Types of Audits
Financial Statement Audits
The Office of the State Auditor performs financial statement audits for the State of North Carolina, state agencies, state universities, community colleges and other units of state government. The objective of a financial statement audit is to determine whether an agency’s financial statements are fairly presented. The audit does not determine with absolute certainty that the financial statements are totally correct. Rather, the audit provides reasonable assurance that the financial statements are not wrong by an amount so large that it would mislead someone using them to make an important decision about the organization’s financial situation.
View Financial Statement and Federal Compliance Audit Reports
Performance Audits / Financial-Related Audits
Performance and Financial Related audits provide independent and objective appraisals of agency management practices and operational results to state leaders and the public. They help improve performance, strengthen accountability, and enhance transparency of state government programs. Performance audits evaluate broad topics that could include program outcome, while Financial Related Audits have narrower scopes and do not evaluate program outcomes.
Financial-Related Reports
Information Systems Audits
Information Systems audits evaluate risks relevant to information systems assets and assess controls in place to reduce or mitigate these risks. Information Systems auditors also verify systems and applications are appropriate for agency needs, are efficient, and are adequately controlled to ensure valid, reliable, timely operation.
Investigative Reports
Investigators within the Office of the State Auditor are required by state law to investigate any allegations made to the State Auditor’s Hotline. These allegations include instances of fraud, waste and abuse of state tax dollars within government agencies and by private groups that receive state money or other support. The allegations are often referred to law enforcement agencies for additional investigation or prosecution. While many of our investigators are trained as auditors, they do not conduct audits. They are charged with investigating wrongdoing and use a variety of techniques to produce their reports.
CPA Audits
Audits with the CPA designator on our website include financial statement audits of community colleges, occupational licensing boards, or component units of the state, that are conducted on behalf of those agencies by private CPA firms. The Office of the State Auditor receives these audits and publishes them online for informational purposes. We do not verify the accuracy of reports not performed by our auditors.