1. Steal These Tips! Audit Techniques for Accountants
Amanda L. Perkins, CPA
Senior Auditor
University of Arizona

2. Senior Auditor in Internal Audit at the University of Arizona
Previously with the Arizona Office of the Auditor General

3. Agenda Recent Frauds What could have been done? Audit Techniques
Fire District
High School
Children’s Hospital
What could have been done?
Audit Techniques
Evaluating Procedures
Using Data
Seeking Outside Sources

4. Goals of the session
Understand 3 audit techniques and how they could be applied to non-audit duties.
Identify controls that may have prevented or detected 3 real frauds.

5. Springfield, Illinois
Recent fraud hub?

6. Chatham Fire Protection District

7. Southeast High School

8. St. John’s Children’s Hospital

9. Audit Techniques

10. Evaluating Procedures
Explain to an outsider
Use real words
Training new employees
What happens before and after my piece of this process?
If I were going to steal……

11. Evaluating Procedures
Is there someone we couldn’t do without?
Am I getting source documents or only data prepared by someone else based on source documents?
Might identify a more efficient way to do something or a stronger control that could be implemented

12. Using Data What data is available in what you already do?
How accessible is your data?
Maybe you get a report on paper that could come as a text or Excel file instead.

13. Using Data The simple “Sort” tool in Excel Microsoft Access
Improving your Excel and Access skills:
Employer offerings
YouTube and online forums

14. Using Data What do I expect of this data and what is unexpected?
Common vendors
Coding errors in repeat payments
Overtime variances
Unusual system access profiles

15. Using Data Is there data I wish I had?
May identify another way to improve your procedures.

16. Outside Sources Oh, the magic of the Internet Vendors Peer websites
Arizona Corporation Commission
990 filings from non-profits
Company websites
Maps of addresses
Peer websites
Is our policy similar to another organizations?
Compliance with state or federal regulations
Human resources procedures

17. Could you have prevented or detected the fraud?

18. Chatham Fire Protection District

19. Chatham Fire District Source documents vs. employee-prepared reports
Using Data
Common vendors
Object codes or other unexpected transactions
Evaluating procedures- may have relied too much on one person

20. Southeast High School

21. Southeast High School Source documents Evaluating procedures
Relying too much on one person
Student clubs not aware of good controls on their side
Peer websites
Were the existing background checks enough?

22. St. John’s Children’s Hospital

23. St. John’s Children’s Hospital
No court records yet
But we can guess what might have happened

24. Questions?

25. Thank you!
Amanda Perkins