Audit Cycle for Executive Departments and Agencies

Because of the size and complexity of the federal government, GAO does not have a formal audit cycle for auditing all aspects of the executive departments and agencies within a given time period. Instead, it has established a centralized planning process aimed at directing work to the major issues facing the nation. GAO is organized into 10 divisions, each responsible for a function or program concern. Major issue areas are identified for program planning treatment by top GAO management. At present, 36 such areas of national concern have been identified. In determining what to audit, GAO considers the importance of the programs and activities, their newness, public criticism indicating the need for corrective action, the extent and recency of prior work on the issues, and the opportunities to make constructive contributions to the operations of Congress or the federal agencies. Internal audits by the various federal agencies are considered a further extension of the auditing effort and are utilized to the extent that they can be relied upon. Because of the importance attributed to internal auditing, GAO includes this as one of the major issue areas and has issued 50 reports on internal audit activities in the last 4 years.