Auditees
are given the opportunity to respond to audit findings prior to the issuance
of audit reports. When preparing audit responses, the auditee should
keep in mind that upper management at Northwestern, University of Louisiana
System personnel, and personnel from the Office of the Legislative Auditor
receive a copy of all internal audit reports.
Among other things,
report recipients review and consider the auditee's response to cited audit
findings. The auditee's response can either concur or not
concur with the audit finding and/or recommendation. If the
auditee concurs, the response should include a correction action plan and an
anticipated completion date. If the auditee does not concur, the
response should include a statement of non-concurrence and reasons to
support that position.
The following general comments are offered to
assist auditees preparing audit responses:
Obtain
Clear Understanding of Finding
A
well developed audit finding will include the condition
noted, relevant audit criteria, the cause
of any differences noted, the effect of such
differences, and a recommendation
for corrective action. The auditee should review the underlying
reasons which cause variances between what is and what should be.
Determine
Available Resources
Once
those reasons are known, a plan to eliminate or minimize the effect of
variances in condition and criteria should be developed. In developing
such a plan, available resources and the cost-benefit
relationship must be considered.
Look
Toward the Future
The
corrective plan should consider and incorporate steps to (a) prevent of
reoccurrence of the finding, and (b) detect a similar condition if reoccurrence
happens. This may be accomplished by implementing and/or updating
existing preventive, detective,
and directive controls.
