Our Services

The County Auditor's Office consists of four service groups; Advisory and Information Technology Services, Construction Auditing, Compliance Auditing and Performance Auditing. While organizationally distinct, groups typically collaborate to effectively provide the highest level of service. A brief description of each group's primary service follows:

Compliance Auditing
Compliance audits focus on conformity with relevant policies, procedures, laws, regulations or, in the case of contract audits, compliance of terms and conditions with the agreements. Compliance auditing includes:

• Reviewing processes to evaluate conformance with established policies and procedures,  
• Evaluating the effectiveness and applicability of internal controls,
• Providing recommendations to the Board to improve and enhance the County’s internal controls,
• Reviewing County policies, procedures and practices to identify recommendations for improvement, and,
• Evaluating compliance with terms and conditions of county contracts with particular emphasis on the financial aspects of the agreements.    

Performance Auditing
Performance audits focus on issues involving the efficiency and effectiveness of County agencies and programs. We review operations to identify wasteful and duplicative practices and to assess the extent to which programs achieve desired results and benefits. Our objective is to reduce program cost and increase program benefits or outcomes.

Construction Auditing
Construction Auditing is a specialty involving both traditional compliance audit concepts and engineering or general contracting knowledge and experience. Construction auditing focuses on analyzing construction contracts for payment compliance issues, ensuring that construction management staff complies with established County policies and procedures and reducing the County’s financial and legal vulnerabilities associated with the construction process.

The construction audit team will assess construction-related exposures from a broad perspective to ensure that an internal control environment exists that is conducive to safeguarding and preserving the County’s assets and resources, improving the general effectiveness of its operations, and assuring compliance with applicable laws, rules and procedures.

Advisory and Technology Services

Our Advisory and Technology Services (ATS) group is responsible for Information Technology (IT) auditing and coordinating the Office's business advisory services.

IT Auditing focuses on the effective use of information technology assets to increase efficiency, accountability and productivity. IT auditing includes:

• Providing technical oversight by reviewing contracts, statements of work and initial requirement analyses for County projects involving a technology element,
• Conducting pre-implementation/post-implementation reviews of technology acquisitions,
• Performing analytical data procedures to determine integrity and validity of data,
• Evaluating and consulting on IT security and control-related matters,
• Identifying technology risks and developing mitigating security and controls to minimize adverse impact on data and processing integrity,
• Providing technical support to County Auditor employees.

Our business advisory services include support provided to the Board, individual Commissioners, the Administration and the County Attorney. These services include:

 

• Reviewing the Board’s weekly meeting agenda to verify the accuracy, reasonableness, and completeness of the information presented and evaluating the merits of the proposed transactions. 
• Reviewing any matter related to County business upon the request of the Commission or a Commissioner.
• Providing advisory services directly to Selection and Negotiation committees and staff in the process of obtaining goods and services.  Our participation is intended to oversee adherence with County procurement policies and procedures and assist staff in obtaining fair and reasonable agreements.
• Financial analysis in support of litigation.