When participating in an internal audit

• An entrance conference to kick off the audit will be offered to the client to discuss the objectives, scope and administration of the audit.  Where clients are familiar with the audit process, such matters may be handled via email if the client prefers.
• The Internal Audit Periodic Plan is communicated to affected NAU Vice Presidents at the beginning of each fiscal year following formal approval of the Plan by the ABOR Audit and Risk Management Committee. This communication includes a request for the vice president to identify any timing challenges that Internal Audit should consider in scheduling the audits.
• The audit client (which includes the Vice President and Director-level personnel respons9ible for the function(s) being audited) will be informed of audit commencement via email.

As the audit fieldwork progresses, the audit client will be informed of potential improvement opportunities as they are identified and given an opportunity to provide feedback including any evidence to the contrary and input on solutions that may best achieve the needed improvement.  Clients may also request periodic updates as the audit progresses through formal meetings, emails, or other communications.

Once audit fieldwork is complete, the Internal Audit team will ensure all potential improvement opportunities are shared and vetted with the client at the director level.  Once the director has accepted those improvement opportunities and provided input on the best possible solution and implementation date, a draft audit report will be issued to the audit client including the vice president, and the client will be given an opportunity to respond to the report and any identified improvement opportunities.

• An exit meeting will be offered to the client to discuss the report draft and ensure agreement with identified solutions where improvement opportunities were identified.  The client may opt to meet or provide feedback and finalize the report via email or other communication.
• Final agreed-upon solutions for each identified improvement opportunity will be incorporated into the draft audit report and the report will be reviewed by the audit client and other administrators, as needed.

• The final audit report will be issued to the client, the NAU IARB, and the ABOR Audit and Risk Management Committee.  Final audit reports become public documents once formally presented to the ABOR Audit and Risk Management Committee at their regularly scheduled meetings.

If the audit report included improvement opportunities, Internal Audit will follow-up to ensure identified improvements were implemented.  Internal Audit completes follow-up audit work quarterly focusing on those improvement opportunities across all audits that are targeted to be implemented in the applicable quarter.  Follow-up is initiated via email to the responsible party linked to the applicable improvement opportunity.