Normally this wouldn’t be a blip on the radar, but there have been rumors swirling around city hall that the internal audit manager left, I guess we will find out on Thursday.
UPDATE: You will notice that the agenda is NOW posted, and while there is no mention of the internal audit manager leaving the position, most of the presentations are being done by two of the other existing auditors including the committee’s handbook. We will see if this will be brought up in the committee’s new business remarks at the end of the meeting.
UPDATE II: There was NO mention of the audit manager leaving during the meeting today though the two remaining auditors who had to do the presentations did touch on how the assignments are being ‘covered’. Audit board member Dean Buckenberg asked about being able to hit goals with being short staffed. Still no mention that the manager left.
Most people would wonder what that means?
Rumor has it not only did the audit manager quit, she went back to work for mayor, not sure if it is in the housing or finance department.
I wonder how long the City Council will continue to try to hide the audit manager leaving? Surprised she might be working for the mayor considering she may want to fulfill her life long dream of owning a pet store and being a ROCKSTAR! (Neitzert quote).
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. When it comes to the auditing profession, who audits the auditors?
I was an auditor in a large organization. About every two years the Board brought in outside auditors to verify our work and to run some samples throughout to ensure they found the same findings we identified. It was grueling. We peons didn’t feel it but it was great watching the bosses squirm because any weaknesses were attributed to ‘inadequate supervision’.
So, you are saying there are auditors for the auditors? But that sounds infinite, or would that be the ultimate in transparency? I guess it wouldn’t matter where it would all lead, however, because it would be never-ending. Best to call it quantum accounting though. Imagine carrying such a book on campus. You might get some strange stares out of it. AND, it would be fun as it all adds up, but without a finality. Kinda like quantum physics, which Einstein thought could be “spooky”.
I once worked for a department store that used to sell guns. One of my many managers over the years told me how when he used to manage the sporting goods department at one of the stores with this company, that his then store manager told him to never fear a store manager, nor a district or regional manager, but do fear the ATF boys when they come to take a look at your books. I wonder if that is still true today?
“inadequate supervision”: That’s how many are raised. Then they grow-up to go to business school and become practicing capitalists.
“All of this sounds like what NASA calls redundancy, or what I claim every time my girlfriends accuse me of two-timing”….
Auditing not necessary in a ‘Den of Thieves’. All the pencils are sharp but who needs pencils? More paper shredders?
FF&L… There are no auditors who audit auditors who audit auditors to infinity. It stops at the board. They are ultimately accountable. They are charged with engaging the auditors, reviewing the reports, and either accepting the risk or ordering corrections. But… some organizations seek to neuter their auditors by not providing a clear reporting path to the board for the auditors. They provide no audit budget and refuse to support the auditor’s efforts to acquire relevant information. That’s so they can say ‘everything is perfect, you see we have auditors.’
The Audit Committee and Internal Audit are misnomers, Sioux Falls only does balance sheet reviews not audits. If there is a problem with the original numbers, there will continue to be a problem forever because the reviews only look at the numbers given to them. No forensic work is done.
The city must institute zero based budgeting and true forensic audits.
Example:
The City reports receiving $2,900,000 a year from Motor Vehicle Funds, however, when obtain a Freedom of Information Act Request from Lincoln County, Minnehaha County, and the South Dakota Department of Revenue, you find:
South Dakota D.O.R……………$2,000,000
Minnehaha County……………..$1,000,000
Lincoln County…………………….$720,000
$3,720,000 TOTAL
Forensic auditing versus quantum auditing: Forensic auditing tries to find out what happened, while quantum auditing keeps trying to find out what happened. At some point, Einstein’s definition of insanity needs to be inserted here. So, you do the math, but can it be done without the help of a wormhole, which is the ultimate variable of convenience in quantum-ness, or what an accountant calls a handy eraser.