Federal audits do not wait for agencies to be ready. They arrive on a schedule that reflects the auditor’s priorities, not the agency’s workload. When an agency is not prepared — when documentation is incomplete, internal controls are untested, and staff are unclear on what auditors will ask — the results show up in findings that take years to close and recommendations that follow the agency into every subsequent budget justification.
Audit readiness is not a project you launch when an audit is announced. It is a condition the agency either maintains or does not. We help federal agencies achieve and sustain that condition — supporting A-123 audits, compliance audits, financial audits, integrated audits, and operational audits with the same standard of preparation and discipline across every engagement.
The Federal Audit Landscape
Federal agencies face multiple overlapping audit obligations. Inspectors general conduct financial and operational audits. GAO performs program evaluations and special reviews at congressional direction. The Office of Management and Budget drives financial statement audit requirements under the CFO Act. And OMB Circular A-123 requires agencies to assess and report on the effectiveness of their internal controls annually.
Each type of audit examines a different dimension of agency performance, and each carries its own standards, evidence requirements, and reporting obligations. Agencies that treat every audit as a unique event — rather than as part of a continuous accountability framework — consistently find themselves underprepared, scrambling to produce documentation that should have been current all along.
The five audit types we support each address a distinct accountability need.
A-123 audits assess the design and operating effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting, consistent with OMB Circular A-123 requirements. Agencies must evaluate their controls annually and report to OMB on their findings and remediation.
Compliance audits examine whether agency operations conform to applicable laws, regulations, and policies. They surface the gaps between what the agency is required to do and what it is actually doing.
Financial audits evaluate the accuracy and completeness of the agency’s financial statements and the underlying accounting records that support them. A clean financial audit opinion is a meaningful indicator of financial management quality.
Integrated audits combine financial statement examination with internal control assessment, providing a single, comprehensive view of financial management effectiveness and control reliability.
Operational audits evaluate the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of agency programs and operations — examining whether the agency is achieving its objectives and whether it is doing so in a way that uses public resources responsibly.
What Audit Readiness Actually Requires
Audit readiness is built on three things that agencies either have or do not have when the auditors arrive: current documentation, tested controls, and informed personnel.
Current documentation means that the records auditors will request — transaction support, policy documents, control narratives, reconciliations, and correspondence — exist, are accurate, and can be produced quickly. Documentation that is incomplete, outdated, or stored in ways that make retrieval difficult is documentation that will generate findings.
Tested controls means that the internal controls the agency claims to have are actually operating as designed. Many agencies have well-written control descriptions that bear little resemblance to what staff are actually doing. An A-123 assessment or an IG audit will surface that gap. We help agencies find it first.
Informed personnel means that the staff who will interact with auditors — answering questions, producing documents, and walking through processes — understand what auditors are looking for and how to respond accurately and efficiently. An unprepared interview is one of the most avoidable sources of audit findings.
We help agencies build and maintain all three. Our audit support engagements are structured to close readiness gaps before the audit begins and to manage the audit process efficiently once it is underway.
After the Audit: Managing Findings and Recommendations
An audit that produces findings is not a failure — it is information. What agencies do with that information is what matters. Findings that sit unresolved generate repeat findings. Repeat findings attract escalating scrutiny from IG offices, GAO, OMB, and congressional oversight staff. The agencies that manage this cycle most effectively are the ones that treat audit recommendations as management priorities, not compliance tasks.
We support agencies in developing corrective action plans that are specific, time-bound, and tied to the root causes of the findings — not just the symptoms. We track implementation, document progress, and ensure that the controls or processes put in place actually address what auditors identified. When the next audit cycle begins, the finding is closed.
Working with ACG
We bring direct federal audit experience to every engagement. Our team understands the standards that govern federal audit activity, the documentation requirements auditors expect, and the internal control frameworks agencies are measured against. We have supported agencies through IG audits, GAO reviews, A-123 assessments, and financial statement audits across multiple agency types and mission areas.
We scope our audit support to where the agency needs it most — pre-audit readiness assessment, active audit management, corrective action plan development, or ongoing internal control monitoring. Every engagement is oriented toward the same outcome: an agency that does not have to fear its next audit because it is prepared for it.
If your agency is preparing for an upcoming audit, working to close prior findings, or building the internal control infrastructure to sustain audit readiness year over year, we are prepared to help.
Anglin Consulting Group, Inc. provides financial solutions to federal agencies, including audit support, budget formulation and execution, and accounting support. Learn more at anglincg.com/cap/financial-solutions/