Achieving Accountability in Business and Government: Managing for Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Economy.

• Author: Wheeler, John R.

Sheldon, D.R.

Westport CT: Quorum Books, 1996. (156 pp)

Reviewed by John R. Wheeler, audit and budget manager, City of Akron, Ohio, and member of GFOA's Committee on Accounting, Auditing, and Financial Reporting.

The author states in the preface that people are concerned about the lack of accountability and that accountability is lacking at all levels of government and private industry. The author believes that the lack of accountability has frustrated citizens, leading them to reject needed tax increases. It also has posed a problem in the private sector, as stockholders do not trust management and have turned away from the capital markets. The author proposes that value-for-money auditing, or performance auditing, is needed to enhance accountability. This book is directed to citizen groups, managers, government officials, and students of management. Public managers and auditors might find this book most useful in running or reviewing governmental operations.

In the first chapter, the author provides examples of waste in the federal government and the private sector and examines how performance auditing benefits an organization. Describing what accountability means and how it can be achieved through formal, timely public reporting, she discusses evaluation of efficiency, effectiveness, and economy in performance auditing, focusing on how performance auditing in the public sector can identify waste, make recommendations to improve internal controls, and determine if program goals are being achieved.

In the second chapter, the author establishes how and why performance auditing can be used to improve economy, efficiency, and effectiveness. The challenge of not disclosing too much or too little information in the audit report is addressed. The various types of audits that can be performed for public and private sectors are reviewed in detail.

In Chapter 3, the author shows how performance auditing can evaluate various programs' interrelationships, and the reader is walked through the areas of the audit needed for a successful performance audit. The State of Maryland lottery program is used to describe how an audit could be done to evaluate the total effect of the lottery on the state budget. Discussions of preaudit planning, audit plan development, background analysis, timetable, cost and resource development, and opportunity cost are followed by details about the audit program - implementation, methodology, and audit evidence. The author...