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The Audit Process

This is a collaborative process between management and Internal Audit. Your involvement is crucial for the success of the audit. You will be informed of the auditor's findings throughout the course of the audit. While we recognize that the audit will involve some of your time, one of our objectives is to avoid disruptions as much as possible. We will be reviewing departmental records, processes and compliance. The auditor is authorized to have unrestricted access to all property, personnel and records relevant to the review. This authority is granted by our Internal Audit charter which is approved by the Board of Trustees. All audits are different but the process generally consists of the following:

 

Notification Letter

The Chief Audit Executive will inform you of the audit through a formal communication.

Entrance Conference

The next step is the initial conference where we meet with the organization’s manager and any staff members he or she wishes to include. During this meeting, we will discuss the scope and the logistics of conducting the audit. It is important for you to take this opportunity to identify concerns or issues that you would like us to consider.

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Preliminary Review

Here key personnel are interviewed and departmental polices and other information is reviewed to determine your system of internal controls.

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Fieldwork

During fieldwork we test that the controls identified in our preliminary work are operating as expected. We generally do this through tracing transactions through your operating processes.

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Exit Conference

At the conclusion of the audit, we prepare a draft of the audit report which you review before the final report is issued. This report is discussed with your management team during the conference to make certain the recommendations are practical and there are no misunderstandings of facts. We will also discuss the action you plan to take as a result of our recommendations.

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Final Audit Report

We will incorporate your responses to each of our recommendations in our final report. We request that you state whether you agree with each of the recommendations and include a timeline for corrective action in your response.

At the request of the Audit Committee, all audit reports receive an “Overall Auditor Opinion Rating” of “Exceeds Expectations”, “Meets Expectations”, “Needs Improvement” or “Inadequate”. This rating is primarily based on the level of monitoring, the effectiveness of controls, and the proportion of significant audit findings. 

The Audit Committee expects that recommendations will be made as part of our audit. It also expects that in most cases, corrective action will be taken by the time of the follow-up audit.

Final reports are distributed to relevant departmental administrators. Audit reports are also distributed to the president, provost, audit committee, executive staff, deans, and external auditors.

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Customer Survey

Once the audit is complete, we will send you customer service surveys which ask you to help us improve our audit process. Please take the time to complete the survey and return it to our office.

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Follow-up Audit

We will schedule a follow-up audit during the subsequent fiscal year to determine corrective action taken as a result of our prior audit. In the case of follow-up audits receiving a rating of "Needs Improvement" or "inadequate," management will appear before the Audit Committee to discuss corrective action.

We look forward to working with you.

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