The Audit Connection Blog
Who audits the auditor? They do!
Government auditing standards require our office to get a “peer review” every three years. For our 2016 peer review, a team of auditors from eight other states and a federal agency came to Olympia the week of September 12th to review our audit policies and manuals and a cross-section of audit reports and working papers. ... CONTINUE READING
"Vishing" can pose a threat
"Vishing" uses techniques that are essentially similar to phishing, the act of acquiring sensitive information via electronic communication while posing as a trusted entity. A vishing attack takes place over the telephone, using call spoofing, and tricks a user into disclosing personal information such as credit card numbers or a three digit security code. ... CONTINUE READING
Taking a swipe at credit card fraud
Credit and procurement cards are easy to use, convenient and efficient. As a result, government use of these cards has increased exponentially over the last decade. Unfortunately, there can be a dark side to using cards: they often bypass standard, established payment controls. The combination of high card usage and weak controls is an environment ripe for fraud. ... CONTINUE READING
The Cost of Transparency
It’s hard to deny the benefits of an open and transparent government. The Public Records Act allows people to request things like video footage, emails, land development records — essentially almost every record that a government produces. The importance of access to government records can be seen in frequent examples across the nation, such as when the San Francisco Examiner discovered that police investigated rapes in upscale Berkeley far more readily than in the crime-blighted neighborhoods of Oakland by systematically examining local government records. ... CONTINUE READING
A manager hired to help developmentally disabled people misappropriates more than $58,000
(Audit report published Aug. 11) The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) oversees supported living agencies, which provide services to individuals with developmental disabilities. A house manager runs the daily operations of the supported living home such as purchasing food, completing payroll, and paying bills. ... CONTINUE READING
County road levy diversion: A new focus for fiscal year 2017 county audits
Counties use property tax levies to collect funds for county roads. State law (RCW 36.33.220) allows counties to divert a portion of these funds to the current expense fund. This must be done through a Board resolution, and the funds can be used for any service to be provided in the unincorporated area of the county. However, to be eligible for Rural Arterial Program funding (see below), counties must use the diverted revenues only for purposes of traffic law enforcement and must complete a certification attesting to this fact. It is important to note that this requirement is only applicable to counties with a population greater than 8,000. ... CONTINUE READING
Who's using FIT (Financial Intelligence Tool)?
On January 27, 2016, our Office published a follow-up to a report we issued last year on local government financial reporting. This year’s results show that our outreach efforts have contributed to a greater number of local governments filing their reports as required by law for fiscal year 2014. ... CONTINUE READING
Is your local government filing its annual financial report?
On January 27, 2016, our Office published a follow-up to a report we issued last year on local government financial reporting. This year’s results show that our outreach efforts have contributed to a greater number of local governments filing their reports as required by law for fiscal year 2014. ... CONTINUE READING
FIT data refreshed on January 1
The Financial Intelligence Tool (FIT) refreshes quarterly with data submitted by local governments. This most recent refresh added 23 more filers and brings the total local government data presented in FIT to 95 percent for fiscal year 2019. ... CONTINUE READING
Know what to look for to prevent cash receipting fraud
While cash transactions might be less frequent than those involving credit or debit cards, or have individual low dollar values, over time small daily losses can add up. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners' (ACFE) 2016 Report to the Nations, the average median loss when cash was misappropriated ranged from $25,000 to $90,000. ... CONTINUE READING