COA Regional Office IX achieves 100% transmittal and publication of 2022 Annual Audit Reports

Date Published: September 06, 2023   ||   Contributor: Ms. Tara Mae S. Torres

In its Status of Annual Audit Reports Publication as of June 30, 2023, COA-Information Technology Office (ITO) reported that Regional Office IX (RO IX) has submitted all its 96 expected annual audit reports (AAR) for publication in the COA Website. Officially, RO IX is recognized among only five regional offices nationwide to achieve 100% transmittal and submission of 2022 AAR for publication on or before the deadline of June 30, 2023.

In comparison, RO IX has transmitted and submitted for publication 86% and 66% of its AAR for 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Atty. Marisol D. Legaspi, Regional Director, congratulated the entire RO IX for this record-breaking feat. In her post, Director Legaspi thanked all team members, leaders, staff and regional reviewers for their collective efforts and contribution that made this accomplishment possible.

Certainly, such an achievement did not happen overnight. Through the years, the RO IX leadership faced many hurdles in attaining 100% report transmittal.

For the Local Government Audit Sector (LGAS), Ms. Jeanette G. Calamohoy, Supervising Auditor (SA) of LGAS-B, expressed that one of the perennial challenges which precluded timely audit execution and reporting is the delayed submission of financial transaction documents and financial statements by LGU management. SA Calamohoy shared that making early and consistent representations to management to fast track the submission of the reports was key to ensuring timely reporting this time.

Atty. Katrina Q. Acana, SA of LGAS-A, seconded this and further commented that teams worked around such delays by prioritizing audit thrusts based on general and specific audit instructions and dividing the tasks equitably so that target timelines are efficiently met.

For the National Government Audit Sector (NGAS)-Schools, Universities and Colleges (SUCS), SA Lourdes T. Lirio cited that adequate monitoring and supervision contributed much to the attainment of 100% transmittal of AAR. This included, among others, effective coaching of teams in gathering audit evidences and preparing audit observation memorandums.

Ms. Eileen W. Barredo, SA of Corporate Government Audit Sector (CGAS)-Water Districts, also lauded the teams for their firm commitment to deliver and meet deadlines despite various intervening activities or tasks. In addition, the discipline of peer review was an effective strategy for the cluster to facilitate early completion of deliverables.

While there is pressure now for RO IX to sustain this performance in the next years, SA Lirio emphasized that during report finalization, audit teams should not only focus on consistently meeting 100% report transmittal but also improving the quality of the reports.

Overall, the RO IX leadership is proud of all teams for their hard work, optimism and dedication in successfully achieving 100% transmittal and publication of 2022 AAR.