Describe how multiple financial stakeholders within municipalities can best coordinate overlapping responsibilities and share power to achieve optimal results for financial accountability.
Answer the questions in the attached document, with very short responses.
Use very short answers for the following questions:
1.
What is the purpose of a financial audit? Who is responsible for setting standards for
financial audits of government and not-for-profit organizations?
2.
What are the three types of auditor services described in the Government Accountability
Office’s Government Auditing Standards, and how do they differ?
3.
In the context of a government audit, what is an opinion unit, and of what significance is
an opinion unit to the auditor?
6.
What are some ways an audit report for a government differs from an audit report for a
for-profit organization?
7.
Define General Accepted Governmental Auditing Standards (GAGAS) and describe how
it differ from Generally Accepted Accounting Standards (GAAS).
8.
Government Auditing Standards specifically outline an auditor’s responsibilities with
respect to ethics and independence. What are the ethical principles and primary considerations
with regard to independence, as identified in GAGAS? How do ethical principles relate to
independence?
9.
Scenario: You work for an auditing firm that is performing a local government audit. The
government has received federal grant funding, and the audit manager on the engagement has
asked you to perform the necessary research and review the following costs charged to the
federal grant to determine whether or not they are allowable: (1) travel to a conference overseas,
the primary purpose of which is the dissemination of technical information; (2) the travel costs
for a dependent child accompanying a parent employee to a conference; (3) charges for
investment counsel incurred to enhance income from investments; (4) lobbying activities
undertaken to obtain a grant; (5) entity membership in a professional organization; and (6)
insurance.
A.
What document will you research to determine the allowability of the costs?
B.
Write a short memo to document your opinion about whether each of these costs would
be allowable indirect costs to be recovered in part by federal grants. If certain limitations or
specifications must be met for allowability, note them in your memo.