The Audit Connection Blog

Perform a credit card clean up to reduce your risk for fraud and mismanagement

While credit cards have many benefits, they also create an increased risk for misuse, mismanagement and fraud. That’s why SAO recommends periodically performing a credit card cleanup to keep your program running efficiently and securely. ... CONTINUE READING

Join us online at the WFOA 2020 Virtual Conference

The 2020 Washington Finance Officers Association Conference will be conducted virtually and take place September 23 and 24. A mix of live and pre-recorded sessions will be available for you to join remotely. ... CONTINUE READING

Lean leadership: Are you ‘leading’ or ‘doing’ the work?

Some might call leading “staying in your lane” or “playing your position.” Another way to think of it is simply doing the job the organization hired one to perform. A leader must “lead” even when it seems more difficult and risky to give up control. Determining how to make the transition from a great worker to a better leader can pose a difficult challenge. ... CONTINUE READING

Communicating and working together lead to successful audits in a remote environment

The Office of the Washington State Auditor made the move to remote auditing in March, and overall we have found the transition to be successful and sustainable for the foreseeable future. However, we have noticed that audits sometimes take a little longer in this environment. In adapting to auditing in a remote environment, flexibility and robust communication have been key to performing timely audits. ... CONTINUE READING

Harness the Power of Role-Based Authentication in FIT!

The Financial Intelligence Tool’s (FIT) role-based functionality has expanded, giving local governments even more leverage over their data. Upon logging into FIT, a local government user has access to some new features. ... CONTINUE READING

Fiscal First Aid for School Districts: Considerations for Schools Dealing with COVID-19

School districts, like so many governments, continue to face challenging situations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They have had to shutter schools, convert to remote learning quickly, and move to remote working all while continuing to provide essential services to their students. ... CONTINUE READING

User-focused updates come to FIT’s financial health indicators

Financial indicators have received a meaningful update in our Financial Intelligence Tool (FIT), making them even more useful by capitalizing on the power of FIT’s statewide collection of financial data. ... CONTINUE READING

Guide to Unauditable Governments: August 2020 update

Since first reporting on about 40 unauditable governments in May 2019, the number of unauditable governments has been cut by about two-thirds. As of August 2020, only 15 governments have not submitted financial information by their final opportunity to do so. Learn more by viewing this interactive infographic. ... CONTINUE READING

Most Unauditable Governments Now Accountable

State Auditor Pat McCarthy is pleased to announce that dozens of governments deemed unauditable last year have taken steps to comply with state accountability laws, leading to today’s publication of completed audits of two governments that had gone without outside review for years. ... CONTINUE READING

Get FIT in 15-minutes or schedule a FIT personal training session

Whether you are a new user, a casual explorer of data, or a government data power-user, SAO is here to ensure you feel confident using the Financial Intelligence Tool (FIT). ... CONTINUE READING