Special Projects and Management Requests

General

The Office of Internal Audit often performs projects or reviews in addition to those specifically identified in the annual audit work plan. These reviews, referred to as special projects, are usually initiated based on a request by university leadership or management. They can involve reviews of specific processes, providing advice or information about an activity or proposed change, or agreed-upon procedures. Each year the audit work plan allocates a segment of hours to be used for the completion of special projects.

Any member of university leadership/management can request the Office of Internal Audit to review a certain area or function.  We may also receive requests for reviews from external groups such as UNC General Administration or the State Auditor’s Office.

Process

Before we accept a project, the Chief Audit Officer will review the nature of the project, the risk of not performing the review, the effect the review will have on the current year’s work plan, and the available time remaining in the special project’s budget. The Chief Audit Officer will notify leadership regarding whether or not the engagement will be able to be performed by the department.

In some cases, management requests an audit of an area or activity. In these cases, if we agree to perform the project, it will be added to the audit work plan as a routine audit rather than as a special project.

When we add a requested audit or special project to the work plan, it might be necessary to defer a previously scheduled work plan engagement so that hours are available for the completion of the newly requested engagement. These changes in the audit work plan will be reported to the Audit, Compliance, and Risk Management Committee of the University’s Board of Trustees.

Our approach to conducting special projects is similar to that used for a regular audit although typically requires less time for completion and is less involved. The scope and objectives of the special project will be determined more by what management has requested to be completed such as a fact-finding review of information and activities of an area.  We will work with management to define the purpose of the project.

Special Project Work Paper Documentation and Communicating Results

Some special projects are short-term consulting or advisory work and involve only a few meetings or discussions with management. These projects should be documented with a memo to the audit file that describes the subject of the request, the nature, and content of the discussions about the issue, and the result of the discussions.  Any additional information needed to document the issue and its resolution should be retained in work papers, as necessary. These documents will be placed in a special project/advisory project file that is kept with other completed audit projects by fiscal year. Final communication to leadership regarding the status of special project outcomes will be provided in a letter or memorandum format.