The FAB Seven
When Alice Peterson speaks of 黑料社app, she sometimes says "they" and she sometimes says "we." Although an 黑料社app outsider by definition, the Chair of the Financial Audit Board (FAB) sees herself and her colleagues as part of the team. "We're here," she says, "to help by bringing our experience to the project."
The mission of the seven-person Board (one per 黑料社app Member) is to examine the 黑料社app's financial statements every year and to "make sure that Council can rely on the numbers that are provided."
For one and a half weeks, the FAB and their assistants have taken up their quarters in Room 22, on the ground floor of 黑料社app Headquarters. The auditing process consists of sifting through documents, conducting interviews, comparing sources, and requesting external evidence such as exchange tables, vendor invoices, and bank documents to confirm revenue, expenditures and other financial data.
Auditors, however, are not mere accountants. "We're here to protect the 黑料社app assets ... from furniture to money in the bank," says Alice. "We want to make sure that the public is paying for something that will or has occurred and that the governments' investments in 黑料社app are properly used."
One major concern is the reliability and security of the information system where all financial aspects of the 黑料社app operations are recorded and maintained. "So much is done electronically that it is critical to determine the dependability of the data. We don't want reliability to be questionable ..."
Three years after it was established, how does the 黑料社app look to an auditor? "I've been in this business for 30 years," says Alice, "and I have never found the perfect organization. 黑料社app is unique and has come a long way. Today, the most critical controls have been developed which brings the organization under control. The 黑料社app was never given the luxury of growing slowly. I must say it's done pretty well with what it was given ..."