The QAFC office performs various types of reviews, consulting and advisory engagements, investigations, and other miscellaneous management requests.

Relax! You aren’t being singled out for something you did or didn’t do. We select reviews based upon factors such as the size of your operation, the time elapsed since your last review, and recent important system and organizational changes. A prioritized list of reviews is developed by the QAFC office and approved by the senior vice president for business affairs.

There are many benefits to having an internal review in your area. It is difficult to take the time to stand back and thoroughly review your systems or practices. This review provides the assurance that professionals trained in operating and control systems objectively reviewed your area. QAFC staff is aware of effective methods used throughout the university to help ensure achievement of important goals. If the internal review report you receive contains relatively few minor concern items, then you and your management staff can feel confident that your practices are working to help the university achieve its goals in a well-controlled manner. If the review finds major control issues, we will work with you to develop the most practical recommendations for improvement.

From time to time during the review we will want to meet with you to seek answers to questions and observe certain procedures. We will make every attempt to be flexible in meeting your time requirements. Please make sure that the written procedures, transaction records, and reports related to your function are organized and readily available.

In addition to being reviewed by the QAFC office, units and functions within the university may also be reviewed by external auditors during their routine annual reviews. While we make an effort to eliminate or reduce duplication of effort by coordinating with these other external auditors we have no control over their review plans. Consequently, an area or department may occasionally be reviewed more than once in a year.

The compliance specialists have the authority to review all practices and records relevant to the review area. Classified government information or documents are the only items that should not be revealed. The compliance specialist will handle all information in a discreet and professional manner.

The compliance specialist will compare your actual job practices to the standards which relate to them, such as policies and procedures, laws and regulations, and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). We will also consider the way management intends your tasks to be completed.

The compliance specialist will review preliminary concerns with you to ensure all of the facts are correctly understood. Other employees may be consulted to determine if their practices offset any risk that might be present. You will be given an opportunity to review all exception items. You may have additional information or documents which might help clear the initial control concerns for some items.

The most important control issues will be included in the review report, along with action plans for improvement. A draft report will be prepared for review by you and/or your local management. After we reach agreement on the report content, the final report will be distributed to senior management.

No review is valuable unless enhancements or improvements result from it. At the end of the quarter following the report, we will send a status inquiry to you. This serves as a progress report on the actions you planned in your review response. You may be asked to provide status input. Progress on significant items is reported to the senior vice president for business affairs.