Republic of the Philippines COMMISSION ON AUDIT Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City, Philippines

Transcription

1 Republic of the Philippines COMMISSION ON AUDIT Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City, Philippines MEMORANDUM No. : Date: AUG J4' TO SUBJECT Assistant Commissioners, Directors, Supervising Auditors, Regional Supervising Auditors, Audit Team Leaders/Members and All Others Concerned Guidelines on the Implementation of the Unified/Integrated Audit Strategy In view of the adoption by the Commission of the Unified/Integrated Audit Strategy, the following guidelines shall be observed: I. Nature of Unified/Integrated Audit Strategy A unified/integrated audit strategy is an approach in the audit of funds, programs/projects/activities of the government or follow-the-money-trail audit where audits of the Head Office down to the field offices; operating units of an agency within a cluster (vertical) or of different agencies under different clustersjsectors are integrated and reported in a single audit report by the cluster/sector which has audit jurisdiction over the lead implementing agency (horizontal). It basically adopts the Integrated Results and Risk-Based Audit (IRRBA) methodology prescribed under COA Resolution No dated October 20, II. Definition ofterms For purposes of this Memorandum, the terms below shall be understood to mean as follows: 1. Vertical audit- refers to audit of funds, programs/ projectsjactivities (PPAs) implemented by the head office of National Government Agencies/Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations (NGAs/GOCCs) and their field offices/branches/ operating units. 2. Horizontal audit- refers to audit of funds pertaining to a specific PPA co-implemented by various agencies or sectors of the government. This may be within the cluster, or sector, or across sectors of the ~ommisslon. ~ 1

2 3. Integrated Results and Risk-Based Audit - is an audit methodology which aims to integrate the different COA audit services such as: Financial and Compliance Audit, Agency-based Performance Audit, Government-wide and Sectoral Performance Audit, and Fraud Audit into a common holistic audit approach. This integrated approach focuses on identified and prioritized critical areas/accounts and desired results in the light of limited audit resources. This methodology takes into consideration the agency,s mandate/s as well as the target and actual outputs and outcomes of PP As. 4. Lead Implementing Agency - pertains to the agency mandated or responsible for the overall implementation of a particular PPA. 5. Stand Alone Agency - pertains to a national or corporate agency located in the region and without branches/field offices outside the region. 6. Over-all supervision - pertains to the exercise of advisory and oversight functions in the discharge of the mandates of the Local Government Sector (LGS), National Government Sector (NGS) and Corporate Government Sector (CGS). In the case of inter-sectoral implementation of PPAs, over-all supervision is exercised by the Assistant Commissioner of the LGS/NGS/CGS who has audit jurisdiction over the lead implementing agency. 7. Technical supervision- pertains to all aspects of audit such as identification and prioritization of risks, preparation of audit plans and programs, execution of audit, preparation and transmittal of audit reports, monitoring of implementation of audit recommendations and quality assurance, among others. 8. Administrative supervision - adopts COA Memorandum No dated September 1, 2011 on the Revised Rules and Guidelines on Travels, Attendance and Leaves except those specifically mentioned herein. III. General Guidelines 1. The conduct of unified/integrated audit shall be in accordance with the applicable existing policies of the Commission. 2. A vertical audit shall be undertaken for each agency with field/branch operations from the head office down to its field operating units. For this purpose, the Regional Supervising Auditors (RSAs) designated by the COA Chairperson shall supervise the audit teams of NGAsjGOCCs in the regions and prepare the pertinent consolidated report. The RSAs shall be 2

3 under the supervision of the Cluster js that has/have jurisdiction over the supervised teams. 3. A horizontal audit shall be conducted for PPAs implemented by more than one agency under the audit jurisdiction of one or more clusters, or one or more sectors. The Cluster /Regional Director with audit jurisdiction over the lead implementing agency shall, in coordination with the other Cluster /Regional Directors concerned, (a) take the lead in planning the audit, and (b) be responsible for the review, consolidation and preparation of the consolidated audit report to be transmitted to the head of the lead implementing agency of the PPA in the form of a Unified/Integrated Audit Report. In the conduct of horizontal audit, in case there are audit issues cutting across sectors/ clusters, the lead Sector Head shall initiate the issuance of the necessary audit instructions. 4. The conduct of fraud and special audits are not covered by this guidelines. IV. Specific Guidelines 1. At the start of every audit year, the Assistant Commissioners of the LGS, NGS and CGS shall prepare and submit not later than 30th of April to the Office of the Chairperson the Sector Risk Identification Template (SRIT) aligned to the Commission's Government Risk Identification Template (GRIT). The Cluster/Regional Directors, in turn, shall prepare and submit not later than 15th of May to the Office of the Assistant Commissioner concerned their respective Cluster/Regional Risk Identifiction Template (CRIT /RIT) taki.ng into consideration the SRIT. This risk identification at the sector and cluster level shall be an input in the determination of the agency priority f critical areas and the corresponding audit strategies needed to be applied for the allocation of the required resources such as people, skills, competence, processes and procedures. 2. The Assistant Commissioners of the LGS, NGS and CGS shall develop their respective sector's operational plan, aligned to the Commission's strategic plan and policy directions for approval of the COA Chairperson. Based on the sector's operational plan, the Cluster /Regional Directors shall develop their corresponding operational plan. 3. To ensure uniform implementation of the audit plans, the Cluster /Regional Directors shall issue the necessary general audit instructions to all audit groups/teams under their supervision. f The specific audit instructions pertinent to each auditee shall be issued by the Head Office Supervising Auditor concerned. 3

4 For the State Universities and Colleges (SUCs)and Water Districts, the Assistant Commissioners of the NGS and CGS, respectively, shall issue the necessary instructions for the guidance of the Regional Directors. For agencies located in the region with branches in other regions, the Regional Director having jurisdiction over the Head Office shall issue the necessary instructions to all audit groups/teams. 4. Upon approval of the Assistant Commisioner concerned, the Cluster /Regional Directors shall conduct at least two conferences/ workshops every year to be attended by the Head Office/Regional/ Audit Group Supervising Auditors, Audit Team Leaders and selected Audit Team Members for the purpose of (a) audit group level risk assessment and audtt planning and (b) review and consolidation of the annual audit outputs. During the audit group level operational planning exercise, the Cluster Director thru the TSO Director or the Regional Director shall require the participation of their technical audit representatives for purposes of allocating, prioritizing and scheduling available technical resources. 5. For PPAs subject to horizontal audit, the SA/ ATL of the co-implementing agencies shall incorporate the results of audit of their respective agency in the Annual Audit Report and shall submit the results of audit not later than July 31 to the SA/ATL of the lead implementing agency. The latter shall then review and prepare the consolidated audit report in the form of a Unified/Integrated Audit Report fo r review and transmittal by the CD not later than August For purposes of preparation of the Report on Salaries and Allowances (ROSA), Annual Financial Report (AFR) and Report on the Audit of Official Development Assistance (ODA) Funds, required data such as financial reports and the like, of water districts/stand-alone agencies of CGSJNGS under the direct supervision of the Regional Director shall be consolidated by the Regional Director and submitted to the concerned Assistant Commissioners for overall consolidation. V. Duties and Responsibilities 1. Responsibility for the supervision and control of the audit shall be exercised in accordance with the Matrix of Supervision for Unified/Integrated Audit below: COA Type of COA Officials Offici<ds/ Supervision Responsible Personnel Audited Agencies Supervised A Over-all Assistant Regional LGUs - Provinces, Cities, supervision Commissioner- Directors Municipalities, Barangays, LGS Leagues of LGUsf LGU Officials ( 4

5 COA Type of COA Officials Officials/ Supervision Responsible Personnel Audited Agencies Supervised Assistant NGS Cluster NGAs with Head Offices in Commissioner- Directors Metro Manila including their NGS regionjfie)d officesfbranchesjoperating units Regional Directors State Universities & Colleges (SUCs), stand alone ~GAs and other NGAs with Head Offices outside NCR Assistant CGS Cluster GOCCs with Head Offices in Commissioner- Directors Metro Manila including their CGS branches/field offices/operating units and subsidiaries Regional Directors Water Districts, stand alone corporations, and corporations with Head Offices outside NCR Assistant Cluster/ Agencies co-implementing Commissioner- Regional intercluster/intersectoral NGSfCGS/LGS Directors of Lead having PPAs Implementing Agency jurisdiction over agencies coimplementing lnterclusterf intersectoral PPAs B. Both Technical Cluster Supervising and Directors- NGS Auditors Administrative andcgs Assistant Cluster Directors as immediate supervisor over technical matters Supervising Auditors Audit Team Leaders/ Members Head Offices/Field Offices; Branches/Operating Units, and Stand Alone Agencies in Metro Manila At./' Jt j 5

6 COA Type of COA Officials Officials/ Supervision Responsible Personnel Supervised Regional Supervising Directors Auditors Audited Agencies LGUs- Provinces, Cities, Municipalities, Barangays, and Leagues oflgusjlgu Officials A:;sistant Regional Directors as immediate SUCs, stand a lone NGAs, and supervisor other NGAs with Head Offices over technical outside NCR matter Water Districts, stand alone Supervising Audit Team corporations, and corporations Auditors Leaders/ with Head Offices outside NCR Members C. Both Technical RSAs Audit Team and Leaders/ Administrative Members except travel D. Technical Cluster RSAs Supervision as Directors well as NGS/CGS administrative s upervision Assistant stated in item Cluster NGAs and GOCCs in the regions VI. (4) below Directors as except stand alone agencies immediate supervisor over technical matters E. Administrative RSAs Supervision only Regional Audit Team Directors Leaders/ Members (travel only) 2. The Head Office SA and RSA shall jointly undertake audit planning and submit the Audit Group Plan to the concerned Cluster Director for approval. 3. The RSA shall be responsible for the following: a. Preparation of the RSA Audit Plan based on the approved Audit Group Plans; b. Signing of the AOM, NC, ND, and NS, jointly with the ATL, after review and necessary coordination with the concerned Head Office SA for uniformity of audit action; 6

7 c. Review and transmittal of Management Letter; and d. Consolidation and preparation of matrix of findings/recommendations/comments/rejoinder for submission to the Head Office SA, copy furnished the concerned Cluster Director, within the deadline set by the Cluster concerned. VI. Administrative Matters For supervision of NGS and CGS personnel in the regions, the following guidelines shall be observed: 1. Approval of domestic travels, as well as Daily Time Records, Monthly Reports of Undertimes and Absences and Leave of Absence shall rest with the official who has administrative supervision over the Audit Groups/Teams including the RSA. All domestic travels for purposes of audit shall be supported with an RSA audit plan which shall include the audit activities to be performed, the places to be visited, dates of travel and the corresponding estimated costs. 2. The semestral performance rating of the SA/RSA/ATL/ATM shall be the responsibility of officials having technical supervision over them. For RSAs, the Regional Directors shall provide written feedback to the Cluster Director concerned in gauging the ratee's readiness for higher responsibilities. The ranking for promotion shall be subject to the guidelines issued by the Commission. 3. The Regional Audit Teams of NGS and CGS shall submit quarterly accomplishment reports to the RSA concerned for consolidation per auditee, copy furnished the Regional Director for monitoring purposes. The consolidated report shall be submitted to the Head Office SA for nationwide consolidation and submission to the Cluster Director concerned. Quarterly accomplishment reports for water districts/stand alone agencies of CGS and NGSfNGAs and other GOCCs with head office outside NCR under the direct supervision of the Regional Director shall be consolidated by sector by the Regional Director which shall form part of the accomplishment of the region. The said NGS and CGS regional consolidated accomplishment reports shall be furhi:.~ the NGS and CGS Assistant Commissioners, for monitoring purpose~ '"7

8 4. The Cluster Director concerned shall act on the following: a. All applications for leave of absence with requests for authority for personal foreign travels upon recommendation of the immediate supervisor and for terminal leave; b. Attendance to conventions and seminars outside the region or exceeding five days upon recommendation of the immediate supervisor; c. Nominations to scholarships; d. Recommendation for audit of foreign-based government agency and other foreign audit engagements ; and e. Recommendation for promotion. 5. Recommendation for the designation of OIC-RSA/ATL in the event of a vacancy/absence of an RSA/ATL shall be made by the Regional Director concerned in consultation with the Cluster Director concerned. 6. COA Central Office clearance required for purposes of retirement, personal foreign travel, application for terminal leave, and leave of absence for more than 30 days, among others, shall be initialed by the Supervising Auditor/RSAand signed by the concerned Cluster Director. 7. All recommendations for recruitment and assignment in the NGS/CGS audit teams in the regions which are submitted to the COA Central Office shall be coursed through the concerned Cluster Director. VII. Repealing Clause COA issuances that are inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. VIII. Effectivity These guidelines take shall take effect immediately. ~NDOZA Commissioner