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The Audit Connection Blog

Results for: Washington state governments

Cybersecurity Special Report 2022: Keeping an independent eye on government IT security

January 27, 2022

The State Auditor’s Office plays a unique role in keeping an independent eye on government IT security. We work with state and local governments to help improve their cybersecurity programs through audits and outreach activities. We’ve created a special report giving a short overview of our work and findings in the area of cybersecurity. It offers legislators, the public and government leaders information they need to help ensure our state’s critical IT systems and data remain protected.

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K&P leadership series: Modeling the way

December 8, 2021

In our blog series over these past months, we’ve explored four of the five behaviors described in The Leadership Challenge, James Kouzes and Barry Posner’s book on exemplary leadership practices. These four behaviors—shared visioning, enabling others, challenging processes, and encouraging hearts—have one specific thing in common: They ask you to take action in your leadership, such as developing certain skills, recognizing others, or increasing personal interactions.

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Removing the mystery: How auditors select federal programs for audit

December 7, 2021

Governments that spend $750,000 or more in federal awards during their fiscal year must receive a Single Audit to determine their compliance with certain federal requirements. If your government has received a Single Audit—either annually or at some point in the past—you might have wondered how your auditor selected federal programs for audit.

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balance sheet and calculator on accountant's desk.

Good news on pension funding might mean changes for government financial reporting. SAO has guidance on how to report it

November 3, 2021

Since reporting a net pension asset can be cumbersome and complex for governments that haven’t had to do this previously, the pension experts at the State Auditor’s Office have compiled some guidance on how to report it in your financial statements. This article identifies which pension plans are reporting a net pension asset and explains how to report your restricted net position and a negative pension expense.

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Summary infographic of the 2020 State of Washington Single Audit

October 18, 2021

Every year, SAO audits state agencies for compliance with certain requirements that come with federal awards. This visual report provides a summary of our 2020 Single Audit, including a breakdown of where pandemic funding went, how spent agencies spent federal money, and how Washington can improve its compliance with federal rules.

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K&P leadership series: Encouraging the heart

October 13, 2021

“Encourage the heart,” one of the five behaviors in the Kouzes and Posner (K&P) Leadership Challenge, can help you connect with your new team as a new leader. Encouraging the heart will help you create a team culture built on genuine respect and caring behavior. To do this, you need to focus on two areas at the same time: recognizing individual contributions and valuing team accomplishments.

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K&P leadership series: Enabling others to act

September 29, 2021

“Enabling others to act,” one of the five behaviors in the Kouzes and Posner (K&P) Leadership Challenge, can help you create an environment for your team that allows it to learn and grow while achieving your organization’s goals. Enabling others focuses on helping you foster collaboration and grow your self-confidence to strengthen others—important skills for new supervisors.

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K&P leadership series: Challenging the process

September 14, 2021

You were just promoted to your first management position. Congratulations! Now comes your opportunity to emulate the qualities you appreciated in your previous managers, and maybe avoid the qualities you didn’t admire. Either way, you are excited about the opportunities ahead, and hopefully, you recognize that you have big shoes to fill.

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