Maybe the dog will listen to you describe auditor independence, audit subject matter, audit criteria and audit deliverables. Auditors, I suggest you keep your job title on the down-low when meeting someone new at a party. Why? Because just as soon as you reveal you are an auditor, your new acquaintance will get very quiet. […]
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Ethical guidelines for auditors
The GAO’s ethical guidelines for auditors remind us who we are and why we do what we do. And this is a very good thing, because it is easy to get balled up in the details of our day-to-day work and, forgetting the bigger picture of who we are and what we do, take the […]
The Difference Between Fraud, Waste and Abuse
The difference between fraud, waste and abuse is a matter of degrees. Only fraud is a reportable condition under Yellow Book standards.
The Implementation Date of the 2018 Yellow Book is Near
The implementation date of the 2018 Yellow Book is near for performance auditors – audits beginning after July 1 this year! Check out this quote from the introductory letter of the 2018 Yellow Book: The 2018 revision of Government Auditing Standards is effective for financial audits, attestation engagements, and reviews of financial statements for periods […]
Focus on a narrow audit objective
The 2018 version of the Yellow Book mentions audit objectives 163 times in one chapter on performance audits! That tells me that objectives run the show! And you know, the broader your audit objective, the longer your audit becomes and the harder your audit report is to write. Narrow audit objectives keep your audit […]
Blending the Green Book with the Yellow Book
Objectives: Identify the purpose of the GAO’s Green Book. Distinguish between components of internal control. Distinguish between management objectives Choose a finite subject matter on which to apply controls Identify the auditor’s responsibilities regarding application of the Green Book Most of the changes between the 2011 Yellow Book and the 2018 Yellow Book that we […]
Do you know what you are doing? Chapter 4: Yellow Book competence standards
As I revise my self-study book, “The Yellow Book Interpreted,” I will be sharing chapters with you. Objectives: Assess whether an audit team has met competency standards The competencestandard has raised more than a few eyebrows over the years. The competence standard is where the GAO introduces a very stringent continuing education requirement. Let’s begin by understanding the GAO’s […]
Introduction to the Yellow Book Interpreted
Objectives: Differentiate between the Yellow Book and other auditing standards Assess whether an engagement requires the use of the Yellow Book Identify the way the Yellow Book is organized Why do they call it the “Yellow Book”? The Yellow Book goes by many names: Government Auditing Standards, Generally Accepted Government Audit Standards (GAGAS – I […]
The Most Important Change to the Yellow Book is the Green Book
I’ve had a few months to digest the changes to the 2018 Yellow Book (Government Auditing Standards),and I’ve taught a few seminars and webinars about the changes. Most of the changes do not shock my audiences. But I am noticing that quite a few auditors are not familiar with the Green Book which was published by […]
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