Call for Volunteers
Project: Develop a
Cooperative Audit Resolution Tool for Recovery Act Funds
AGA’s Partnership for
Intergovernmental Management and Accountability (Partnership) is
looking for up to 12 volunteers to develop a cooperative audit
resolution tool for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(Recovery Act) funds.
AGA established the
Partnership to open the lines of communication among
governments. The Partnership is comprised of high-ranking
officials from the federal, state and local levels of government
and higher education. Visit
the Partnership online.
Issue:
Programs funded under the Recovery Act inherently carry greater
risk than non-Recovery Act programs due to expedited awarding
timeframes, large dollar values and extensive reporting
requirements. Despite a concerted effort to limit the risk, the
probability of mistakes and errors occurring during the
implementation of the Recovery Act is considered high, which
could result in audit findings. Effective and expeditious
resolution of audit findings will help ensure the success of the
Recovery Act and prevent further recurrences of errors and
mistakes.
The Department of Education
has used the Cooperative Audit Resolution and Oversight
Initiative (CAROI) as a tool for resolving audit findings. The
process encourages negotiating a timely resolution of audit
issues that is responsive to the needs and interests of all
participants and helps prevent recurrence of the audit findings.
It is not used in cases of fraud or intentional misuse of funds.
It is designed to avoid costly litigation, lengthy adversarial
discussions, and unproductive impasses. While CAROI deals with
federal-state audits, its approach to solving longstanding audit
issues can be adapted to state-local education agency audits, as
well as to other federal agency audits.
Cooperative Audit Resolution
was designed by teams from the U.S. Department of Education and
states. The teams were composed of fiscal, program, audit, and
legal personnel. The concept was first implemented in response
to passage of the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994.
Goal:
The Partnership will review CAROI process and develop a best
practices tool for resolving audit findings associated with
Recovery Act funds.
Timeline:
The Partnership’s Steering
Committee proposes that the project should be completed by
November 13, 2009.
Selection of Volunteers:
The co-chairs of the Partnership will select up to 12 work group
members from among those who volunteer.
Volunteers:
- May
be from any level of government, a university, a nonprofit
or the private sector.
- Need
not be a member of AGA.
-
Should have knowledge of the single audit process and/or
audit resolution and negotiation experience.
Level of Commitment:
The work group will determine the level of commitment for
volunteers. However, the Steering Committee anticipates
conducting at least bi-weekly conference calls. On average,
volunteers should expect to spend up to two hours a week on the
project.
For more Information about
the Partnership, including a list of Steering Committee members
and criteria for selecting projects,
visit the Partnership’s
website. To volunteer for the work group, contact
Helena Sims at
850.668.0625 by August 10, 2009.