The Audit Connection Blog
New performance audit finds reduction in test sites, long delays are barriers for prospective home care aides
The Office of the Washington State Auditor’s new performance audit – I-1163: Addressing testing barriers for home care aides – found that home care aides face several barriers to becoming certified, including access to fewer tests sites and long testing delays. ... CONTINUE READING
SAO’s audit billing rates for 2023
SAO evaluates billing rates each summer, planning for the coming calendar year and accounting for legislative changes and other factors. The rate adjustment for 2023 is related to increased costs of both salaries and benefits. ... CONTINUE READING
Are your ACH internal controls strong enough to protect you from fraudsters? SAO has a new resource to help you
Fraudsters can impersonate your employees and vendors to redirect Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments meant for payroll direct deposits or vendor payments. You need to stay vigilant and ensure your government has strong internal controls. To help you, SAO has developed a new guide that offers advice on developing ACH payment process policies and employee training, establishing a verification process, and monitoring for unauthorized payee account changes. ... CONTINUE READING
SAO is transitioning to SecureShare on Sept. 1
Earlier this summer we announced SAO would be phasing in SecureShare, our new data-sharing tool for audits. Starting Sept. 1, SecureShare will be our primary tool for exchanging audit information with state and local governments. ... CONTINUE READING
Are you at risk for wire transfer fraud? SAO’s new resource details best practices for protecting public money
Fraudsters are constantly evolving their wire fraud schemes, which is why you need to ensure your government has strong internal controls in place to prevent them. To help you, SAO has developed a new resource: Best Practices for Sending Wire Transfers. ... CONTINUE READING
Is your payroll process as secure and efficient as it could be? Find out with SAO’s suite of payroll resources
SAO has a suite of resources that can help you evaluate your payroll process and explore ways to improve it. Our guides, checklists and articles provide valuable advice that you can use right away to ensure your internal controls are keeping your government safe. ... CONTINUE READING
Your accounts payable process is vulnerable to fraud and error. SAO’s resources can help protect it
When was the last time you took a hard look at your accounts payable process to ensure it’s still designed appropriately and functioning properly? Over the last year, SAO has published several resources and blog articles to help you improve your accounts payable system. We’ve collected them all here so that you can quickly access them. ... CONTINUE READING
Preview your school district data in FIT
The Office of the Washington State Auditor is excited to announce the addition of school district financial data to our Financial Intelligence Tool (FIT). Before we make this data available to the public, we are inviting school districts to preview their data and become familiar with how to use the tool. ... CONTINUE READING
$37 billion and counting: Find out how Washington spent COVID-19 relief money and other federal funding in 2021
The 2021 Single Audit was the first to review an entire year of how the state spent COVID-19 emergency funding. We issued 61 findings across 21 federal programs, and we are questioning more than $1 billion in costs—meaning we were unable to verify those dollars were spent according to federal requirements. ... CONTINUE READING
Audit of federal dollars in Washington state reviews pandemic-related spike in spending
The Office of the Washington State Auditor’s annual audit of federal money spent in the state revealed 61 areas of concern across 21 federal programs. Because of a lack of documentation, auditors were unable to audit one entire program, calling into question at least $271 million in spending. ... CONTINUE READING