2023 Audit Plan Continues Meaningful Audit Work

Published on October 17, 2022

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DENVER – Denver Auditor Timothy M. O’Brien’s newly released 2023 Audit Plan includes the most important ongoing audits from this year and several new ones, including on-call contracting and certification for disadvantaged businesses, and businesses owned by women and people of color.

“It’s important to stay the course and do our due diligence on the topics most important to our community,” Auditor O’Brien said. “We know what matters most to the public we serve, and we are committed to completing diligent, independent audits.”

As with every year, some audits were started in 2022 and will be completed in 2023. These include our series of homeless encampments audits, a look at construction in the Great Hall at Denver’s airport, and our detailed look at child welfare placement.

Several new audits were also added to the list based on community concerns, feedback from city leaders, and our risk assessment process.

Affordable housing, city shelters, and residential permitting remain high priorities in the community and will also remain on the Audit Plan going into 2023.

“Auditing is not meant to be a fast process and the more complex the topic, the longer it takes,” Auditor O’Brien said. “Every year, it is important to remind people that the audit process is thorough and follows strict guidelines, which means audits may continue from year to year.”

This year, community members told us they are concerned about whether the city is living up to its goals to support disadvantaged businesses and businesses owned by women and people of color. As a result, Auditor O’Brien chose to add this equity issue to his priority list in the year ahead.

After the Auditor heard multiple complaints from former city employees, we have also added an audit of the employee separation process to the plan for the year ahead. And Auditor O’Brien directed his audit teams to plan for additional security and cybersecurity assessments.

The independent audit function serves as a tool for good government, transparency, and accountability in the city. As a certified public accountant, Auditor O’Brien is bound by a code of ethics and professional standards. The Auditor and his audit staff are also charged with using Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards in conducting audit work.

We use a combination of performance, financial, information technology, cybersecurity, contract compliance, and audit analytics techniques as part of our integrated auditing process.

The Audit Plan is a flexible document that may change throughout the year because of unexpected circumstances and emerging risks. In any year, changes could impact the Audit Plan due to the need for emergency audits, changes or delays in scheduling, or decreased risks because of changes and improvements within city organizations.

“Our recommendations and findings can help city agencies make the city an even greater place for people to live, work, and spend time,” Auditor O’Brien said. “I appreciate the city leaders who take our work seriously and embrace the spirit of improvement throughout the year.”

AUDITOR TIMOTHY O'BRIEN, CPA
Denver's Auditor

Denver Auditor's Office
201 W. Colfax Ave. #705 Denver, CO 80202
Email: auditor@denvergov.org 
Call: 720-913-5000
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