Now that the facts have been gathered and the key findings and conclusions are in place, the reporting phase begins. Through the Auditor General Act, the Auditor General is empowered to report in different ways and various reporting methods may be discussed with your organization if appropriate for that particular audit. However, the traditional method is to produce a formal written report. This is done through the following process:
- The audit team produces a preliminary draft report, which is then reviewed by the Assistant Auditor General, the EQCR, the challenge group and internal OAG reviewers.
- The audit team incorporates the feedback from these reviewers as required and submits the preliminary draft report to the Auditor General for review and approval.
- The approved draft report is sent to the audited organization, which has up to 10 working days to give feedback on the report's accuracy and recommendations.
- Recommendations are a key part of the audit report. Based on their findings, the audit team develops recommended actions for the audited organization to address any significant issues raised in the report. The audited organization uses them as the basis for a self-assessment on progress in the Follow-up phase. See the FAQs for some common questions on recommendations.
- The audit team reviews feedback from the audited organization and determines what changes are required in order to produce the final report.
- The final report is submitted to the Auditor General and the audited organization so that they can prepare their respective comments for publication in the report.
- The audited organization must submit their response to the report within 10 working days of receiving the final report. Organizations often begin preparing these comments upon receiving their first draft of the report.
- The Minister is sent a copy of the final report seven days before it is released, and can request a briefing from the Auditor General.
- The Auditor General submits the report to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, who tables it with the Legislative Assembly. It is then posted on our website as a public document.
- The Legislative Assembly refers the report to the Public Accounts Committee, who may decide to review it at some point during their proceedings.