Deschutes County internal auditing gets top marks

Following a successful peer review three years ago, the Deschutes County internal auditing program has again received the highest score for compliance of its internal auditing system.

The opinion provides assurance of compliance with Governmental Audit Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States. Peer reviews are required every three years under these standards.

The two external peer reviewers were county and city auditors from Multnomah County, Oregon and the City of Berkeley, California. They performed the review the week of September 11 by following guidelines established by the Association of Local Government Auditors (ALGA) The goal of a peer review is to improve internal auditing practices through an independent review.

Deschutes County Internal Auditor, David Givans, CPA, CIA, is a member of ALGA. ( www.algaonline.org ), an organization of internal auditors from local governments across the country. ALGA organizes peer reviews for member organizations.

“Having external peer reviews demonstrates a commitment to providing high quality work performed effectively.” Givans said.

ALGA peer reviewers reviewed established policies, procedures and auditing practices Givans uses in his internal audits of Deschutes County departments. The peer reviewers evaluated the independence of the County Internal Auditor position by examining how the internal audit program is organized within the structure of Deschutes County management.

The peer review team had no recommendations for the program.

A copy of the peer review report, recommendations and response will be made available on the County’s website ( https://www.deschutes.org/administration/page/county-internal-auditor ).