Audit Practice Tools and Aids
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The Governmental Audit Quality Center (GAQC) is committed to helping your firm ensure the quality of its governmental audit practice. The collection of tools and aids below are designed to do just that. Categories of information include items to assist with your firm’s quality control, a collection of relevant articles, useful web site links, and governance issuances.
Single Audit Practice Aids
This is a collection of Practice Aids developed by the GAQC as well as other tools and resources auditors can refer to in order to enhance single audit quality.
Government Auditing Standards (Yellow Book) Tools and Aids
This is a collection of Practice Aids and tools designed to help auditors maintain or improve the quality of their Yellow Book audit engagements.
U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration (FTA) – Agreed Upon Procedures (AUP) Engagements
Background information and illustrative agreed-upon procedures (AUP) reports to meet the requirements in FTA’s National Transit Database (NTD) Policy Manuals for “financial data review” engagements for full and reduced reporters.
For-Profit Compliance Audit Information
This is a summary of the various federal audit and attestation guides applicable to for-profit entities, as well as links to where auditees and auditors can find them. The summary also includes other information that the GAQC is aware of relating to each federal guide and other pertinent information.
Useful Web Site Links
This section includes a compilation of Web sites useful to auditors performing governmental audits.
Quality Control
Tips for Getting Through a Quality Control Review (a Non-Authoritative Practice Aid): Quality control reviews (QCRs) typically involve an examination of the auditor’s work by a federal Office of Inspector General (OIG). Because of the prevalence of QCRs in the current governmental audit environment, the GAQC Executive Committee is providing member firms with tips on navigating through the QCR process.
The Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) updated two guides in 2016 to reflect the requirements of the Uniform Guidance. These guides are used by federal agencies when reviewing single audits and are as follows: Guide for Quality Control Reviews of Single Audits (PDF or Word), and Guide for Desk Reviews of Single Audit Reports (PDF or Word). Your firm should consider using these guides as part of your Inspection and Quality Control Programs. Taking this step may help you improve the quality of your governmental audit engagements.
Establishing and Maintaining a System of Quality Control for a CPA Firm's Accounting and Auditing Practice. As part of the AICPA’s Enhancing Audit Quality initiative, the Institute developed e-versions of the AICPA Audit and Accounting Practice Aid Establishing and Maintaining a System of Quality Control for a CPA Firm’s Accounting and Auditing Practice. The Practice Aid is intended to help practitioners better develop the policies and procedures that comprise a firm’s system of quality control, as required by QC section 10, A Firm’s System of Quality Control (AICPA, Professional Standards).
The Practice Aid is offered to AICPA members at no charge and is available in two versions: one for small- and medium-sized firms and another for sole practitioners. This practice aid replaces a previous version of the practice aid, which was last updated in 2011. The revised practice aid contains more easily customizable illustrative policies and procedures and includes tips, warnings and reminders to help practitioners better implement the quality control policies and procedures. It is designed to assist practitioners in maintaining and improving audit excellence.
Peer Review Checklists: The AICPA also issues various not-for-profit and governmental related peer review checklists that are available for your use to help improve audit quality.
Governance-Related Issuances
The Audit Committee Toolkit: Not-for-Profit Organizations was developed to help audit committees at all levels of not-for-profit organizations discharge their responsibilities appropriately and effectively. While intended for audit committees of not-for-profit organizations and management of those organizations, auditors may find the Toolkits useful in discussing governance issues with their clients. The AICPA Audit Committee Effectiveness Center contains an additional Toolkit for Corporations.
