How Effective Questioning of Witnesses Can Make for Effective Hearings
Asking the right questions will lead to informative answers. To make public accounts committee (PAC) hearings as effective as possible, committee members should be prepared to question witnesses in a manner that gets to the core issues.
How “Positive Auditing” Assures Reliable Reporting on Strengths and Opportunities
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.
The PEI public accounts committee (PAC) has found innovative—and cost free—ways to promote the non-partisan nature of the committee through their opening statement and direct communications to all members of the legislature.
When auditing an oversight body such as a board of directors, a council, or a committee, it may be challenging at first to determine what the audit should focus on. However, minutes and other basic documents can include clues that can help you decide where you should be targeting your examination. In this Audit Tips, we present a list of 10 indicators that oversight may be at risk.
