Who audits the auditor?

In addition to an audit into the city's watermain emergency repairs practices that is already underway, the city's auditor general is preparing for a quality assurance review from a team of his peers.

The city's audit committee met for the first time in 2012 on Jan. 17. A snow storm didn't freeze over the enthusiasm committee members expressed about the work that has been done to date, and the work that will continue over the next year.

Watermain emergency repairs are the first priority for the auditor general's office, but the audit workplan for 2012 also includes the impact of changes to road design, for which the planning work is already done and a report is expected in May; user fees and the shift in funding sources; corporate grants, donations and contributions; the Falconbridge Infrastructure Stimulus Roads Project and value for money and control; and environmental service waste management.

The workplan was developed following consultation and feedback from city management, as well as the audit committee, auditor general Brian Bigger said. Projects are identified where audit or review procedures are expected to present the greatest organizational value for the time committed.

“We are very pleased with progress (of the watermain emergency repairs audit) up to this point, and it's progressing largely due to commitment (from the city) to improve operations,” he said. “Our experience with watermain repairs and roads crews have been quite positive, and they've seemed to embrace the process.”

It's satisfying for auditors when they are able to work with employees under that kind of rapport, he added. An important part of audit process is working with management to come up with solutions they feel they can implement, and the hope is to produce the same results with audits throughout 2012.

Bigger's office has been busy preparing for an audit of its own practices. The Institute of Internal Auditors will conduct a quality assurance review of the auditor general's work to date, and it is intended to help audit organizations in their efforts to meet standards set out by the IIA and the Association of Local Government Auditors in following Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS).

For a small two-person audit shop, like that of the auditor general's office in Sudbury, quality assurance reviews should be done every three years, according to GAGAS. For larger audit shops, reviews are usually done on a five-year cycle.

“Our own shop has really only completed about a year and a half worth of audit reports,” Bigger said, so it's a little bit out of the ordinary to have this audit being done now, “but it's a positive situation, because it provides the opportunity for someone from the outside to look into our own process and provide recommendations.”

Peer reviews are part of the normal process of auditing and following GAGAS, he added.

“A committee will come and take a look at our records. It's just like any other audit, and we look forward to any suggestions they may have about improving our own processes or improving efficiency.”

The team will be on site Feb. 27 to begin the audit. Auditors are independently selected, and could come from any community that is part of the IIA.

Bigger was appointed auditor general effective June 6, 2009. His office started conducting audits in February, 2010 after setting up the audit committee and its mandate. He said the audit process has been “quite successful” up to this point, and the quality assurance review will only help to build more credibility and trust between his council, management and the public.

“We are well prepared for this, and we've put a lot of work into it already,” he said.

Another benefit from the peer review will be the chance to show council and management how to respond to an audit and audit recommendations.

Mayor Marianne Matichuk called the quality assurance review “proactive,” and said it will be a good learning experience for everyone at the city.

Ward 3 Coun. Claude Berthiaume, who chairs the audit committee, said there is a general conception in the public that councillors are against the auditor's work and that his recommendations are an imposition on council, “but I just want to remind everyone that the auditor is a welcome part of this organization.”

Posted by Arron Pickard