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Internal Audit Section
Comptroller's Office Internal Audit Section 1114 Market St., Room 608 St. Louis, MO 63101 (314) 622-4723 (314) 613-3004 Fax The mission of the Internal Audit Section is to provide objective assurance and advisory services to the departments, offices, and agencies of the City of St. Louis and to be actively involved in assisting City managers accomplish their objectives and exceed their goals while at the same time protecting City assets/resources. This mission is accomplished by focusing efforts on those areas with the greatest risks and making recommendations for improvements to the efficiency and effectiveness of operations as well as the adequacy of internal controls over financial information, the safeguarding of assets, and compliance with laws and regulations. Internal Audit receives its authority through the Comptroller from the City Charter and Code. Article XV, Section 2 of the Charter provides that the Comptroller "shall be the general accountant and auditor of the city." The Internal Audit Section of the Comptroller's Office was established to perform the "auditor" duties assigned the Comptroller by the Charter and Section 5.02.020 of the Revised Code of the City of St. Louis. Frequently Asked Questions Q: Who does the Internal Audit Section report to? A: Internal Audit reports to the Comptroller. Q. What professional standards does the Internal Audit Section follow? A. Internal Audit adheres to the ethical and professional standards promulgated by the Institute of Internal Auditors and, as appropriate, Government Auditing Standards. Q. What does the Internal Audit Section do? A. Internal Audit provides the following services:
A. Internal Audit can help by providing objective assurance and advisory services to the departments, offices, and agencies of the City of St. Louis and by being actively involved in assisting City managers accomplish their objectives and exceed their goals while at the same time protecting City assets/resources. Q. How are activities selected for audit? A. Prior to the beginning of each fiscal year, Internal Audit performs a risk assessment on the offices, departments and agencies of the City to determine what areas to audit. Based on this risk assessment and audit requests, the audit plan is developed. Internal Audit schedules projects throughout the year based on the audit plan. However, other priorities may arise during the year that may cause changes to the audit plan where a project may be deleted or added to the plan. Q. What are the steps involved in an audit? A. At the beginning of an audit, Internal Audit will notify the respective office/department/agency (auditee) through written correspondence that an audit is about to begin. Internal Audit will then call the auditee to schedule an entrance meeting and request additional information. At the entrance meeting Internal Audit will describe the purpose and scope of the audit and respond to questions posed by the auditee. After the entrance, fieldwork will begin and could last several months. During fieldwork, Internal Audit will interview key staff, review and observe procedures and processes, review documentation, flowchart processes, and perform any necessary detail/transaction testing. During fieldwork, Internal Audit communicates any observations/concerns with the auditee to ensure no surprises. After fieldwork, Internal Audit will draft a report and send it to the auditee for review. An exit conference will be scheduled with the auditee to discuss the report. Changes could be made to the report based on discussion at the exit. After the exit conference or after exit conference changes are made, if necessary, management will be given 10 business days to provide a response to the observations and recommendations made in the report. This response will be included in the final report to be issued. Q. How many reports does Internal Audit issue each year? A. Internal Audit issues between 150 and 250 reports annually. Q. What is the Internal Audit Section budget? A. Internal Audit is part of the Comptroller's Office overall budget. Q. How many auditable entities are in the City? A. Based on information developed for the FY 2007 audit plan, there are approximately 209 auditable entities (i.e. activities that could be audited) in the City of St. Louis government. This does not include City contracts or those that provide subrecipient services (grant funds passed through the City) to the City of St. Louis. Q. How many personnel are in the Internal Audit Section? A. For FY 08, Internal Audit has 22 audit positions and 2 administrative positions for a total of 24 positions. Q. What are the professional qualifications of the Internal Audit Section staff? A. Several of the Internal Audit staff have advanced degrees and/or professional certifications as Certified Professional Accountant (CPA) and/or Certified Internal Auditor (CIA). Several others are currently pursuing these designations. Q. What happens after a report is issued? A. Normally, six months to a year after a report is issued, Internal Audit will conduct a limited follow-up review to determine the status of the observations and recommendations made in the report. Q. How can I request a copy of an audit? A. Recent audits are available online by clicking here. If the audit you are looking for is not online, please contact us at audits@stlouiscity.com. |
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This Page Last Modified: 01/16/08 |
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