CapitolBeatOK Staff Report

Published 29-Jan-2011

The national organization that audits state auditors has completed its review of the Oklahoma Office of the State Auditor & Inspector and issued an unqualified opinion. In accounting terms, that means the audit is clean and without noted exceptions.

In a statement sent to CapitolBeatOK, Auditor & Inspector Gary Jones said, “People often ask, ‘Who audits the auditor?’”

Answering the question, Jones continued, “In our case, it’s our peers working on behalf of the National State Auditors Association. They choose a representative cross-section of audits conducted by the office during a certain time frame and look to make sure we’re following our written policies and procedures and that we conform with government auditing standards.”

The state auditor’s office undergoes an audit by a peer review committee every three years. For this audit, a six-person team drawn from state auditor offices from around the country spent the last week in Oklahoma City reviewing records for the period of October 15, 2009 to October 15 2010.

The peer review team examined the State Auditor’s system of quality control to determine its compliance with government auditing standards. It’s the system of quality control that guides an auditor’s performance and controls his or her work product.

The letter provided by the external peer review team concludes the “system of quality control . . . has been suitably designed and was complied with during the period to provide reasonable assurance of conforming with government auditing standards.”

The state auditor is required to provide a copy of its national peer review letter to all clients at the start of any audit. A copy of the letter is available at the auditor’s site or by clicking here.

Earlier this month, Jones said in a prepared statement: “The transition in the State Auditor’s office has seen the least amount of turnover in personnel of any statewide office. That means less turmoil and puts us in a great position to immediately start our important work on behalf of taxpayers.”

After a tough campaign in which he ousted Steve Burrage, Jones told CapitolBeatOK the transition process with was cordial and productive.

NOTE: Editor Patrick B. McGuigan contributed to this report