You are on page 1of 28

Writing of Management Audit Report

Report Writing
Dinesh Pant
Process of Management Auditing
Step I: Preparing audit plan – getting approval / informing the
organization to be audited in advance

Step II: Conducting field studies (auditing at workplace level),


involving various methods of data collection /auditing

Step III: Analysing / verifying data

Step IV: Writing audit report (with required discussion before itys
finalization)
Report Writing: What is it is actually?
A report is a written statement or document prepared after a detail
investigation / study / review /observation of a situation – its state,
causes, effect and solutions

It is simply a narration of “what happened” to all concerned: A kind of


story telling with coverage of:

• What was done


• How it was done
• What was found
• What was conclusions
• What was recommended / instructed (in case of auditing)
• What has been supporting evidence / references
Types of Report
Based on Types Based Preparation Stage
 Investigative / research report Preliminary draft report
 Baseline survey report
 Feasibility study report
 Evaluation report
 Implementation progress report
 Audit report
 Any activity completion report

Based on Presentation

General Descriptive Technical Final report


Report Prescriptive report
Areas of Management Auditing (MA Directives 2067)
1) Organization policy and behaviours
2) Organization structure
3) Work process and layout
4) Personnel management and records
5) Financial management and goods management
6) Service delivery and transparency
7) Use of information technology
8) Management of employee grievance
9) Miscellaneous
Methodology of Auditing (MA Directives 2067)
1) Observation
2) Discussion
3) Interview
4) Questionnaire
5) Document / evidence studies
6) Study and review of past reports
7) Other methods as deemed appropriate by audit team
Report Format (Prescribed by MA Directives 2067)
1) Management Audit Team
2) Introduction to the organization audited
3) Duration of auditing
4) Situations observed through management auditing, e.g.,
organization structure, work processes, etc
5) Completion/ Execution state of instructions / recommendations
made in earlier report
6) Overall observation and opinions of audit team
7) Recommendations of audit team

Annexes
Contd…Prescribed Format for Management Auditing - Annexes
Annex 4: Statement of approved and vacant positions of the
organization
Annex 5: Statement of transfer and placement of staff
Annex 6: Staff sent for training during report period
Annex 7: Statement of placement / transfer on “Acting basis’
Annex 8: Statement of staff equivalent to those on “Acting” basis
Annex 9: Staff not having placement
Annex 10: Statement of “Fazil” staff
Annex 11: Statement of staff on deputation
Annex 12: Statement of advances and irregularities
Previous Mgmt Audit Report Formats
Report on Upper Tamakoshi Hydro Project Report on Department of Customs
Chapter I Chapter I
 Background  Background
 Auditing Objectives  Objectives of management auditing
 Audit Methodology  Scope of auditing (as specified in Directives)
 Audit scope  Limitation of management auditing
 Limitation of auditing  Methodology
 Report Structure  Report structure (chapter plan)
 Upper Tamakoshi Hydro Project
ChpaterII: Observed subjects from during auditing
Chapter II:  Introduction to Custom Dept (history, objectives
 Positive aspects: functions, legal provisions, etc.)
 Reform aspects
 Suggestions Chapter 3: Observed Situation during auditing
(Coverage: Org policy and behaviours, org structure,  Positive aspects
work procedures and physical lay out, service delivery  Remarks
and transparency, personnel mgmt and records,  Suggestions
financial and goods mgmt, etc. – as stated in Directives)
Chaper IV:
Chapter III  Conclusions, with acknowledgement
Conclusions and recommendations
Others reports (e.g., Auditor General’s Performance Audit Report 2071)
Coverage Report format (Youth Self Employment Fund)
• Situation of objective fulfilment • Background of organization (Fund)
• Comparative review of targets and • Rationales for choosing the organization for perf. audit
accomplishments • Policy provisions related to the Fund
• Compliance to law, procedures and • Objectives and targets
directives • Financial provisions
• Physical infrastructure and utilization • Objectives of auditing
• Information system and record mgmt. • Scope of auditing
• Manpower management • Auditing methodology
• Utilization of existing capacity • Limitations of auditing
• Monitoring and evaluation system • Observed situation (Positive, Problems / challenges, areas of
reform)
• Situation of program execution • Financial resource mobilization, budget, Grants, bank loan,
• Transparency and accountability investment, etc, with replies of organization)
• Program execution • Manpower management (insurance, training, etc)
• Internal auditing
• Mobilization of financial resources
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Coordination situation
• Conclusion
• Economy and timeliness in procurement
Behavioral guidelines for writing a report
Basic Rules: Concise, simplicity, clarity and describing

• Be clear why report is being prepared


• Be clear whom report is being written for
• How much time is available for writing
• What resource is needed for report writing
• Make the report precise and specific
• Make sentences short, avoiding complex sentences
• Present facts / findings with logical interpretation
• Make it reader-centred
• Giving visual impressions – with attractive cover, page lay-out, pictures, diagram,
binding
Other guidelines for style of report writing
Other Procedural Rules
• Avoid slang / jargons
• Use minimum quantitative terms / follow general rules when quantitative terms
needed
• Try to explain / describe rather than giving opinion
• Avoid calculation / formula in the main text
• Use proper tense of expression
• Use abbreviations only after giving their full forms
• Select proper pronouns Third person preferable on many occasions  Passive
sentence preferable
• Use proper form of reference / follow rules of quoting, e.g., Ibid, op.cit, et.al.
• Avoid common grammatical mistakes / errors
• Proof reading / corrections (lastly)
• Take care of size / type of fonts for texts, captions / sub-captions – Margins

Report writing is a skill; it is creative activity – like weaving a carpet!


Indicators of good report writing
• Good start
• Adequate coverage – with focus
• Rich content
• Relevancy of content
• Factual
• Logical sequence / flow
• Language
• Organization of report
Suggested Tentative Format for Field Studies on Mgmt Auditing
Executive Summary
Table of Content
Abbreviations

Chapter I: Introduction
• Background (Rationales for choosing organization for auditing)
• Objectives of auditing
• Scope of auditing
• Methodology of auditing
• Composition of auditing team
Chapter II: Profiles of Organization Selected
• History, Objectives
• Functions
• Policy and legal provisions related to organization
• Targets and accomplishment
• Execution of previous directives, recommendations, investigation report, if any)
Chapter III: Overall Observation of Situation (with coverage of but not limiting to 9-point scope stated in Directives)
• Positive Aspects
• Problems / challenges
• Areas of Reforms (Directives)
Chapter IV: Conclusions and Major Recommendations
Annexes
References
Verbal Report Presentation (Two phases)
• Presentation planning

• Presentation execution:
Presentation: Preparation Phase (Planning):
 Identify / consider the subject to be presented (what?)
 Set objective of the presentation (why?)
 Identify the audience characteristics (whom?)
 Find out the venue (where?)
 Formulate the content (listing the main points) and methods of presentation (how?)
 Collect relevant data / information to support your subject or points
 Prepare a reference note (a full text, if necessary) to be consulted / distributed
 Choose / prepare presentation materials
 Consider physical appearance (dress /hair, etc.)
 Cross-check the preparation
 Rehearse the presentation
Presentation: Implementation Phase (Actually Presenting)
 Reach the venue before time and make sure that everything is in place
and fulfill all formalities (e.g., greeting)
 Highlight the main objectives and outline of your presentation
 Make presentation on a point-wise basis, elaborating each point (with
a bang!)
 Keep observing feelings (verbal / non-verbal) of the audience
 Test understanding of the audience
 Manage your feelings (expressing / suppressing emotions – anger,
nervousness)
 Show respect to audience (building, supporting, avoiding
disagreement, etc.)
 Summarize the main points and conclude the subject for meeting the
objective

You might also like