Press Release  Massachusetts State Auditor Initiates New Performance Audit Report Template

Boston — Taking further steps toward transparency, Massachusetts State Auditor Suzanne Bump today announced her office’s new template for performance audit reports. The new report template significantly updates the ‘executive summary’, ‘scope and methodology’, and ‘findings’ sections of the agency’s reports.

“Being transparent means being accessible. Our audit reports are meant to be read and understood. To achieve this, they must tell a story and appeal to lawmakers, government administrators, and most importantly, the public,” said Auditor Bump.

Auditor Bump’s reports now include a list of audit objectives listed as questions, indicating clearly the intent of the audit report. Each question is matched with the audit’s conclusion. Audit objectives probe into organizational best practices with an affirmative conclusion generally indicating success and a negative conclusion generally indicating deficiencies. This new report element is intended to communicate to the reader the breadth of audit work, the successes of the auditee, and the areas needing improvement highlighted within the audit’s findings.

Additionally, the audit’s findings are presented in a consistent, more concise structure. Each finding is segmented into a summary of the deficiency, the legal or administrative standard which is being examined, an explanation for the deficiency, a recommendation for improvement, and a response from the auditee. Now included in the findings are text boxes which summarize principal themes of an audit that may involve several different findings. Also, links to specific findings are now embedded into the reports summary and objectives sections.

“When writing an audit, you want to be very specific and technical so that you are understood correctly, but just as importantly you want an opportunity to step back and appreciate the bigger picture. In this new format we can better identify vague themes such as communication and ethics. It allows us to tell a more complete story,” said Auditor Bump.

Click here for an example of OSA’s new audit template. As a point of comparison, click here to see an audit using an older template from 2011.

The Office of the State Auditor conducts technical assessments and performance audits of state government’s programs, departments, agencies, authorities, contracts, and vendors. With its reports, the OSA issues recommendations to improve accountability, efficiency, and transparency.

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