National State Auditors Association

 

July 28, 2008

 

 

William G. Holland

Auditor General

Iles Park Plaza, 740 East Ash

Springfield, Illinois  62703-3154

 

Dear Mr. Holland:

 

We have reviewed the system of quality control of the Illinois Office of the Auditor General (the office) in effect for fiscal year financial statement audits, single audits, and attestation engagements for the years ended April 30, 2007, June 30, 2007, September 30, 2007, and December 31, 2007 which were released on or before June 30, 2008, and for performance audits released between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008.  A system of quality control encompasses the office’s organizational structure and the policies adopted and procedures established to provide it with reasonable assurance of conforming with government auditing standards.  The design of the system and compliance with it are the responsibility of the office.  Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the design of the system, and the office’s compliance with the system based on our review.

 

We conducted our review in accordance with the policies and procedures for external peer reviews established by the National State Auditors Association (NSAA).  In performing our review, we obtained an understanding of the office’s system of quality control for engagements conducted in accordance with government auditing standards.  In addition, we tested compliance with the office’s quality control policies and procedures to the extent we considered appropriate.  These tests covered the application of the office’s policies and procedures on selected engagements.  The engagements selected represented a reasonable cross-section of the office’s engagements conducted in accordance with government auditing standards.  We believe that the procedures we performed provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.  

 

Our review was based on selective tests; therefore it would not necessarily disclose all weaknesses in the system of quality control or all instances of lack of compliance with it.  Also, there are inherent limitations in the effectiveness of any system of quality control; therefore noncompliance with the system of quality control may occur and not be detected.  Projection of any evaluation of a system of quality control to future periods is subject to the risk that the system of quality control may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or because the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

 

In our opinion, the system of quality control of the Illinois Office of the Auditor General in effect for fiscal year financial statement audits, single audits, and attestation engagements for the years ended April 30, 2007, June 30, 2007, September 30, 2007, and December 31, 2007 which were released on or before June 30, 2008, and for performance audits released between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008 has been suitably designed and was complied with during the period to provide reasonable assurance of conforming with government auditing standards. 

 

_____________________________              _____________________________

Karen K. Helderman, Team Leader                  Don Dunlap, Concurring Reviewer

National State Auditors Association                  National State Auditors Association

External Peer Review Team                              External Peer Review Team