What Types of Audits Does Internal Audit Perform?

The Internal Audit Division of the Office of Internal Audit and Investigations performs performance audits. These audits are defined by Government Audit Standards as:

Engagements that provide sufficient, appropriate evidence against stated criteria, such as specific requirements, measures, or defined business practices. They provide objective analysis so that management and those charged with governance and oversight can use the information to improve program performance and operations, reduce costs, facilitate decision making by parties with responsibility to oversee or initiate corrective action, and contribute to public accountability.

Types of audits that Internal Audit conducts includes:

• Management – These audits are operational in nature and assess a process, program or activity. Management audits are included on the annual audit plan, which is developed at the beginning of the fiscal year and passed by City Council in the form of a Resolution.

• Budget – These audits are required by City Ordinance §2-10-11 ROA 1994: Accountability in Government. OIAI performs a Citywide review of expenditure projections which are prepared by the Office of Management and Budget. Programs which are projected to exceed or underspend their appropriated budgets by more than $100,000 or 5% are reviewed to determine the cause of the over or underexpenditure. This audit is conducted for the quarters ending December 31 and March 30 and at fiscal year-end, June 30.

• Information Technology (IT) – These audits have an IT focus and are conducted to protect the City’s investment in IT assets, review security issues and verify data integrity.

• Vendor – These audits are conducted to ensure vendors are complying with the terms of the contract and the City is properly administering and monitoring the contract.

• Special - These audits are not included in the annual audit plan.  Any City employee, City Councilor, department director or member of the Administration may make a suggestion for a Special Audit. OIAI will assess the risk and determine if the risk of the suggested audit outweighs the risk of the audits that are on the current audit plan. A formal Council Resolution passed by a majority of the Councilors will also result in the initiation of a Special Audit.