The Internal Audit may issue one of a number of formal or informal communications to assist District Management in identifying and mitigating risks and improving operations. The various forms of communication are:
- Audit Reports
At the conclusion of each audit the Internal Audit will issue a written report which provides its independent opinion or conclusions regarding the process, system or other subject matter reviewed. Each audit report issued will include but not limited to the following:
- Background
- Audit Objectives
- Statistics
- Scope and Methodology
- Conclusion
- Summary of Findings
- Findings
Each finding will be developed using the following elements:
- Criteria: What should be – The laws, regulations, contracts, grants agreements, standards, measures, expectations of what should exist, defined business practices, and benchmarks against which performance is compared or evaluated.
- Condition: What is – Condition is the situation that exists.
- Cause: Reason for the condition – Why the deviation from the criteria occurred.
- Effect: Consequences – What happened or could happen because the condition differed from the criteria.
- Recommendation: What is needed to correct the condition and improve operations.
To ensure that the audit results are fairly presented, the audit report will include the auditee’s response and corrective action taken or to be taken in regard to the specific findings and recommendations. The auditee’s response should include a timetable for anticipated completion of action to be taken or an explanation for any recommendations not addressed. A copy of the completed audit report including the auditee’s responses will be distributed to the FAC, CFO, and other appropriate District personnel. Audit reports with issues that do not represent significant risk exposures and control issues that could adversely affect the District and its ability to achieve its strategic, financial reporting, operational, and compliance objectives will be included in the information section of the FAC meeting agenda and any questions related to the audit will be addressed at the FAC meeting. Audit reports with issues that represent significant issues that may carry unacceptable exposure to internal and external risks, including conditions related to control weaknesses, fraud, irregularities, illegal acts, errors, inefficiency, waste, ineffectiveness, conflicts of interest, and financial viability will be presented to senior management and the members of the FAC. The Internal Audit is responsible for appropriate follow-up on audit findings and recommendations. All significant findings will remain in an open issues file until cleared by the Internal Audit manager. Generally, Internal Audit will conduct a follow-up audit within 12-18 months from the date of the original audit report and report the status of the implementation of the audit recommendations to the original recipients of the audit report. In addition, the internal Audit manager will periodically report the status of the open issues file to the FAC and the CFO.
- Special Investigation Reports are issued at the conclusion of an investigation of misappropriation of District assets and generally distributed only to Safety and Security, Legal Department and Human Resources depending on which department requested the investigation.
- Informal Communications include emails, memorandum or verbal reports to communicate relatively low risks as well as advisory work.