GAO Involvement in Audit Forum Movement

Comments were provided on the involvement of GAO in the intergovernmental audit forum movement. The audit forums include representatives of Federal, State, and local audit organizations meeting together to discuss and solve some of the audit issues that exist among them. The forums are an excellent example of what can be accomplished through intergovernmental cooperation. One of the forum's major accomplishments is that it has improved working relationships among government auditors by increasing coordination and cooperation and opening lines of communication between member audit organizations and has provided training to members that otherwise might not have been available or affordable. GAO, in cooperation with the audit forums, has taken the lead in: developing an audit guide for comprehensive financial and compliance audits of multifunded grant recipients; establishing a Task Force for the Prevention of Fraud; and establishing a new foundation to support a State and local government Accounting Standards Board. Moreover, several projects which GAO and the audit forums have undertaken have provided substantial improvements in financial accountability and will have far-reaching effects on government auditing. Among these projects are: (1) the study of the feasibility and desirability of a quality review system for organizations that perform audits at all levels of Government; (2) the development of guidelines for preparation of requests for audit services and for reviews of economy, efficiency, and program results; and (3) the Joint Financial Management and Improvement Program's study on the audit of federally assisted programs. Thus, intergovernmental communication is of tremendous importance in solving some of the issues that have existed among Federal, State, and local audit organizations.