Announcements

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Aug. 8, 2022

OLYMPIA – The Office of the Washington State Auditor's annual audit of federal money spent in the state revealed 61 areas of concern across 21 federal programs. Because of a lack of documentation, auditors were unable to audit one entire program, calling into question at least $271 million in spending.

These issues and more can be found today in an accessible summary of the extensive audit report by the State Auditor's Office (SAO).

Here is a printable version of the infographic.

SAO's resource database offers dozens of free guides, checklists, best practices and tools to help Washington governments improve their internal controls, grant management, procurement practices, financial reporting and cybersecurity. And last week, we replaced it with something better!

Brandi Pritchard, SAO's Assistant Director of Local Audit and Special Investigations, receiving the 2022 Hubbard Award at the 33rd Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference in Nashville.

Local governments and state agencies soon will have access to SAO's SecureShare—a safe, simple tool for exchanging data during audits.

SAO developed SecureShare after consultation with Washington Technology Solutions (WaTech), the state's IT agency. Our programmers and technicians then worked with Microsoft to develop SecureShare, a customized application built on trusted, reliable technology.

Employees and projects from the Office of the Washington State Auditor (SAO) were recently honored at the annual conference of the National State Auditors Association (NSAA) in Atlanta, Georgia.

Scott DeViney, who serves as Assistant Director of Quality Assurance at SAO, was honored with a President's Award for his contributions to NSAA's 2021 Peer Review Training Taskforce. With a small group of volunteers from other state audit offices, DeViney developed a series of training videos on the peer review process.

We at SAO extend our thanks to every local government that filed its fiscal year 2021 annual report on time! This year, approximately 88 percent of local governments—2 percent more than last year—met the annual filing deadline, proving once again that compliance, accountability and transparency matter in Washington state.

We've updated the infographic below to show which governments filed on time, which filed late, and which haven't filed yet. How does your county compare to the rest? The graphic still updates daily, so check back as often as you'd like.

A longtime employee of the Office of the Washington State Auditor (SAO) has been appointed chair of a national board that advocates for the improvement of government accounting and financial reporting standards.

This week, the Washington Association of School Business Officials (WASBO) is hosting its annual conference. SAO representatives will be there in person, sharing the latest news on financial reporting and auditing issues.

As is our custom, we have created an Audit Connection newsletter designed just for schools and school districts. Those at the conference should stop by SAO's booth for a hard copy. We've also included it here as an interactive issue and downloadable PDF for easy digital reference. See the last page of the PDF for printing instructions.

The State Auditor's Office is excited to announce several key leadership changes. Please join us in congratulating all of our talented staff members on their new roles with SAO.