A Narrative Report

Presented to

The Dean of College of Business and Commerce

St. Paul’s School of Business and Law

Pawing, Palo, Leyte

In Partial Fulfilment

Of the Requirements for the Degree

Bachelor of Science in Commerce

Major in Management Accounting

Submitted to:

Dean Eunice T. Pagatpat

VP for Student Academic Affairs

Submitted by:

Rameses Barbasa
Student Trainee

September 27, 2010

 Part I
History of the Commission on Audit
State audit in the Philippines has evolved from the ways of its ancient communities. The
incipient village societies, known as barangays, were headed by chieftains called datus who exercise full
power on the lives of people and the administration of their simple government. This included the
communal allocation and distribution of resources to his subjects.
Under the Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines, the Royal Audiencia, a high court of justice
rendered audit report to the authorities on the financial condition of the islands. Later, the Tribunal de
Cuentas (Court of Accounts) became the supreme audit institution with exclusive jurisdiction over all
financial matters.
The revolution against Spain led to the establishment of the Philippine Malolos Congress. Aside
from legislative functions, it also examined and approved the expenses and revenue accounts of the
revolutionary government.
Came the American rule and the Office of the Auditor for the insular Philippine was created. The
audit system featured review of every transaction, treating of entries through the books of account, and
checking of mathematical accuracy of accounts. It was first and foremost a practice of pre-audit.
In 1935, the General Auditing Office (GAO), headed by an Auditor General functioned with authority
emanating from the Constitution. It was responsible in the examination, audit and settlement of all
accounts, as well as the audit of all fund expenditures and properties of the government.
During World War II the audit functions minimally continued.
The General Auditing Office was re-established after the war and became the present
Commission on Audit (COA) under the 1973 Constitution. This time the Auditor General was replaced by
a collegial leadership of the Chairman and two Commissioners.
The EDSA Revolution ushered in a new Constitution that expanded the mandate of the
Commission to audit towards a heightened accountability in the performance of government functions.
Today COA stands firm and visible as a genuine partner in the governance of nation-building and the
development of quality life for the Filipinos.
 Company Profile
Vision

Promotion of good governance with the attributes of honesty, transparency, accountability,

credibility, efficiency and effectiveness to enhance trust in the government and foster a better quality of
life for the Filipino people.
Mission
As the country’s Supreme Audit Institution, the Commission on Audit is vested by the
Constitution with: the power and duty to audit and settle accounts pertaining to revenues and receipts,
as well as expenditures or uses of funds and property owned or held in trust by the Government;
exclusive authority to prescribe government accounting and auditing rules and regulations;
responsibility to recommend measures necessary to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of
government operations.

Principal Duties

 Examine, audit and settle all accounts pertaining to the revenue and receipts of, and
expenditures or uses of funds and property owned or held in trust by, or pertaining to, the
government.
 Promulgate accounting and auditing rules and regulations including those for the prevention
and disallowance of irregular, unnecessary, excessive, extravagant or unconscionable
expenditures, or uses of government funds and properties.
 Submit annual reports to the President and the Congress on the financial condition and
operation of the government.
 Recommend measures to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government operations.
 Keep the general accounts of government and preserve the vouchers and supporting papers
pertaining thereto.
 Decide any case brought before it within 60 days.
 Performs such other duties and functions as may be provided by law
 Goal Statement
To make the Commission on Audit a vibrant partner in nation-building; a haven of integrity and
competence; an organization of professionals with a culture of excellence where good work is treasured
as the reward in itself; a quality member in the international organizations of supreme audit institutions.
Strategies
PEOPLE
1. Continuous development of skills and professional competence and enhancement of personnel
welfare and assistance.
2. Implementation of a performance appraisal system to improve employee output and reward
deserving employees.
PROCESS
3. Continuing research to see to it that its auditing practices and the government accounting rules and
regulations are kept abreast of developments in international standards and legal norms.
4. Conduct of financial, compliance and performance audits in agencies of government.
5. COA at the cutting edge of technological advances in the areas of accounting, auditing and settlement
of accounts by maximizing the benefits of information and communication technology.
6. Adoption of the risk based and team approaches at all levels in the audit of government operations
and of private entities, as required by law.
7. Enhanced and strengthened decision-making process of the Commission.
8. Intensified monitoring of audit recommendations and enforcement of COA decisions.
9. Continued coordination with prosecutorial, investigative and other government agencies in the fight
against graft and corruption.
10. Strengthened relationships with the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of other countries.
11. Emphasis of substance rather than form, simplicity rather than complexity, quality rather than
quantity, the auditor as an enabler rather than a disabler.
PRODUCT
12. Development of financial information systems that will serve the needs of government executives,
managers and decision makers.
13. Publication and other means of information dissemination to the public of the performance,
financial operations, results of audit of national, corporate and local government, and the actions taken
on complaints.
14. Promotion of value-added audit services for improved agency fiscal responsibility and accountability.
 Core Values
GOD-CENTERED
We believe that the Authority we exercise as auditors is
"God-Entrusted" and therefore our highest accountability is to Him.

EXCELLENCE
We performed our duties in pursuit of excellence and/or perfection.

GENEROSITY
We promise to impart our fellow workers whatever knowledge
we have acquired for the improvement of the audit services.

PATRIOTISM
We recognize that the services rendered by the Commission
are in response to the need of the people and that the interest of the
country shall have priority over all other considerations.

LOYALTY & RESPECT FOR AUTHORITY

We pledge to remain steadfast in our sworn duty to uphold
COA's ideals out of loyalty and respect for authority and the rule of law.

COURTESY, MODESTY & HUMILITY

We believe that courtesy & modesty should be upheld &
practiced at all times, we acknowledge that we do not have a monopoly
of technical expertise, thus we provide advice without posing
as arrogant critics of our auditees.

INTEGRITY
We commit to be prompt, honest, truthful & transparent
in all of our dealings with clients and the general public with a
view to preserving the dignity of the Commission.
 CREDIBILITY
We strive to maintain and enhance the credibility of the Commission
through prompt and efficient delivery of audit services without
compromising the interest of the public.

COMMITMENT TO DUTY
We discharge our assigned functions with the utmost degree of
responsibility integrity and efficiency out of a deep
sense of dedication to duty.

JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS

We promise to work with the highest sense of justice
and fairness and make definite judgment and conclusions.

COMPETENCE
We are committed to the highest standards of
Professionalism and proficiency in the delivery of timely
and responsive audit services as guardian of public
resources and partners in nation-building.
 Part II

Narration of Experience
June 15, 2010, it was the date when the trainee started his on the job training (OJT) at the
Commission on Audit (COA) Regional Office in Government Center Pawing Palo Leyte. COA is one of the
independent constitutional commissions established by the Constitution of the Philippines having the
primary function of examining, auditing and settling all accounts and expenditures of the funds and
properties of the Philippine government.

Before being sent to his office assignment, the trainee together with the other practicumers
were oriented by one of the chief officers of the agency about their office’s nature of work, the company
rules and regulations particularly regarding their daily office attire and the sensitivity of the files they
may encounter in their stay.

The trainee was assigned at the Administrative department of the agency. He was a bit
conscious when coming in the office and was not sure how to react considering how new he was with
the environment and how awkward it was to sit in the office with unfamiliar faces staring at him.
Luckily, he was assigned in the office with a partner, who was one of the practicumers. Being with
someone familiar to him erased all the uneasiness he felt while in the office. Both trainees were
introduced to the employees in the office, and were asked about a little bit of their personal life.

One of the rooms in the department is the records room. It houses all the service records of the
employees in the agency, including their daily time records (DTRs), employee leave cards and
applications, and their personal profiles. The trainee was assigned to this room, and was first oriented in
the proper filing of the leave applications with their supporting documents and combining them with
their respective DTRs. These documents were segregated alphanumerically and were stored in the file
cabinets at the office’s storage room. On his second day at work, the trainee was given a new task of
assisting one of the employees in segregating the new leave applications by group. These applications
were then sent to the different office groups for approval. These activities pretty much sum up the
assignments he performed in the following days to come.
 On the following month, the trainee was tasked to deliver various documents to the different
departments for receipt. These documents include COA resolutions, memo for supervising and service
chief state auditors, clearances, audit reports, and purchase requisitions with the items ordered therein.
Doing all these was totally confusing to him, especially because he was unfamiliar with these offices and
the receiving officer in charge in each group. However, the employees were pretty well accommodating
and helpful in instructing him what to do. This assignment actually boosted his confidence in the agency
as he gets to meet a lot of people in the agency and become more familiar with the different
departments. In this task he witnessed the importance of communication between the different
departments first hand.

Another assignment he performed during the month was to deposit business mails at the post
office. The office categorized two types of letters for transmittal, one is for the ombudsman which was
stamped as a registered mail, and the other is the usual mail sent to the different state auditors which
was stamped as a priority mail. Registered mails are sent quicker to the addressee than priority mails.

The trainee was also tasked to receive phone calls. In receiving business calls, he should be
polite and must observe the proper manner in answering calls. The office actually uses multiple phones,
two for incoming calls and another for making outgoing calls. He was basically assigned to receive calls
from the two phones for incoming calls. There were times when both phones would ring and answering
both seemed impossible, such were uneasy situations for him, but then again it all ended up pretty well.

As weeks went by, the trainee had already worked just like a regular employee. He became
more accompanied with the employees of his department and built good relations with them, even
having funny moments with them which actually were great on his part because he gained more
confidence in their office. He performed the usual tasks assigned to him in the previous months. There
were times when he would only do the filing of records the whole day, and sometimes he would just be
answering phone calls whenever the records room was used on special occasions. The trainee is
sometimes given the job of encoding performance evaluations and bill reports, other times
photocopying of office orders which were sent to the various departments.
 Then it was the last day of his OJT, September 14, 2010. For the last time, he arranged the last
batch of DTRs and employee leave applications, assisted some of the employees in looking for a specific
file record, and chatted with some of his newly found colleagues. He was eager in finishing all the final
tasks given to him, but somehow felt sad because it was his last day of doing all those things which in
some ways have already become part of his daily activities.

Before finally leaving the agency, the employees gave him a remembrance that made him
special. He was lucky because his supervisors were very nice and warm to him and taught him many
things most significant to his professional life.
 Recommendation
Every trainee must bring focus to his work. He should carefully listen to every instruction of their
supervisor. If ever he does not understand something, he should ask for help. Better to ask than to fail in
doing a task. Be aggressive in order to learn. Don’t wait for a supervisor to teach you how things work;
taking initiatives first hand is a must. In the world of professionalism it is only yourself to whom he can
depend on. It is important to keep his composure when dealing with problems, to turn them all right,
panicking does not help. Camaraderie is one factor to the success of a group, observing the proper
attitude while working should be noted because it can affect the work of his colleagues. He should work
in promptness and have confidence with everything he does.