Welcome to the 68th Legislative Assembly!
On behalf of everyone on our team at the North Dakota State Auditor’s Office, we want to extend a warm welcome to you. Your service to the citizens in our state is greatly appreciated and we know the work you do makes an impact on people in communities across our legendary state.
We hope the information in this booklet is helpful in providing you an overview of things our office focuses on. If you have any questions that our office can help with, please don’t hesitate to give me a call at 701-328-2241. We are here to help and would welcome the opportunity to connect with you online or in person.
Looking forward to working with you,
JOSHUA C. GALLION NORTH DAKOTA STATE AUDITOR
WELCOME! FROM THE NORTH DAKOTA STATE AUDITOR’S OFFICE 50 BEST PLACES TO WORK 2020
NORTH DAKOTA STATE AUDITOR JOSHUA C. GALLION
ND.gov/Auditor Facebook.com/NDStateAuditor NDsao.link/YouTube Linkedin.com/company/NDStateAuditor NDSAO@nd.gov 701-328-2241 Office of the State Auditor Office of the State Auditor
Our mission is to produce informative audits to improve government and we are committed to serving the citizens of North Dakota. By opening the window into our government, citizens are more aware of everything done using their tax dollars.
WHO WE AUDIT
Our office audits every level of government in North Dakota. Our staff of 61 in Bismarck and Fargo work to provide accurate and reliable information for state agencies, universities, and local government. With nearly 200 audits produced each year, billions of dollars are audited by our team. Our office is also responsible for auditing oil and gas leases on federal land and provides an audit of the State’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report.
We follow the industry’s strongest auditing standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Our office is audited every three years by the National State Auditors Association and continually receives the highest possible rating
OUR TEAM
Audit
Objective Only one objective. Checks if financial statements are materially accurate.
Financial Statements Includes audited financial statements to verify compliance with audit standards and N.D.C.C.
Objectives vary, can include multiple objectives related to operations of the agency.
Does not include audited financial statements.
Based on Areas of high risk of material inaccuracies in the financial statements. Significant and high risk programs and functions of each agency.
Audits
61 Full-time employees
10 Interns as of Jan. 2023
Information
Helpful for Legislators, lending institutions, and the public. Legislators, agency management, and the public.
Examples Include Local governments, commodity groups, State Lottery, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report.
WHERE WE AUDIT
Department of Transportation, Department of Public Instruction, and Universities.
North Dakota is experiencing a shortage of audit firms that have the ability to conduct government audits. Because of a lack of staff, our office is not able to conduct audits in many counties across the state. Audits are vital to ensure accountability and transparency to the citizens of North Dakota.
Check that public funds are accounted for and that government agencies are effective and ethical.
Audits all 11 public colleges and universities, and the ND University System office. Reviews federal funds to check if they are being spent according to federal regulations.
Verifies that the federal government and state are receiving money from oil, gas, and coal companies.
Examine the financial reporting of specific government groups for inconsistencies and errors.
Examine the financial reporting of local government for inconsistencies and errors. Only reported if a public employee or official defaults or creates a liability against the state bonding fund.
The National State Auditors Association (NSAA) gave our office the highest possible rating in peer review, referencing our adherence to government auditing standards.
17 Total interns this biennium Vacancies projected to be filled with interns
5
WHY AUDITORS ARE NEEDED
• When audits cannot happen because of staffing shortages, the chances for fraud increase.
• Our office attempts to dedicate time to education, however because of our current staff levels and the high demand for our services, our ability to do that is limited.
• Understaffed audit teams and below-market compensation create a retention problem — resulting in private-sector recruitment from our talent pool.
• There is potential for greater taxes to the public when budget decisions are made on old or unaudited information.
AGENCY AUDITS FINANCIAL STATEMENT AUDITS LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUDITS INVESTIGATIONS FEDERAL SINGLE AUDIT PROGRAMS HIGHER EDUCATION AUDITS MINERAL ROYALTY AUDITS & CONTRACT REVIEWS 7 4 34 12 48 118 INVESTIGATIONS AUDITS AUDITS AUDITS AUDITS CR’S
Map of where our office provides audit services, as of December 2022.
21 76 AUDITS AUDITS
