#1: ENGAGEMENT MEMO
This memo announces the audit and establishes the meeting to discuss the audit’s objectives. Due to the nature of some audit work, we may give little or no advance notice.
The majority of audits are scheduled on a fiscal year basis. Several factors determine what areas are audited including: annual risk assessment, legal requirements, special management requests, cyclical rotation among UT schools and UT System directed. The auditing process involves the eight steps below:
This memo announces the audit and establishes the meeting to discuss the audit’s objectives. Due to the nature of some audit work, we may give little or no advance notice.
During this scheduled meeting with the head of the department, we will discuss the purpose and scope of the audit. Clients can address any concerns or questions at this time and may also request a review of areas of high concern as part of the audit.
Written policies and procedures may be requested to aid the auditor in understanding departmental operations. In some cases, our auditors will need to reside in the client’s department to conduct interviews and review departmental records. In order to minimize disruption of daily operations, we make every effort to make such arrangements beforehand.
The duration of the audit will vary depending on its scope. The level of cooperation from auditees and access to personnel and records also has a direct bearing on the duration of the audit.
Audit results are presented to clients verbally and in writing. Recommendations are intended to benefit the department/institution. Clients have an opportunity to discuss concerns identified within the audit and to concur or disagree with conclusions and recommendations. Clients are required to provide, in writing, proposed resolutions including reasonably expected implementation dates.
An exit conference is held to discuss audit findings and typically includes the auditors, management responsible for the area audited, and staff who will have involvement in resolving the concerns identified. This meeting provides an opportunity to clear and resolve questions/concerns pertaining to findings before the final audit report is released.
The final audit report includes findings, recommendations and management responses. Copies of the report are distributed to the president, appropriate vice presidents, the unit's manager, and UT System Audit Office. Audit findings are also included in a summary of all UT institutional reports provided to the chancellor and the Audit Committee of the Board of Regents.
Our professional standards require that we follow-up and report on previously reported findings to determine if corrective action was taken and concerns were resolved.
View our current work plan as approved by the Institutional Audit Committee.