We conduct audits, inspections and other reviews to help the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) meet critical challenges in four categories: fighting fraud in benefit programs; national security; public safety; and efficient delivery of USDA's programs, operations, and initiatives. Our auditors, information technology specialists, and other management professionals located nationwide provide oversight on:
- Program systems, processes and structural safeguards
- Cybersecurity
- Financial reporting
- Improper payments
- Compliance with laws and regulations
- Financial management and accountability
Through our oversight, we gather evidence, identify findings, create recommendations, and publish our results. We share our results with decision makers in USDA and Congress to help promote the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of and to prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse in USDA’s programs and operations.
About the Office of Audit
Vision
Our work advances the value, safety, security, and integrity of USDA programs and operations. We are committed to this shared vision and continually strive for excellence by empowering employees for success.
Mission
Our mission is to promote the economy, efficiency, and integrity of USDA programs and operations through audits, inspections, and reviews. We accomplish our mission by way of an organizational culture that values our employees and encourages innovation, trust, and positive change.
Major Steps in the Engagement Process
From initiation to management decision, each step in the engagement process plays a crucial role in promoting transparency, accountability, and efficiency. Below, we outline the major steps that guide our work and help ensure effective oversight.
- Initiate: We begin the engagement and establish the primary objective and milestones.
- Plan: We notify the reviewed agency of the established engagement objectives and project milestones, document our plan to achieve the engagement objectives, and conduct research.
- Fieldwork: We execute the approach outlined in the planning step and collect relevant and sufficient evidence to support conclusions and recommendations to correct issues, if any are identified.
- Report: We draft and issue a report including our findings and recommendations.
- Management Decision: We document within the report the agency’s planned corrective actions and our agreement or disagreement with the agency’s proposed actions.
- Final Action: The Office of the Chief Financial Officer confirms that agencies implement agreed upon corrective actions.
How We Deliver Oversight
We examine the economy, efficiency, and integrity of USDA programs, operations, and financial reports by conducting financial audits, performance audits, and inspections. While most oversight work is conducted by OIG Audit staff, some engagements—when appropriate—are performed by contracted certified public accounting firms whose work we oversee to ensure it meets professional standards.
We conduct financial and performance audits in accordance with Government Auditing Standards, published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. We conduct inspections and evaluations in accordance with the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency’s Quality Standards for Inspection and Evaluation. In addition, we conduct other engagements in accordance with internal OIG directives and policies.
To ensure quality and accountability, our engagement work undergoes regular management and peer reviews. Through independent and objective oversight, we promote transparency, improve program performance, reduce costs, identify and prevent fraud, and support informed decision-making for USDA agencies.
Oversight with Purpose
We are committed to delivering a positive return on the U.S. taxpayers’ investment by planning work to address the issues of greatest risk and achieve the most significant results. Our Annual Plan outlines the fiscal year work we intend to undertake in support of OIG’s strategic goals. To learn more, explore our Annual Plan on the USDA-OIG website.
Oversight in Action: Engagement Products
Our oversight engagements culminate in written products that communicate the outcome of our work. Through these engagement products, we inform decision makers, promote transparency, and drive meaningful improvements in USDA’s programs and operations, while safeguarding taxpayer dollars. A list of our engagement products follows with each product accompanied by a summary that defines its purpose and scope.
- Provide objective analysis, findings, and conclusions to improve program performance and operations, reduce costs, facilitate decision making, and contribute to public accountability.
- Assess the efficiency, effectiveness, and economy of USDA’s programs, operations, and information technology systems.
- Review compliance with laws, regulations, and program objectives.
- Provide an independent assessment of whether an entity’s reported financial information is presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance with recognized criteria (such as generally accepted accounting principles).
- Evaluate the internal controls that help ensure reliable financial reporting, as outlined by the Office of Management and Budget.
- Assess compliance with laws and regulations that could have a direct and material effect on financial statements.
- Provide systematic and independent assessments of the design, implementation, and results of operations, programs, or policies—including evaluations, inquiries, and similar reviews.
- Address questions raised by stakeholders, including Congress, the Department, agencies, and the public, that do not warrant performing an engagement in accordance with Government Auditing Standards.
- Provide information and recommendations to agency managers, policymakers, and others concerning improvements and administrative actions.
- Follow audit requirements established under the Single Audits Act for State and local Government and nonprofit organizations receiving Federal financial assistance.
- Include desk reviews and quality control reviews of selected single audits performed by auditors where USDA is identified as the cognizant or oversight agency. Desk reviews are conducted to:
- determine whether audits comply with Federal requirements;
- identify any quality deficiencies in the auditors’ work that require follow-up audit work or revisions to the reporting package;
- identify audits for potential quality control reviews of the independent auditor’s work; and/or
- identify issues that may require appropriate management official attention, such as the Federal program management or auditee management.
- Determine whether the final action documentation an agency provided to OCFO supports the agency’s management decision reached and is sufficient to close the OIG recommendations.
- Ensure that a system of quality management is established and maintained to provide reasonable assurance that the organization under review and its personnel comply with professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.
- Occur at least once every three years: we are subject to be peer reviewed by an independent reviewer, and we perform peer reviews of other agencies.
Highlights from the Previous Fiscal Year
Within the Semi-Annual Report to Congress (SARC), we publicly report highlights related to our audits, inspections and oversight work performed over the past six-month period. The SARC provides our statistics and documents how we help ensure accountability, fight fraud, and improve agency efficiency, highlighting major issues and recommendations such as National Security in Agriculture and Public Safety to Congress and agency leaders.
The SARC is published on the USDA-OIG website and highlights from the previous fiscal year follow.