Audit Interviewing Techniques

Boyers Allen

Auditors, particularly auditors conducting governmental audits, frequently have poor relationships with the entities they are auditing. In some ways, this is predictable because government auditors aren’t usually hired by the entity under audit. Instead, the auditor gets to choose who gets audited, and the auditee rarely appreciates being selected.  Wouldn’t it be great if the auditor could have friendly and productive conversations with the auditee starting with the entrance conference? When the auditor says the classic auditor line, “We’re here to help,” wouldn’t it be amazing to hear back from the auditee, “And we’re happy to have you”? That can happen if the auditor nurtures the auditor and auditee relationship.   After applying the techniques for improving the auditor and auditee relationship covered in this short course, the auditee will be more apt to welcome you and courteously give you what you need to get your work done, making the whole audit experience much more enjoyable for everyone involved.  Learning Objectives: Identify techniques to improve auditor/auditee relations Define practices that will improve auditor/auditee conferences Identify useful skills for presentations Recognize techniques to better communicate findings with the auditee Identify methods to achieve acceptance of findings and recommendations Identify the rationale and the need for timely written comments to audit findings and techniques to address the auditee’s response

Boyers Allen

Course Description Sefton Boyars is joined by Bill Allen for this two-hour class on general cost principles of federal government grants. General cost principles are the rules that govern if any cost is acceptable to be charged to a federal grant. The course will cover everything from identifying the “big three” general cost principles, the Prudent Person Rule, requirements for the arms-length bargaining, and judging whether a cost is allowable. It will provide you with the knowledge of grantee and pass-through organizations, federal grant personnel, and auditors of federal grant programs.   Learning Objectives Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to: Identify the general cost principles Identify the Prudent Person Rule as it applies to the general cost principles Identify the requirement for arms-length bargaining Identify whether a cost is allocable to a federal award Identify the “big three” general cost principles Determine whether a cost is allowable under the general cost principles  

Boyers Allen

In this course, two retired Federal Regional Inspectors General will explain what government auditors expect to see when they read an audit finding in a governmental audit, including Single Audits.  In governmental audits, a finding is a construct with components that have been in place for over 50 years.  As a result, government auditors expect all findings to have all the components that the Yellow Book calls for.  Issuing a Single Audit with deficient findings can harm a CPA’s finances and his or her reputation.  If you administer government grants, you should also know what a finding should contain in order to properly review findings that CPAs prepare when auditing your organization.LEARNING OBJECTIVES Identify the five attributes of a finding Describe some techniques to improve a finding’s presentationIdentify techniques to get results from a finding’s presentation.Identify ways to develop useful recommendations