Peterson's bill expanding cost-effective audit procedure approved by Senate

Legislation sponsored by State Senator Bob Peterson (R-Sabina) that aims to allow qualified government entities to save money and time by using an Agreed Upon Procedure (AUP) Audit was approved today by the Ohio Senate.

The Auditor of State’s Office first implemented AUP Audits in 2009 for political subdivisions that have traditionally had clean audits.

An AUP Audit can result in savings of 25 to 50 percent compared to a traditional audit due to the less formal presentation of findings. Senate Bill 67 expands the criteria for participating in an AUP Audit, enabling up to 800 new entities to take advantage of this cost-effective procedure.

[[In-content Ad]]“Senate Bill 67 allows local governments with a history of sound fiscal management to save substantial amounts of time and money on their audit, while giving assurance to taxpayers that monies are being spent appropriately,” Peterson said. “Besides lowering the costs to an audit, this bill will also increase participation in the AUP Audit program and help entities better understand the procedure.”

To qualify for an AUP Audit, the government entity must have an annual budget of less than $5 million, comply with Ohio budgetary law and have had a standard audit performed within the previous two audit periods. In addition, they cannot have outstanding audit fees, been declared “unauditable” during the last audit or be under investigation by the Auditor’s Office. If, during the course of an AUP Audit, a problem arises, the Auditor and the government subdivision can decide to engage in a traditional audit.

Senate Bill 67 now moves to the Ohio House of Representatives for further consideration. Similar legislation has also been introduced in that chamber by Representatives Doug Green (R-Mt. Orab) and Andy Thompson (R-Marietta).