING ON STRENGTHS AND OPPORTUNITIES by Basil Orsini

Internal auditors usually focus on areas where significant deficiencies are expected and where key risks are threatening their organization’s ability to achieve its objectives. Internal auditors rarely provide assurance on organizational strengths and external opportunities for growth. Similarly, fraud investigations tend to focus on financial frauds and their associated risks, rarely examining non-financial fraud risks. Is this as it should be, or should internal auditors and fraud examiners do more to provide additional value to their organization?

In this article, Basil Orsini argues that the scope of internal audits and of fraud examinations should be expanded to include what he calls “positive auditing.” This would favour collaboration between internal auditors and fraud examiners and produce valuable assurance for public sector organizations.

DRIVING RESULTS: HOW DATA MODELS CAN ADD VALUE TO PERFORMANCE AUDITS

by Jessica Schafer, Performance Audit Manager, Office of the Auditor General of British Columbia

Public sector agencies generate large amounts of data from their program management activities, but not all agencies extract the full value out of their data. However, auditors can help close this gap. By using data analytics tools and data models, auditors can mine an agency’s data to generate novel and valuable insight about the effectiveness of programs and services. In this article, Jessica Schafer of the Office of the Auditor General of British Columbia explains how using a data model during an audit of commercial vehicle safety helped her team to provide new information to government officials and legislators on the effectiveness of roadside inspections and traffic enforcement.

BACK TO THE FUTURE: TIPS FOR PLANNING AND WRITING PROSPECTIVE AUDIT REPORTS

by Jessica Bryant-Bertail, Senior Analyst, U.S. Government Accountability Office

Most performance audits look at the past. But auditors can also turn their attention to the future by conducting prospective audits. In this article, Jessica Bryant-Bertail of the U.S. Government Accountability Office shares her experience working on prospective audits. She presents selected practices that will help performance auditors to plan and write prospective audit reports convincingly.