FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 1, 2022
OLYMPIA – The Pierce County Housing Authority has taken steps to improve its financial safeguards since a $7 million misappropriation two years ago, but more needs to be done, according to an accountability audit released today by the Office of the Washington State Auditor.
Updated: Dec 12, 2022
The State Auditor's Office will be updating the BARS Manuals (GAAP and Cash) beginning Monday, Dec. 12, 2022.
During the updates, sections of both online BARS Manuals will be unavailable for your use. Once updated, they will be fully available for accounting and reporting guidance related to fiscal year 2022 and forward.
We will notify local government audit contacts via email when the BARS Manuals have been fully updated.
Local governments should be more data-driven and focused on results when addressing homelessness, according to a new performance audit by the Office of the Washington State Auditor.
Auditors reviewed the way two cities and two counties contracted for services aimed at alleviating homelessness. They found that the governments did take some steps to align their work with federal guidelines, such as consulting with stakeholders when considering the needs of people experiencing homelessness.
Categorized in: Center for Government Innovation • Local governments •
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The COVID-19 pandemic forced local governments to rapidly convert many office employees to work-from-home employees. While some have returned to the workplace, many employees continue to work either fully or partially remotely. Working from home has many benefits, but it also brings additional risks because remote workers are more vulnerable to cybercrime than those who work in the office.
It doesn't matter if you're a small government, a big government, or somewhere in between: You have information that hackers want. From employee personal information and payroll to vendor payments, tax information, critical infrastructure and more, hackers want it all—and they're constantly evolving their tactics to get it.
Updated: Feb 7, 2023
Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced Oct. 3, 2022, that 125 local governments in Washington would receive $215 million under a resolution with three companies found responsible for fueling the opioid epidemic.
If it seems like data breaches are in the news nearly every day, it's because they are. While breaches at large companies often dominate the headlines, cybercriminals are also hacking local and state governments, public and private universities, and school districts. Yet, despite the prevalence of the breach-centric news cycle, many people don't know what exactly a data breach is, how it typically starts, and why it occurs.
When a cyberattack occurs, we often want to point the finger at our technical staff. We assume there must be a hole in our organization's security, and that our IT employees weren't doing all they could to prevent the attack. In reality, the days of simply relying on firewalls and antivirus software to keep hackers out of your network are over.
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) releases new accounting standards nearly every year, and local governments have to evaluate and implement them. We know it can be challenging and time-consuming to implement new standards properly. But as auditors, we also know that a poorly planned implementation can lead to financial statement errors and raise concerns about the quality of your internal controls.