Denver City Wire

DENVER – The city’s Department of Finance is doing a better job of guiding employees in approving expense reports according to the rules, thanks to implementation of recommendations from our 2021 audit, according to the new follow-up report out this month from Denver Auditor Timothy M. O’Brien, CPA.

“By improving these safeguards, the city is protecting the taxpayer’s money,” Auditor O’Brien said. “Whether it’s millions of dollars or just a few hundred, accountability adds up over time.”

We follow up on every audit to see how the audited agencies did with the recommendations they agreed to implement. Through the audit process and our extensive research, agencies have the tools to better serve the public. We hope for 100% completion on every audit and look for meaningful improvement when we conduct follow-up assessments.

After our 2021 expense report audit found a high percentage of approved reports lacked adequate documentation to support the dollar amounts paid out, we made seven recommendations to improve oversight, training, and documentation.

Since then, the Department of Finance has fully implemented five of those recommendations, made progress on partially implementing another, and failed to implement one.

The improvements mean the department now has defined and documented responsibilities for expense approvers and it has standardized training for expense reports.

That matters because the city is at less risk of wasting taxpayer money or misclassifying expenses that could inaccurately impact agency budget plans.

“Our audits give city agencies the tools they need to improve their work,” Auditor O’Brien said. “In this case, I am pleased to see steps in the right direction.”

The city still needs to improve how it monitors expense report payouts if an employee is their own manager or does not have a manager — like elected officials — and monitoring for compliance with expense report approval rules citywide.

This graphic shows the number of recommendations implemented by the Department of Finance since the Expense Report Approval Process audit. Five recommendations were fully implemented, 1 recommendation was partially implemented, 1 recommendation was not implemented. The agency also didn't disagree with any of our recommendations. 

So far in 2023, our office has published five follow-up reports. Of all recommendations in those reports, 35 have been fully implemented, 21 have been partially implemented, 21 have not been implemented. Agencies disagreed with two recommendations, which meant we could not conduct follow-up activities.

In 2022 and 2021, follow-up work showed city agencies implemented about 40% of recommendations each year. Making this mid-year 60% implementation rate on track to beat the previous two years.

When our recommendations are implemented, the effects can improve how the city uses its limited resources, leading to better services for the public and better equity and accessibility in city programs.

We conduct audits on behalf of the people of Denver. Their support and the support of city leadership helps us make meaningful recommendations that result in real change and improvement.

• Read the Follow-up Report
• Read the Audit(PDF, 2MB)

Original source can be found here