Back To The Future: Tips for Planning and Writing Prospective Audit Reports
Most performance audits look at the past. But auditors can also turn their attention to the future by conducting prospective audits. In this article, Jessica Bryant-Bertail of the U.S. Government Accountability Office shares her experience working on prospective audits. She presents selected practices that will help performance auditors to plan and write prospective audit reports convincingly.
When reviewing documents, conducting interviews, or visiting sites during the planning phase of an audit of efficiency, performance auditors may come across information or situations that suggest that the achievement of efficiency is at risk in a given program or organization. In such cases, auditors should document their observations and obtain additional information as required.
With the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in July 2016, the Government of Canada and the Assembly of First Nations started working together to establish a new fiscal relationship that moves towards sufficient, predictable and sustained funding for First Nations communities. As part of this process, consideration is being given to a new accountability regime that would require new First Nations institutions, including a First Nations Auditor General.
In the spring of 2017, the Government of Canada and the Assembly of First Nations jointly commissioned CAAF to prepare a research paper that would explore options and pathways for creating a First Nations Auditor General institution. We were not asked to make recommendations on these options.
Our final report, Establishing a First Nations Auditor General, was published in June 2018. Subsequently, in June 2019, the Joint Advisory Committee on Fiscal Relationships issued an interim report that included a recommendation to establish a First Nations Auditor General.
We are pleased to have contributed our research to a joint initiative that seeks to establish a new accountability regime for First Nations and we look forward to continuing our engagement in this important dialogue in the future.
