February 7, 2013

State Begins Audit of Scotland County

JEFFERSON CITY (Feb. 4, 2013) - State Auditor Tom Schweich announced that his office has started an audit of Scotland County, effective Monday, February 4th.

The state auditor routinely audits counties that do not elect a county auditor.

Persons who would like to provide information during the audit process of Scotland County are encouraged to contact the State Auditor's office at 800-347-8597 or by email at moaudit@auditor.mo.gov.

According to the auditor's office, the standard process includes an entrance meeting, fieldwork, report preparation and an exit meeting. The auditor's office receives responses from the auditee prior to the release of the report to the general public.

Audit completion may take a few weeks to several months depending on the scope of the audit, complexity of the audit work, and other varying factors.

Staff auditors began meeting with Scotland County officials this week to explain the audit process and discuss any issues or concerns the officials may have.

The fieldwork phase of the audit process is when the auditors are gathering information, studying records and analyzing a variety of documents. Some examples of items that will be reviewed include: minutes of meetings, written policies and procedures, financial records, and other pertinent documents; interviewing various personnel of the auditee, as well as certain external parties; and testing selected transactions.

Once the report is drafted, members of the State Auditor's office will meet with the auditee to discuss the report findings. These meetings are closed.

After the exit meeting, the State Auditor's office obtains auditee responses to each of the audit findings. This process typically takes about two weeks. These written responses are included in the final audit report.

After a report is finalized and signed by the State Auditor, it is released to the public. All audit reports are available on the State Auditor's website.

Scotland County was last audited in September of 2009 by the office of then Missouri State Auditor Susan Montee.