Auditing Performance Management Systems

One-day course available in Fall 2008. 
Contact us to schedule this course for your organization, association, or chapter.
CPEs: 8 to 9 hours,depending on format
Field of Study: Auditing (Governmental)

Learning Objectives

• Understand different forms of performance management and different levels of maturity of performance management systems in government.
• Define audit objectives, scope, and methods appropriate to an entity’s performance management context.
• Determine criteria for assessing performance management systems. 
• Develop an audit program to assess a performance management system.
• Understand how to make performance management reviews part of a regular program of performance auditing.

Course Description

This course defines performance management as the use of performance information to improve decision making, service performance, and results for the public. Participants will learn different forms of performance management systems involving performance feedback cycles to inform decisions, and how levels of implementation can vary. Participants will consider the range of conditions auditors could examine as part of a performance management systems audit, such as relevance and reliability of performance information, integrity and controls of underlying support systems, and use of information in parts of the larger system (e.g., strategic planning, budgeting) or through entire performance cycles. Participants will then learn how to use factors such as performance management system maturity to determine audit objectives, scope, and methods. They will also learn how to use best practice models of performance cycles to determine criteria for evaluating performance management systems. Participants will engage in a group exercise developing an audit plan for assessing a government performance management system. Finally, participants will consider how to include performance management reviews in their annual audit program, whether as separate systems audits, or as reviews of key aspects of performance management built into performance audits.

Instructor Biography

Stephen L. Morgan, CIA, CGAP, CGFM, CFE, is the city auditor of Austin, Texas, directing a full scope audit office that conducts performance audits, fraud investigations, and consulting engagements.  Mr. Morgan played a key leadership role in helping the City of Austin evolve its performance measurement and management system into a model for other government organizations.  Before joining the City Auditor’s Office, Mr. Morgan was an evaluator in the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s National Productivity Group.  For many years he has also been an instructor, designing and delivering courses on performance measurement, management, and auditing. His IIA offices have included president and governor, Austin Chapter, chair of the International Government Relations Committee, and currently North American director and Chairman of the North American Board.  In January 2001 Mr. Morgan was appointed (reappointed in 2005) by the Comptroller General of the United States to the Advisory Council on Government Auditing Standards. He co-authored two textbooks: Performance Auditing: A Measurement Approach and Auditor Roles in Government Performance Measurement:  A Guide to Exemplary Practices at the Local, State, and Provincial Levels.  In May 2007, Mr. Morgan accepted the NIAF’s Excellence in Government Performance and Accountability Award from the Comptroller General of the United States.  Also, in March 2002, Mr. Morgan became the fourth annual recipient of the Harry Hatry Distinguished Performance Measurement Practice Award from the American Society of Public Administration honoring his lifetime of contributions to public service. Mr. Morgan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in government (with honors) from the University of Texas at Austin; he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He also holds an MPA from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs of the University of Texas. [TO TOP]