If you're like most Washington residents, you might not be sure what the State Auditor's Office does, or you might associate "auditor" with tax season. That's understandable, and it's exactly why we're conducting this survey. Share your perspective, it takes approximately 10 minutes and no prior knowledge of our Office is needed.
Today the Office of the Washington State Auditor released its massive annual audit of federal funds, which reviewed $23.7 billion in federal funds across 28 programs.
Auditors found a general pattern of improved compliance with federal requirements overall. SAO also determined that the state’s system to detect improper payments in child care subsidies has weaknesses that contributed to an estimated $37 million in questionable payments in 2025.
Your favorite State Auditor’s Office is all over social sharing interesting tidbits about our work, staff, podcasts, breaking news…and of course our unofficial mascot, Theo the Wonder Corgi (duh).
Follow along on your favorite social media listed here, and remember to visit our SAO Social Media page in the future for the most updated links. Happy scrolling!
As the authority on auditing public funds in Washington state, we’ve prepared the following FAQ to address some of the most common questions people may have about federal child care funds. Our goal with this FAQ is to be transparent and informative about the role of the Office of the Washington State Auditor on this issue of public concern. State Auditor Pat McCarthy also released two statements earlier this month on this topic:
The Office of the Washington State Auditor has investigated many losses of public funds that governments could have detected sooner – if only someone had looked at their bank statements. Whether you are a finance professional, a department head, or even an elected or appointed official, regularly reviewing your monthly statements can greatly increase the odds of deterring and detecting fraud.
The Office of the Washington State Auditor is conducting new “police training and certification audits” to determine if law enforcement agencies fully comply with officer conduct reporting requirements.
The State Auditor’s Office invites you to scroll through an interactive report of our activities during fiscal year 2024. We are proud of our efforts to work with local governments and state agencies to ensure accountability and transparency for public resources.
The Port of Peninsula mismanaged its revenues, resulting in financial disarray, and failed to follow parts of the Open Public Meetings Act, the Office of the Washington State Auditor reported today.