Mission Statement The Kane County Auditor and the staff of the - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Progressing from As is to Better practices

From

to

Kane County Auditor E xecutive Committee Report March 6, 2013

Progressing from As is to Better practices

Mission Statement

“The Kane County Auditor and the staff of the Auditor's Office work for, and on behalf of, the citizens

• f Kane County.

Our mission is to provide high quality, cost efficient financial information which accurately represents the operations of Kane County government in accordance with professional standards.” To achieve that goal, the Office will focus its efforts on the enhancement of the continuous audit program, and the development and implementation of a program of better practice policies and procedures designed to promote improved accountability and transparency.

Accessibility

One way to improve accountability and transparency is through accessibility. Mark Armstrong, Kane County Supervisor of Assessments, has been very successful proactively engaging the public on the sensitive topic of real estate taxes. Using a similar approach I plan to develop an informative community outreach program from the Auditor’s office. With only minor modifications to presentations developed for use within government

• perations I can customize an existing report to address

local community organizations, civic groups, schools, etc. Recently, Rob Russell and I were invited to speak at such an event. We were both well received and I look forward to similar future opportunities.

Communication

Internal Audit of County Coroner

Our internal audit report has been provided to the Coroner. The Judicial & Public Safety Committee was copied. What happens next? Sec. 2-192 of the County Code deals with the internal audit procedure. Loosely paraphrased it says. (1) Within three business days the County Coroner shall acknowledge receipt of the internal audit report. (2) Within thirty days of the receipt of the audit report the Coroner shall submit a written response to the County Auditor, outlining any action that has been taken in response to the recommendations made by the Auditor. (3) Subsequent to the issuance of the report the Auditor shall review the operations of the Coroner and issue a report to the County Board of his findings.

Internal Audit Plan for 2013

Depending upon the collective review of risk assessment interviews, the office of the Circuit Clerk may be among the subjects of our internal audits this year, but shall be part of the transition audits - as a matter of best practice. The previous Circuit Clerk commissioned a transition audit through an external accounting firm - Sikich LLP. Although I was involved with one of the preliminary planning meetings, I did not perform the actual audit

• procedures. The scope of any additional transition audit

work deemed necessary will be based upon that third party report, which is expected to be received shortly. The following two slides illustrate the steps we have developed for internal audit planning.

A to B Internal Audit Plan

Review management letters and footnotes from both the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report and the Single Audit from fiscal year 2011 Develop a new ICQ covering such topics as system security, cash handling, purchasing, payroll, and documentation

• f policies and

procedures. Schedule and conduct 30 separate meetings with elected officials, department heads and key staff to discuss the ICQ responses and determine net risk. Review previous years’ internal audit reports, rotations and any recommendations made by the county auditor. Distribute ICQ to all Kane County elected offices, departments and sub-departments. Review and analyze the ICQ responses. Review and write up notes to document

• meetings. Reply to

the offices and departments with any initial findings.

B to C Internal Audit Plan

Schedule ongoing cycle audits, i.e. Fixed Assets, Credit Cards, Contracts, Receipts, Economic Interests, etc. Schedule four transition audits for the offices

• f newly elected

county officials. Prioritize internal audit

• ptions in conjunction

with annual audits, external audit, transition audits, special audits and other projects Assist external auditors with compliance and procedural testing. Identify special

• pportunities, i.e.

Juvenile Justice food contract, Animal Control billing, etc. Schedule and conduct up to ten internal audits in Fiscal Year 2013

Internal Audit Plan – WORKING DRAFT

The working draft of the fiscal year 2013 Risk Assessment and Internal Audit Plan will be presented at the April 3rd meeting

• f

the Executive

• Committee. The report will

include updated progress on both the audits currently in process and those audits that will have been started in the interim.

Questions? More Information?

Terry Hunt, Kane County Auditor huntterry@co.kane.il.us Kane County Auditor’s Office 710 S. Batavia Ave. Geneva, IL 60134 630-232-5918