The Audit Connection Blog
K&P leadership series: Linking Lean and leadership
This article is the first in a series meant to demonstrate how the Kouzes and Posner leadership model connects to Lean principles bringing more success and personal satisfaction to people dedicated enough to follow them both. Today’s article summarizes the five K&P behaviors or practices of exemplary leadership. Future articles will expand on how these practices connect to specific Lean principles to gain followers and improve leadership results. ... CONTINUE READING
Medicaid Special Report 2021: A financial checkup for Washington’s Apple Health
State and federal governments invested more than $14.6 billion in Medicaid – known as Apple Health in Washington – during fiscal year 2020. With one in four Washingtonians enrolled, Medicaid is one of the most important services the state funds. As one of the state’s major expenditures, accountability for Medicaid spending is critical. ... CONTINUE READING
Larger governments struggle with segregating duties, too
It’s easy to assume larger local governments have no problems fully implementing best practices for segregation of duties. While segregating duties can be easier for larger governments with more employees, they can struggle with the process, too. The State Auditor’s Office has some suggestions for navigating challenges on your journey to segregating duties! ... CONTINUE READING
Sharing your federal money with other agencies? Do your homework first
With the recent and continued influx of federal funding, you might make more subawards than in the past. Passing along your money to others doesn’t relieve you of grant compliance requirements – it actually adds responsibilities for you to monitor your subgrantees. ... CONTINUE READING
FIT Data Stories: What does FIT tell us about Cash balances in Cash-basis cities
Cash is the heartbeat of government operations, especially for smaller cash basis governments. For better or worse, without cash there is no government spending. And without spending, there are no government services. As the old saying goes – cash is king! So how much cash is needed to keep a cash –basis government’s operations humming? The proper amount of “cash balance sufficiency” (CBS) for a government depends on each government’s spending priorities and what it hopes to accomplish for its citizens. ... CONTINUE READING
Which governments' 2020 data is included in FIT?
The Financial Intelligence Tool (FIT) has been updated with fiscal year 2020 data submitted by local governments! As of June 30, 2021, our Office received 100 percent of the 2020 annual reports from nine government types. Interested in who they are and how other government types are progressing? This interactive infogram provides you all the facts. ... CONTINUE READING
Does your government sell electricity? If so, new audit engagements are coming your way
The Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA) requires the Office of the State Auditor to audit consumer-owned utilities’ compliance with the requirements of RCW 19.405 and the related administrative rules adopted by the Washington Department of Commerce under WAC 194-40. Like the existing Energy Independence Act, our Office is responsible for auditing utility compliance, and the Attorney General’s Office is responsible for enforcing that compliance. ... CONTINUE READING
Making the most of your new technology
During the past year, you have worked hard with your team to keep existing services going and rolling out new services quickly. From reimagining service delivery to taking paper-based, internal processes on-line, 2020 was a year of non-stop change. ... CONTINUE READING
Top 12 most important financial policies
According to the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), it’s a best practice for governments to formally adopt financial policies. We couldn’t agree more. Financial policies create expectations for government operations, provide a foundation for making financial decisions and help ensure good financial management. Here are the top 12 we consider essential. ... CONTINUE READING
Think you're too small to segregate duties? Let's find out!
Just because your government has a small staff does not mean it is impossible to implement this important internal control. It mostly depends on the decisions you make. Segregating duties is not an ‘all or nothing concept’ – you can segregate responsibilities as much as you can and then fill in any gaps with oversight controls. ... CONTINUE READING