Audit Planning Process

We undertake an audit planning process every three years. During the planning process we also take the opportunity to engage with local governments and stakeholders while gathering their input on our audit topics and feedback on our work. The audit plan for 2017/18 – 2019/20 covers items of significance including good practices as well as items of risk. It forms the foundational underpinnings for the performance audits themes reflected in the AGLG’s Annual Service Plans for fiscal years 2017 to 2019.

The audit plan is updated annually at minimum, in relation to each subsequent three year rolling period, to ensure that audit topics are still relevant, appropriate and continue to add value to local governments.

 

Our audit plan is developed based on a systematic consultative approach as outlined below:

 

  • Environmental and media scan: An environmental scan of local government issues and trends, and a search and scan of various media, internet-accessible information, and other information sources, was conducted to identify subject matters and themes of interest to various stakeholders in relation to the AGLG’s local government performance auditing role and mandate.

 

  • Performance audit planning survey: A survey was conducted with the CAO (or equivalent) of all local governments in BC. The survey asked participants to evaluate the importance of a list of potential audit topics based on those identified during the audit planning process. The survey requested that each local government rate the importance of each audit topic to the efficiency, effectiveness, and/or economy of the operations of the local government, considering relevance, significance, and risk. The survey also requested feedback on the AGLG.

 

  • Performance audit planning interviews: Interviews were performed by AGLG staff with a cross-section of local governments and other stakeholders. They included, for example: members of the AGLG’s Audit Council; elected local government representatives (mayors/councillors) and Chief Administrative Officers or equivalent from a selected cross section of local governments of varying size, nature, and geographic location; and representatives from the business community. These interviews allowed us to collect the views of the interviewees on risks/issues/challenges for local governments across BC and identify potential performance audit topics.

 

  • Input /comments received from stakeholders via correspondence or by accessing AGLG website: AGLG monitors incoming correspondence and tracks it by category/topic for incorporation into the audit planning process. This information was incorporated into the analysis of all input received from stakeholders and local governments.

 

  • Performance audit planning workshop: An AGLG Performance Audit Planning workshop was held on October 21st, 2016 and was attended by representatives of our various stakeholder groups including local governments, comprising a cross section in terms of nature, size, and geographical location. This workshop included discussions and prioritization of the risks/issues/challenges and potential audit topics identified during the survey and interviews. This part of the process allowed us to focus on the top 15 audit topics for possible inclusion in our three year audit plan

 

  • Requests for audit: AGLG has received requests from some local governments expressing an interest in being audited by the AGLG. These were also considered in the planning process for possible inclusion in the Audit Plan.

 

The input collected through the above process was aggregated and analyzed to identify and prioritize audit topics for inclusion in our audit plan for the next three years.