Greetings, fellow auditors. Following is the annual report of the Peer Review Committee. If you have a question about ALGA’s peer review activities after reading this article, please contact your Region Coordinator who is sure to have the answer. First, I want to pay tribute to someone who was instrumental in establishing our peer review program, someone who had a vision for how our program would work, and someone who helped the Peer Review Committee stay on course during the past ten years. Harry Brooks, one of the peer review program’s founding fathers, is unable to continue working on the Peer Review Committee because of scheduling conflicts in his (relatively) new office. It was Harry who conceived the notion of Region Coordinators and dividing the country into five regions for the purpose of coordinating peer reviews. Thank you, Harry, for your many contributions as a member of the Peer Review Committee. Our program would not have been nearly as successful without your great work.
I am happy to announce that Amanda Noble, Audit Supervisor in the Kansas City Auditor’s Office, will be taking Harry’s place as Central Region Coordinator. Amanda is a very capable auditor, a successful peer reviewer, and comes from one of the best audit shops in the country. I understand Amanda’s audit won the Knighton Award for best performance audit in 2000.
Chances are, you will be reading this article after our annual conference in Long Beach. Fifty-two of you will have attended “Conducting a ALGA Peer Review” taught by Joanne Griggs, Richard Wallace, Jim Williamson, and myself. We will be dividing participants into two classes of 26 in hopes of giving everyone as much opportunity as possible to engage in class discussions and activities. Participants will gain an understanding of Government Auditing Standards, the ALGA peer review process, and how to manage a peer review. Participants will be better able to serve competently on a ALGA peer review, as well as help their own shops prepare for a successful review. We may teach the same class again next year should a sufficient number of new people express interest in the class. Stay tuned.
The Peer Review Committee is anxiously anticipating the next revision of Government Auditing Standards (the Yellow Book). From my discussions with people at GAO, it sounds like a new revision could be published in 2002. When that happens, the Committee will make revisions to the Quality Control Review Guide, so our compliance checklists are consistent with the new Yellow Book. We also anticipate making some changes in the way we administer our peer review program.
For example, much of the administration of the program for the past ten years has been handled by the Committee Chair (me!). I would like to see if we can shift some administrative functions to ALGA member services. If people are given member services as their first contact for peer review, member services could then refer people to the appropriate Region Coordinator. This would give us more flexibility to change members of the Peer Review Committee without too much confusion or disruption. Until now, Committee members have served unlimited terms to help ensure the competence and stability of the program. After ten years of operation, over 150 auditors have served on peer reviews, many of whom would be excellent candidates to serve on the Committee. We will be working with the Board on a new approach to program administration, possible term limits, and a logical way to allow more people to serve on the Peer Review Committee.
Eleven ALGA peer reviews were conducted during the year since our conference in New Orleans. Four audit organizations – the Navajo Nation, Fairfax County (VA), the Arizona Board of Regents, and Montgomery County (MD) – had peer reviews conducted for the first time. Please contact your Region Coordinator if you have questions about the peer review program, are interested in serving on a peer review team, or are interested in having your organization receive a ALGA peer review. I hope you had the opportunity to read Brent Nelson’s article in the March 2001 Quarterly entitled, “Small Audit Shops: Do It Your Way.” Brent provided excellent insight into how small audit shops can pass a peer review. Brent underscored one of the basic premises of ALGA’s peer review program. That is, the Yellow Book allows flexibility in how an audit organization can satisfy government auditing standards.
Doug Norman is Sr. Management Auditor for the Audit Services Division of the City of Portland, OR and Chair of the ALGA Peer Review Committee
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Peer Review