AUDIT FOLLOW-UP PROCESS

General

As required by the IIA’s Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (Standard #440) "Internal Auditors should determine that corrective action was taken and it is achieving the desired results..." USC has an ongoing tracking report that is updated prior to each meeting of the Fiscal Policy Committee of the Board of Trustees.

Each audit report is numbered sequentially as the report is completed. The first two digits are the calendar year and the last two digits are the next sequential number. The findings in the body of the report are also numbered sequentially.

After each audit is completed, the in-charge auditor prepares a tracking sheet on each specific finding which is used to update the ongoing tracking report prepared by the department secretary. The information for each finding includes:

• Finding number;
• Brief comment;
• Implementation status;
• Expected implementation date;
• A rating value;
• Person responsible in the department;
• Auditor in charge.

Implementation status is explained as follows:

If the recommendation has been implemented and verified, the status code will be "I".

If the auditee agrees to implement the recommendation the status code will be "P" for partially implemented until it is implemented and verified.

If the auditee does not agree to the recommendation, the status is "N" for not implemented. An alternative solution must be negotiated or a directive from the Board or Executive management will be required to resolve the situation.

If circumstances cause the recommendation to no longer be valid, the recommendation should be withdrawn and coded "W".

The rating prioritizes recommendations as follows:

The brief comment should be two short summary lines that note the finding and recommendation.

All stale recommendations that have not been implemented within six months will be noted with an asterisk and a footnote.

Approximately one month prior to scheduled Fiscal Policy Committee meetings, the secretary will issue the auditor-in-charge a recommendation progress report for each recommendation that has not been fully implemented. The auditor will perform a follow-up review and have the secretary update the database. No recommendation will be considered implemented until verified by an auditor.

All new internal audits are entered into the database approximately two weeks prior to scheduled meetings of the Fiscal Policy Committee.

The secretary will prepare the tracking report and send copies to the Secretary of the Board for mailing to the Fiscal Policy Committee at least seven days prior to the scheduled meeting.

Questions about the report should be directed to the head of the Internal Audit Department. Any changes to the above policy should be issued by the Director in writing.

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