Resources

Whether from yearbook sales, prom tickets or direct donations, the money raised by Associated Student Body (ASB) groups are public funds. 

Originally published October 2, 2024

Updated October 4, 2024

The Office of the Washington State Auditor launched the Cyber Checkup program in 2023, and one common result we found from this program is that local governments lack or need to improve their information technology (IT) policies. 

Most governments own a variety of assets that they track and inventory, beyond what they do for financial reporting purposes. We call them small and attractive assets here in Washington state, but across the nation, people refer to them as theft-sensitive assets, walk-away assets or controlled assets.  

Whether you're a new school official looking to learn all you can, or a seasoned veteran just interested in a refresher or two, chances are we have some resources you can use. Here's a list of linked articles, tools and checklists that have proven quite useful over the years. As always, if you have questions or need more information, contact our Center for Government Innovation at Center@sao.wa.gov. 

How long has it been since your government evaluated its credit card program? Was it when we published our original best practice resource in July 2019, just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic?

Imagine you just bought a home, but you don’t like the kitchen because it’s outdated. Since this is potentially your “forever home,” it makes sense to update the kitchen so you can enjoy it for years to come. In a similar situation, a local government keeps its capital asset records for years – sometimes decades – so why not take the time to improve them? Like the kitchen, the investment in improving your capital asset management system is worth it because you can reap the long-term benefits.

Employees are on the road again, traveling to various in-person trainings and conferences. Given this, one cannot help but wonder about the internal control systems for processing employee reimbursements and travel claims. Are they ready to handle this activity and prevent waste, loss or abuse?

Originally published January 12, 2024

Updated April 24, 2025

This blog post was originally published in January 2024, but we've recently updated the Checklist for 2025 reporting year. You can find the new Checklist in SAO’s Resource Library. We've also updated the links in this post for your convenience.

What’s new?

Public services of all types depend on specialized computer systems and information technology applications. However, all too often those applications are out of date. In fact, between 40 percent and 60 percent of Washington state’s government applications should be considered “legacy applications” according to Washington Technology Solutions, the state’s centralized provider of IT services.