Peer Review of the 

Federal ElecƟon Commission 

Office of Inspector General 

FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION 

OFFICE OF 

INSPECTOR GENERAL 

Issued February 15, 2017 

Peer Review Report 
Table of Contents

System Review Report .................................................................................................................................. 1 

Enclosure 1 .................................................................................................................................................... 3 
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Farm Credit Administration Office of Inspector General

1501 Farm Credit Drive 

McLean, Virginia  22102‐5090

February 15, 2017 

Lynne A. McFarland 

Inspector General 

Federal Election Commission  

999 E Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20463 

System Review Report 

We have reviewed the system of quality control for the audit organization of the Federal Election 

Commission (FEC) Office of Inspector General (OIG) in effect for the year ended September 30, 2016. A 

system of quality of control encompasses the FEC OIG’s organizational structure and the policies 

adopted and procedures established to provide it with reasonable assurance of conforming with 

Government Auditing Standards. The elements of quality control are described in Government Auditing 

Standards. The FEC OIG is responsible for establishing and maintaining a system of quality control that is 

designed to provide the FEC OIG with reasonable assurance that the organization and its personnel 

comply with professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements in all material 

respects. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the design of the system of quality control and 

FEC OIG’s compliance therewith based on our review. 

Our review was conducted in accordance with Government Auditing Standards and the Council of the 

Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) Guide for Conducting Peer Reviews of the Audit 

Organizations of Federal Offices of Inspector General. During our review, we interviewed FEC OIG 

personnel and obtained an understanding of the nature of the FEC OIG audit organization, and the 

design of the FEC OIG’s system of quality control sufficient to assess the risks implicit in its audit 

function. Based on our assessments, we selected audits and administrative files to test for conformity 

with professional standards and compliance with the FEC OIG’s system of quality control. We selected 

the only performance audit conducted within the scope and the monitoring file of the most recently 

issued report within the scope. Prior to concluding the peer review, we reassessed the adequacy of the 

scope of the peer review procedures and met with the FEC OIG’s management to discuss the results of 

our review. We believe that the procedures we performed provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.   

In performing our review, we obtained an understanding of the system of quality control for the FEC OIG 

audit organization. In addition, we tested compliance with the FEC OIG’s quality control policies and 

procedures to the extent we considered appropriate. These tests covered the application of the FEC 

OIG’s policies and procedures on selected audits. Our review was based on selected tests; therefore, it 

would not necessarily detect all weaknesses in the system of quality control or all instances of 

noncompliance with it.   

There are inherent limitations in the effectiveness of any system of quality control, and, therefore, 

noncompliance with the system of quality control may occur and not be detected. Projection of any 

evaluation of a system of quality control to future periods is subject to the risk that the system of quality 
2 

control may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or because the degree of compliance 

with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. 

Enclosure 1 to this report identifies the FEC OIG office that we visited and the audits we reviewed. 

In our opinion, the system of quality control for the audit organization of the FEC OIG in effect for the 

year ended September 30, 2016, has been suitably designed and complied with to provide the FEC OIG 

with reasonable assurance of performing and reporting in conformity with applicable professional 

standards in all material respects. Audit organizations can receive rating of pass, pass with deficiencies, 

or fail. The FEC OIG has received an External Peer Review rating of pass. 

In addition to reviewing its system of quality control to ensure adherence with Government Auditing 

Standards, we applied certain limited procedures in accordance with guidance established by the CIGIE 

related to FEC OIG’s monitoring of audits performed by Independent Public Accountants (IPAs) under 

contract where the IPA served as the auditor. It should be noted that monitoring of audits performed by 

IPAs is not an audit and, therefore, is not subject to the requirements of Government Auditing 

Standards. The purpose of our limited procedures was to determine whether FEC OIG had controls to 

ensure IPAs performed contracted work in accordance with professional standards. However, our 

objective was not to express an opinion and accordingly, we do not express an opinion, on FEC OIG’s 

monitoring of work performed by IPAs. 

Elizabeth M. Dean 

Inspector General 

Farm Credit Administration  

Enclosure 
3 

Enclosure 1 

Scope and Methodology 

We tested compliance with the FEC OIG audit organization’s system of quality control to the extent we 

considered appropriate. These tests included a review of the audit report issued during the period October 

1, 2013 through September 30, 2016. We also reviewed the internal quality control reviews performed by 

the FEC OIG. 

In addition, we reviewed the FEC OIG’s monitoring of audits performed by an Independent Public 

Accounting Firm (IPA) where the IPA served as the auditor during the period October 1, 2014, through 

September 30, 2015. During the period, the FEC OIG contracted for the audit of its agency’s Fiscal Years 

2013, 2014, and 2015 financial statements. 

We visited the Washington, DC office of the FEC OIG. 

Reviewed Audits performed by the FEC OIG: 

Report Title  Report Date 

Audit of the FEC’s Telework Programs  June 2016 

Reviewed Monitoring Files of the FEC OIG for Contracted Audits:

Report Title  Report Date 

Audit of the Federal Election Commission’s Fiscal Year 

2015 Financial Statements  November 16, 2015