Audit Findings

Audit findings are the results or conclusions an audit reaches after examining evidence against established criteria. A finding generally identifies the condition observed, the criteria that apply, the underlying cause or effect, and, in many audit reports, a recommendation for corrective action.

The term appears throughout internal-audit, compliance-audit, procurement, contracting, and contract-management reports in the Canadian federal government. Findings may address governance, controls, documentation, approvals, compliance, oversight, risk management, and corrective actions. Related terms include audit criteria, audit evidence, audit opinion, recommendation, management response, corrective action, non-compliance, and management control framework.

How Canadian federal departments report audit findings

Departments structure findings in different ways, but each report ties its conclusions to evidence and criteria. The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat organizes its Horizontal Internal Audit of Procurement Governance as numbered findings. Finding 1, Finding 2, and Finding 3 cover procurement direction and training, procurement information and data, and departmental procurement-management frameworks.

Canadian Heritage uses the term in its audit of procurement practices. The report states that, based on the audit findings, the department had a procurement-governance framework. It also identified opportunities to improve oversight, planning, resource deployment, and quality assurance.

The Correctional Service of Canada reports weaknesses and improvement opportunities in its audit of procurement and contracting processes. Its findings cover policy-framework clarity, internal controls, documentation, and the reporting of non-compliance. The audit also reports that processes exist to identify and escalate procurement non-compliance.

What procurement audit findings look like in practice

Findings tend to be specific and tied to a control or a record. The Public Service Commission of Canada audit of procurement assessed procurements against criteria such as proactive disclosure, departmental internal processes, control frameworks, document retention, and conflict-of-interest requirements. It found that some required procurement documents were not on file.

The National Research Council Canada reports findings in two audits. Its audit of professional services contracting identified opportunities to improve governance, information and risk management, and quality assurance. Its audit of procurement and contracting identified expenditure-initiation controls as requiring improvement.

The Canada Border Services Agency applies the term to contract management. Its contract-management audit reports recommended stronger contract monitoring, centralized storage of contract-management documentation, periodic spot checks, and corrective action where required.

Findings, recommendations, and management responses

• Finding: what the audit concluded after comparing evidence to criteria.
• Recommendation: the corrective action the audit proposes, where the report includes one.
• Management response: the department's reply and its planned corrective actions.
• Non-compliance: a departure from a policy, rule, or contract requirement that a finding may report.

These elements let readers see what was examined, what fell short, and what the organization committed to change.

What audit findings mean for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

Most published procurement audit findings are about the buying organization's own governance, controls, and records. For a supplier, a finding becomes directly relevant when it is incorporated into a solicitation, contract, assurance requirement, corrective-action request, supplier-performance review, or audit of the supplier's work.

No universal Canadian rule requires every supplier to respond to every audit finding. The required response depends on the specific solicitation or contract clause, so bid teams should read audit, records, and corrective-action provisions closely. Published audit reports also show where departments are tightening documentation, monitoring, and oversight. Suppliers can expect those same areas to receive attention during contract administration.