We NEED a CPA for our State Auditor! It Makes SO Much Sense!

I have a good friend who works for Auston in the State Auditing Department. We talked about Auston's ability to sit down s employees and suggest methods for improvement and show them how to catch and correct common mistakes made by various governmental agencies. A non-CPA may be able to judge the efficiencies in his office, but he will never be able to certifiably tell a CPA how to improve his personal work because he can't do it himself. I have had a supervisor at work who never did my job. I could not go to her with a quick question on a procedure or policy because she invariably had to go to someone else to look up the answer, which often took way too long to benefit me or my client. Her team often resorted to asking other supervisors or simply circumventing her to avoid the delays. She was not ever able to provide constructive feedback or spot common mistakes on evaluations because she was not sufficiently familiar with our ever-changing standards to do so. Her team's performance scores looked great on paper because she didn't catch nearly the level of mistakes another supervisor would. This is a SERIOUS issue in our State Auditing Department. Auston has the respect of his employees, while "Frugal Dugall" has bad-mouthed and insulted the employees he hopes to supervise. That has to count for something.

Re-Elect Auston Johnson, CPA, as State Auditor

Fellow State Delegates:

My name is Val Oveson and I am a State Delegate from Bountiful, Davis County. I’m also the former Utah State Auditor (1981-1984), the former Lt. Governor (1985-1993) and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). I’m writing to you today to discuss the facts about government auditing and the consequences of having a State Auditor who is not a CPA.

The Utah Code requires the State Auditor to annually examine and certify the State’s financial statements. State law also requires these audits to be performed in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. See Utah Code 67-3-1 (2) and (3).

Generally accepted auditing standards require that someone signing financial statements have the appropriate qualifications. The professional qualifications require the auditor to have the necessary education and experience in the area they are practicing (governmental accounting and auditing) and to be a licensed CPA. If the State Auditor does not hold a license as a CPA, he or she would be required to hire a CPA to supervise the work of the office and sign the audit reports.

The potential consequences if the State financial statements were not audited and certified by a CPA are:

The State could lose it's AAA bond rating, resulting in increased bonding costs for the State and all the local governments in the State.
The State could lose it's prestigious status as one of the financially best managed states.
It would be difficult to attract qualified CPAs and maintain the exceptional reputation that the State Auditor’s Office enjoys today.
The costs to the State would increase because of the duplication of having to hire a CPA to supervise the work of the office and sign the audit reports.

David S. Monson was the first CPA elected to the State Auditor’s Office in 1972. Prior to 1972, the State Auditor’s Office did no professional auditing and the State did not prepare comprehensive financial statements. The world has changed for the better since 1972 and the tradition of our citizens electing a CPA has continued to this date. The chronology of CPA State Auditors is as follows:

David S. Monson, CPA -- 1973-1977
Richard Jensen, CPA -- 1977-1981
W. Val Oveson, CPA -- 1981-1985
Tom L. Allen, CPA -- 1985-1995
Auston G. Johnson, CPA -- 1995-Present

Does the law allow us to elect someone to this important office who is not a CPA? Yes it does. The question is why would we want to do that? Auston Johnson, our current State Auditor is not only a very qualified and competent CPA with years of government accounting and auditing experience, he is much, much more. Auston is a very good person with a great family and a long history of community service. Auston is a conservative Republican who shares our values and has a track record of exceptional public service. He is a Navy veteran and served our Country well in Vietnam.

Join me in voting for a CPA. Join me in voting for Auston Johnson to continue serving us as our State Auditor.



W. Val Oveson, CPA







Documentation of the Professional requirement found in Utah State Statues and Professional Auditing Standards.



Utah Code

67-3-1: Functions and duties. (Excerpts)

(2) The state auditor shall examine and certify annually in respect to each fiscal year, financial statements showing:

(a) the condition of the state's finances;

(b) the revenues received or accrued;

(c) expenditures paid or accrued;

(d) the amount of unexpended or unencumbered balances of the appropriations to the agencies, departments, divisions, commissions, and institutions; and

(e) the cash balances of the funds in the custody of the state treasurer.

(3) (a) The state auditor shall:

(i) audit each permanent fund, each special fund, the General Fund, and the accounts of any department of state government or any independent agency or public corporation as the law requires, as the auditor determines is necessary, or upon request of the governor or the Legislature;

(ii) perform the audits in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and other auditing procedures as promulgated by recognized authoritative bodies;

58-26a-305. Exemptions from licensure.

(1) In addition to the exemptions from licensure in Section 58-1-307, the following may engage in acts included within the definition of the practice of public accountancy, subject to the stated circumstances and limitations, without being licensed under this chapter:

(d) a public official or employee while performing his official duties;



Auditing Standards

AU 110.04 The professional qualifications required of the independent auditor are those of a person with the education and experience to practice as such.



Code of Professional Conduct

Interpretations under Rule 201 —General Standard.

.02 201-1—Competence.

A member's agreement to perform professional services implies that the member has the necessary competence to complete those professional services according to professional standards, applying his or her knowledge and skill with reasonable care and diligence, but the member does not assume a responsibility for infallibility of knowledge or judgment.

Competence to perform professional services involves both the technical qualifications of the member and the member's staff and the ability to supervise and evaluate the quality of the work performed. Competence relates both to knowledge of the profession's standards, techniques and the technical subject matter involved, and to the capability to exercise sound judgment in applying such knowledge in the performance of professional services.

The member may have the knowledge required to complete the services in accordance with professional standards prior to performance. In some cases, however, additional research or consultation with others may be necessary during the performance of the professional services. This does not ordinarily represent a lack of competence, but rather is a normal part of the performance of professional services.

However, if a member is unable to gain sufficient competence through these means, the member should suggest, in fairness to the client and the public, the engagement of someone competent to perform the needed professional service, either independently or as an associate.
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