1

AUDIT REPORT WRITING -

FAST, FEARLESS AND
EFFECTIVE

MARY JO FLYNN,
FLYNN
VICE PRESIDENT
VICKI PHIPPS,
PROJECT LEAD
ALLINA HEALTH, MINNEAPOLIS

AHIA 31st Annual Conference – August 26-29, 2012 – Philadelphia PA

www.ahia.org
 When yyou leave todayy yyou should…
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… Know why we write audit reports

… Understand the writer

writer’ss and reader
reader’ss perspectives

… LLearn how
h to use theh b
building
ildi blblocks
k off fieldwork
fi ld k to
construct the report

… Identify your personal writing strategies

 Why
y do we write reports?
p
3

… Communicate with process owners, senior

management, the board and other stakeholders:
… Risk exposures

… Mitigation opportunities

… Root cause analysis

 Communication guidance
g
4

… Accurate
… Objective “Objective communications are
… Clear fair, impartial, and unbiased
… Concise and are the result of a fair-
minded and balanced
… C
Complete
l assessment of all relevant facts
… Timely and circumstances.”
… Constructive

Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Standard 2420 Quality of Communications

Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Practice Advisory 2420-1
5

What’ss writing about?

What
 It’s about the Reader
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… They pay attention to what

what’ss important to them

… They want it fast and easy to recall

… Th prioritize
They i i i content

… They need high-level, summary messages first, then

details
A1

Inductive vs. Deductive Reasoning

g
7

Auditor Mindset Reader Mindset

• I want to show • Just enough,
you lots of data! and try to make
it interesting
• Accuracy
• Accurate, but
• Linear brief and clear
explanations
• Bottom line
fi t then
first, th
supporting
details
Slide 7

A1 Great slide, very effective!

Author, 7/13/2012
 Layer
y the information
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… Different audiences require different levels of

detail

… Executives-
† High level,
level conceptual understanding
† Quick, easy to read

† What
What’ss the bottom line
9
E
Executive
ti Summary
S
Gives enough
g info to understand significance
g of results
without requiring complete understanding of process.

… Provides context
„ Background
„ Scope/Objectives
p / j
„ Significant
inherent risks
„ Methodology

… Provides opinion
„ Adequate or not
„ May include rating
 Audit Report Detail
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Provides the detail most useful to process owners

… R
Recommendations
d ti listed
li t d in
i order
d off significance
i ifi

… Each recommendation contains bulleted sections

„ Goal (Criteria)
„ Observations
Ob i and
d Cause
C
„ Effect (Risk)
11

Where do you begin writing?

 Workpapers
p p
12

SSufficiently
ff documented so an individual
unfamiliar with the engagement can
reasonably follow and understand them.
 Workpapers
p p
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‰ Write using
g complete
p sentences and use them again
g

‰ Workpapers
Engagement letter
Report

‰ Background
‰ Scope and objectives
‰ Observations
‰ Recommendations
 Conclusions - So What?
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… Think critically about the evidence and risk

exposure(s)
† What
What’ssthe problem?
† What’s the root cause?

† What could go wrong if the situation were to continue

unchecked?

… Consider significance, impact, likelihood,

cost/benefit
/ of fixing
g it
 Conclusions
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Struggling? Review the documentation:

† What
Wh t was the
th purpose (objective)
( bj ti ) off your work?
k?
† What was discovered?

“I believe this to be true and here are my reasons

why you should believe me, too.”
 Recommendations
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Complete the attributes at the time of

observation or finding:
† Criteria
C
† Condition
† Cause
† Effect
† Recommendation

Delay
y degrades
g memory!
y
 Recommendations
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… Recommendations are written top-down

(deductive reasoning)
† Recommendation – how to make it better
† Criteria – the desired state
† Observation – the current state
† Effect – consequence of maintaining the current state

… Use a template for consistency

 Writing
g the Report
p
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… Begin the report with completed recommendation(s)

from the workpapers
… Rank the relative importance of all the
recommendations; majors to operational
improvements
p
… Identify key messages from the full body of
recommendations
… Consider creating the information in an outline
format
 Executive summary
y
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… What is y
your message
g to senior management?
g

… Write a p
paragraph
g p of keyy messages
g
† High level summary -what your CEO or board needs
to know
† Start with opinion/conclusion
/

… Write brief
W b f paragraphs h that
h explain
l and d provide
d
evidence for the statements made in the summary
paragraph
 Writing
g Strategies
g
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… Look at the conclusions from your workpapers, you

you’llll
find strengths and weaknesses about the area
reviewed

… Try combining workpaper conclusions into a logical

paragraph

… Look at your outline of key messages

21

Personal Writing Strategies

 Writing
g paralysis
p y -
22

Causes
Causes-
… Your concept of the writing process

… Superhero goals such as immediately producing the

perfect draft

… L k off preparation,
Lack i missing
i i iinformation
f i

… Distractions
 Writing
g paralysis
p y -
23

Remedies-
… Schedule time to write

… Expectations are under your control; be realistic

… I
Imagine
i you have
h 5 minutes
i t to t explain
l i it to
t your CEO

… Just start. Nothing is perfect; make notes of

incomplete items and keep writing with what you have

… Are you a library or coffee shop writer?

 Self-assess y
your report
p
24

… Does the executive summary conclusion begin with a

summary paragraph?
… Does the report “respond”
respond to the audit objectives?
… Does the recommendation order logically support
the executive summary?
… Does it have sufficient and clear headings for the
reader?
… Is the key message clear?
… Is the tone appropriate?
 Self-assess y
your paragraphs
p g p
25

… Does it contain a topic

p sentence?

… Does it support
pp the idea expressed
p in the topic
p
sentence and have a logical flow?

… Avoid too much detail. Are all those sentences

needed?

… Are sentences easy to understand; are all the words

necessary??
 Re-cap
p
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… Know your audience

… Summarize key messages at high level, then details
… Write it once and use it again
… Focus your conclusion -what would you tell your CEO
in 5 minutes?
… Just start writing!
… U templates
Use l
27 T
Templates
l
 Templates
p
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… Example of:
† Report template with recommendation
ratings
ti
† Rating guideline
† Preliminary planning document
† Audit Committee summary y template
p
29 Q
Questions
i
30
C
Contact IInfo
f
Mary Jo Flynn
Flynn, RN,
RN CIA,
CIA CCSA
Vice President, Audit Services, Allina Health
612-262-4832
maryjo.flynn@allina.com

Vicki Phipps, CIA, CCSA

Audit Lead, Audit Services, Allina Health
612-262-4847
vicki.phipps@allina.com
k h @ ll
 Save the Date:
August 25-28,
25-28 2013

32nd Annual Conference

Chi
Chicago, IL

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