OPA gets highest rating from APIPA

The Association of Pacific Islands Public Auditors has determined that the CNMI Office of the Public Auditor is in full compliance with Government Auditing Standards for the period reviewed, Oct. 1, 2017, to Sept. 30, 2020.

Full compliance is the highest of three possible ratings issued in an external control review, according to Federated States of Micronesia Office of the National Public Auditor audit manager Makereta Dyer and Yap State OPA chief investigator Bryan Dabugsiy.

Dyer served as a leader, while Dabugsiy was a member of the team of auditors from the APIPA that conducted a peer (quality control) review on the CNMI’s OPA.

The CNMI Public Auditor contracted with APIPA for the review pursuan to a requirement that all audit offices issuing reports guided by Government Auditing Standards are required to undergo external quality control reviews at least every three years.

The expenses for the peer (quality control) review was funded by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of the Insular Affairs.

Dyer, Dabugsiy, and FSM Office of the National Public Auditor Rosadelima Alfons, who served as an observer in the team of APIPA auditors, informed CNMI temporary public auditor Dora I. Deleon Guerrero and the CNMI Legislature, in letters dated Jan. 26, 2023, that they completed the peer review and found that the CNMI OPA has received a pass rating. Organizations can receive a rating of pass, pass with deficiencies, or fail.

Dyer, Dabugsiy, and Alfons said that, due to variances in individual performance and judgment, compliance does not imply adherence to standards in every case but does imply adherence in most situations.

Dyer, Dabugsiy, and Alfons said that, based on the results of their review, it is their opinion that the CNMI OPA’s internal quality control system was adequately designed and operating effectively to provide reasonable assurance of compliance with GAS and applicable legal and regulatory requirements for audit engagements during the period of Oct. 1, 2017, to Sept. 30, 2020.

The APIPA team reviewed the internal quality control system of the CNMI OPA and conducted tests in order to determine whether its internal quality control system was adequately designed and operating effectively to provide reasonable assurance of compliance with GAS issued by the Comptroller General of the United States and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

The APIPA team’s procedures included reviewing the audit office’s written policies and procedures, reviewing internal monitoring procedures, and reviewing all of audit engagements and working papers.

The other procedures were reviewing documents related to independence, training, and development of auditing staff, and interviewing auditing staff and management to assess their understanding of, and compliance with, relevant quality control policies and procedures.