About This Project
Project Partners | Project Team
Mission
Advance how auditors contribute to improving government performance and accountability by stimulating greater auditor involvement in improving how public performance is measured and managed.
Experience Base of Project
At the core of this project is a framework of roles and practices innovative auditors have used to improve performance measurement and management of the government organizations they audit. The framework was developed in a project of The Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation and first published in 2004 in the guidebook Auditor Roles in Government Performance Measurement which can be downloaded free from this website. These roles and practices are based on what auditors have actually accomplished. They not only form a logical framework, they are also experienced-based: they work in practice.
Goal
Increase the number of government auditors using exemplary practices related to performance measurement, such as the practices presented on this website which represent auditors playing significant roles to advance performance measurement and management of their entities.
Methods
Support auditors in finding practical applications for these roles and practices by:
- Developing and delivering training programs to help auditors learn how to implement the practices effectively;
- Broadly disseminating the roles and practices and examples of their use, such as through this website;
- Building the knowledge base and interest of auditors by updating and further disseminating practices when interesting new examples are identified, and when audit organizations featured in the earlier research change their practices over time to add more value to performance management and accountability of their entity;
- Reaching out to non-audit officials to encourage and support auditors in playing these roles.
Key Project Assumptions
- The discipline and standards that auditors follow make auditors well suited to play roles in improving performance measurement and performance management.
- The credibility that auditors can add to performance information will increase the interest in relevant and reliable performance data by elected officials and the public, and will increase the value and use of performance information for decision making and accountability.
- Auditors can be effective advocates for improving performance measurement and performance management systems of the government organizations they serve, both internally (with management) and externally (with elected officials and citizens).
- Auditors can play multiple roles with respect to performance measurement, and they can increase the value they add to their governments by changing the roles they play over time as performance management evolves in the organizations they audit.
Scope and Wide Applicability
Initially, this project will focus on auditors serving local, state, and provincial governments in the United States and Canada. However, most auditor roles and practices emphasized here should be applicable to all levels of government and to other countries, so users of this website from other countries, from other levels of government, or from multi-lateral organizations may find useful information here. Eventually, the project team may reach out to auditors from other countries and levels of government, both as users of project resources and training, and as a source of exemplary practices that can be shared with government auditors around the world.
Project Partners
The Institute of Internal Auditors
Established in 1941, The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) is an international professional association of more than 122,000 members with global headquarters in Altamonte Springs, Florida, United States. Throughout the world, The IIA is recognized as the internal audit profession's leader in certification, education, research, and technological guidance.
Association of Local Government Auditors
ALGA is a professional organization committed to supporting and improving local government auditing through advocacy, collaboration, education and training, while upholding the highest standards of professional ethics. ALGA was formed in 1989 and has enjoyed a growing membership. There are more than 300 organizational members and over 2,000 individual members of ALGA.
The National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers (NASACT)
The National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers is an organization for state officials who deal with the financial management of state government. NASACT's membership is comprised of officials who have been elected or appointed to the office of state auditor, state comptroller or state treasurer in the fifty states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a philanthropic nonprofit institution that supports, among other endeavors, programs that make local governments more responsive to their citizens. The Sloan Foundation has provided major support for this project through a three-year grant to The IIA. The Sloan Foundation previously supported The IIA Research Foundation’s project that provided the experiential research basis for this project.
Epstein & Fass Associates
Epstein & Fass Associates is a New York City-based consulting firm with over 20 years’ experience in improving government performance measurement and management at all levels in North America and at the United Nations, and in developing and implementing practices of effective governance. Epstein & Fass is managing this project for The IIA as it did the earlier IIA Research Foundation project.
Our Team:
The principals leading this project are:
- Paul D. Epstein, Principal, Epstein and Fass Associates
- Stuart S. Grifel, CIA, CGAP, CFE, CIGA, Audit Services Division, Palm Beach County Clerk & Comptroller’s Office
- Stephen L. Morgan, CGFM, CIA, CGAP, CFE, President, Excellence in Government Accountability and Performance Practices, former City Auditor of Austin, Texas
- Richard Tracy, Consultant, former Director of Audits for the City of Portland, Oregon
|
