Audit Process
Notice of intent to audit sent to client — General notification letter about planned audit is sent out and best and worst times are requested.
Reminder of planned audit sent to audit contact — Shortly before the start of the audit, the auditor-in-charge will notify the designated contact of the planned start date of the audit and request preliminary information as part of their pre-planning process.
Entrance conference with relevant department personnel — Scope, purpose and audit objectives are discussed.
Preliminary survey — Risks associated with the department are assessed by completing questionnaires, conducting interviews and reviewing selected documents. High risk areas are identified for more focused audit work.
Detailed evaluation — Interviews are conducted and transactions and documents are reviewed on site at the department.
Draft report — A draft audit report is provided to the client prior to or at the exit conference and may reflect audit observations, recommendations, and/or management response and corrective actions.
Exit conference — The draft audit report is discussed with management at the completion of the detailed evaluation phase.
Final report — After the client has reviewed the draft audit report, a final report is issued. The final report is addressed to the cognizant vice chancellor with copies to department/unit heads and other relevant recipients.
Follow-up — A follow-up review will be conducted to determine the status of management corrective actions. The follow-up is scheduled based on the timing of corrective actions as stated in the management response.
Close out — Once management corrective actions have been taken, the audit project will be closed.
Audit Planning
All Berkeley campus departments and operations are candidates for inclusion in the annual Audit Plan. Each spring, Audit & Advisory Services conducts a risk ranking exercise to identify relative risk for all entities in the audit universe.
Solicitation letters are sent and contact is made with Vice Chancellors, selected campus Directors and Managers, and others, to solicit areas of interest/concern for possible inclusion in the annual Audit Plan.
Factors considered in selecting candidates for audit include:
- dollar volume of activity (current fund expenditure, sales/recharge activity, cash handling activity)
- organizational or other changes in the unit
- time since last audit
- other risk or exposure in the unit or activity
The Audit Plan is submitted to the campus Committee on Audit, Internal Control and Financial Accountability for its review and approval and to the University Auditor for final approval.
Types of Audit Projects Conducted
Audit & Advisory Services conducts a variety of audit projects throughout the year. The following are brief descriptions:
Department (Entity) Visitations
A limited scope internal control review based on management's assertions obtained through questionnaires and interviews. These projects typically involve minimal on site audit work.
Comprehensive Audits
A comprehensive audit of an entity's internal controls, policy compliance and/or other operational aspects of the entity. These projects typically involve several weeks on site audit work.
Consultations
Advisory services performed in response to management requests. These projects vary in length and scope.
Special Projects and Investigations
Audit work and investigations performed in response to whistleblower reports received or in response to other events or requests. These projects vary in length and scope.
Internal Controls Evaluation
We've developed several questionnaires to help evaluate your unit's system of internal controls. When we talk about internal controls, we mean all of the activities people do to help ensure efficient and effective operations, compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and reliable financial reporting. As a group, we call these outcomes and others related to them control objectives.
As indicated in the Audit Process section above, a notification letter is sent to the department head when your unit is selected for an audit. Depending on the scope of our planned audit, we may also ask you to complete our Internal Control Questionnaire in order to provide us with some preliminary information regarding your unit's processes.
In addition we may also use several other questionnaires during the course of the audit pertaining to specific areas such as payroll/personnel processing, non-payroll expenditures, equipment management, cash handling, and information systems. If you are not scheduled for an audit and wish to do your own evaluation, copies of these questionnaires are provided below. Please note that the questionnaires are frequently revised to address new requirements, processes, etc. and so the questionnaires below may not be the version currently being administered by our staff.
- Internal Control Questionnaire (Word; PDF)
- Equipment Inventory Questionnaire (Word; PDF)
- Federal Contracts and Grants Questionnaire (Word; PDF)
- General Information Questionnaire (Word; PDF)
- IT Matrix (Excel; PDF)
- Miscellaneous Cash Handling and Petty Cash Questionnaire (Word; PDF)
- Non-Payroll Expenditures Questionnaire (Word; PDF)
- Payroll/Personnel Questionnaire (Word; PDF)
- Sales and Cashiering Questionnaire (Word; PDF)
Feel free to contact us with any questions you have about how to address control issues that are generated from this questionnaire process.