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Vermont State Auditor
The auditor of accounts of Vermont, informally referred to as "the state auditor", is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of Government of Vermont, government of the U.S. state of Vermont. Twenty-nine individuals have occupied the office of state auditor since statehood. The incumbent is Doug Hoffer, Douglas R. Hoffer, a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat/Vermont Progressive Party, Progressive. He was first elected to office in 2012 Vermont elections, 2012. Election and term of office The auditor of accounts is one of six Constitution of Vermont, constitutional officers in Vermont, elected statewide every two years. Until 1870, Vermont elected its state auditor for one-year terms. Likewise, prior to an 1883 constitutional amendment, the state auditor was chosen by a vote of the Vermont General Assembly, as was the Secretary of State of Vermont, secretary of state. Since then, these two officials have been elected statewide on a Direct election, direct popular ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doug Hoffer
Douglas R. Hoffer Jr. (born September 3, 1951) is an American policy analyst from Burlington, Vermont, who is currently serving as the Vermont State Auditor. He took office on January 10, 2013. Early life and education Hoffer was born in New Rochelle, New York, and raised in Norwalk, Connecticut. He left high school in his junior year, and earned his high school equivalency two years later. He entered Williams College in 1981 at age 30, graduated with a B.A. in political science, and went on to receive a J.D. from the University at Buffalo Law School (magna cum laude). Career After leaving high school, Hoffer worked and traveled for over a decade. While living in the Berkshires in western Massachusetts, Doug worked as the Mâitre D’ at Alice's (Restaurant) at Avaloch in Lenox. Upon graduation from law school in 1988, he accepted a position with the City of Burlington in the Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO) having learned of the city's innovative approach t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vermont Attorney General
The Vermont attorney general is a statewide elected executive official in the U.S. state of Vermont who is elected every two years. It was created by an act of the Vermont General Assembly in 1790, repealed in 1797, and revived in 1904. The office began as a one-person operation located at Windsor, Vermont, the state's first capital. When the position was recreated in 1904 offices were located in the Vermont State House. The office is now headquartered in the The Pavilion (Vermont), Pavilion and is the largest employer of attorneys in the state. As of January 5, 2023, Charity Clark is the Vermont attorney general, having been elected in 2022 Vermont Attorney General election, 2022. The office provides legal counsel for all state agencies and the Vermont General Assembly, the state's legislative branch. It handles civil and criminal cases in all courts of the state for both the trial and appellate levels. It defends the state when it is sued and files suits to enforce Vermont’s cri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United States, the CPA is a license to provide accounting services to the public. It is awarded by each of the 50 states for practice in that state. Additionally, all states except Hawaii have passed mobility laws to allow CPAs from other states to practice in their state. State licensing requirements vary, but the minimum standard requirements include passing the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination, 150 semester units of college education, and one year of accounting-related experience. Continuing professional education (CPE) is also required to maintain licensure. Individuals who have been awarded the CPA but have lapsed in the fulfillment of the required CPE or who have requested conversion to inactive status are in many states permitte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Regulatory Compliance
In general, compliance means conforming to a rule, such as a specification, policy, standard or law. Compliance has traditionally been explained by reference to deterrence theory, according to which punishing a behavior will decrease the violations both by the wrongdoer (specific deterrence) and by others (general deterrence). This view has been supported by economic theory, which has framed punishment in terms of costs and has explained compliance in terms of a cost-benefit equilibrium (Becker 1968). However, psychological research on motivation provides an alternative view: granting rewards (Deci, Koestner and Ryan, 1999) or imposing fines (Gneezy Rustichini 2000) for a certain behavior is a form of extrinsic motivation that weakens intrinsic motivation and ultimately undermines compliance. Regulatory compliance describes the goal that organizations aspire to achieve in their efforts to ensure that they are aware of and take steps to comply with relevant laws, policies, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Internal Control
Internal control, as defined by accounting and auditing, is a process for assuring of an organization's objectives in operational effectiveness and efficiency, reliable financial reporting, and compliance with laws, regulations and policies. A broad concept, internal control involves everything that controls risks to an organization. It is a means by which an organization's resources are directed, monitored, and measured. It plays an important role in detecting and preventing fraud and protecting the organization's resources, both physical (e.g., machinery and property) and intangible (e.g., reputation or intellectual property such as trademarks). At the organizational level, internal control objectives relate to the reliability of financial reporting, timely feedback on the achievement of operational or strategic goals, and compliance with laws and regulations. At the specific transaction level, internal controls refers to the actions taken to achieve a specific objective (e.g., h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Program Evaluation
Program evaluation is a systematic method for collecting, analyzing, and using information to answer questions about projects, policies and programs, particularly about their effectiveness and efficiency. In the public, private, and voluntary sector, stakeholders might be required to assess—under law or charter—or want to know whether the programs they are funding, implementing, voting for, receiving or opposing are producing the promised effect. To some degree, program evaluation falls under traditional cost–benefit analysis, concerning fair returns on the outlay of economic and other assets; however, social outcomes can be more complex to assess than market outcomes, and a different skillset is required. Considerations include how much the program costs per participant, program impact, how the program could be improved, whether there are better alternatives, if there are unforeseen consequences, and whether the program goals are appropriate and useful. Evaluators h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supreme Audit Institution
A supreme audit institution is an independent national-level institution which conducts audits of government activities. Most supreme audit institutions are established in their country's constitution, and their mandate is further refined in national legislation. Supreme audit institutions play an important role in providing oversight and accountability in a country by monitoring the use of public funds and reviewing the quality and accuracy of government financial reporting. They also contribute to anti-corruption efforts. Depending on the country, a supreme audit institution may be called a court of audit (common in Europe and its former colonies), auditor-general (common in the Anglosphere) or the board of audit (in some Asian countries). Nearly every supreme audit institution in the world is a member of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions, which works to establish and disseminate international standards and good practices. In some countries, such as w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Government Accountability Office
The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan government agency within the legislative branch that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal government of the United States. It identifies its core "mission values" as: accountability, integrity, and reliability. It is also known as the "congressional watchdog". The agency is headed by the Comptroller General of the United States. The comptroller general is appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. When a vacancy occurs in the office of the comptroller general, Congress establishes a commission to recommend individuals to the president. The commission consists of the following: *the speaker of the United States House of Representatives *the president pro tempore of the United States Senate *the majority and minority leaders of the House of Representatives and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comptroller General Of The United States
The comptroller general of the United States is the director of the Government Accountability Office (GAO, formerly known as the General Accounting Office), a legislative-branch agency established by Congress in 1921 to ensure the fiscal and managerial accountability of the federal government. Overview The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 "created an establishment of the Government to be known as the General Accounting Office, which shall be independent of the executive departments and under the control and direction of the Comptroller General of the United States". The act also provided that the "Comptroller General shall investigate, at the seat of government or elsewhere, all matters relating to the receipt, disbursement, and application of public funds, and shall make to the President when requested by him, and to Congress... recommendations looking to greater economy or efficiency in public expenditures." The comptroller general is appointed for fifteen years by the pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Government Auditing Standards
The Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS), commonly referred to as the "Yellow Book", are produced in the United States by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The standards apply to both financial and performance audits of government agencies. Five general standards are included: * Independence * Due care * Continuing professional education (CPE) 80 hours every 2 years, 24 hours directly related to government auditing * Supervision * Quality control Quality control (QC) is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production. ISO 9000 defines quality control as "a part of quality management focused on fulfilling quality requirements". This approach plac ... The Yellow Book standards are used by auditors who examine the federal government, including the Government Accountability Office, various offices of inspectors general, and others. Many local government performance auditors also use the yellow book sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Government Performance Auditing
Government performance auditing focuses on improving how governments provide programs and services. While there is no one universally agreed upon definition, there are key definitions which capture the scope of government performance auditing. According to the US Government Auditing Standards, "Performance audits are defined as audits that provide findings or conclusions based on an evaluation of sufficient, appropriate evidence against criteria." Additionally, the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions defines performance auditing as "an independent examination of the efficiency and effectiveness of government undertakings, programs or organizations, with due regard to economy, and the aim of leading to improvements.'' History Government performance auditing was developed in the late 1960s and shepherded by the United States Government Accountability Office, (the chief audit arm of the US federal government). Government performance auditing has since spread to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abuse Of Authority
Abuse of power or abuse of authority, in the form of "malfeasance in office" or "official abuse of power", is the commission of an unlawful act, done in an official capacity, which affects the performance of official duties. Malfeasance in office is often a just cause for removal of an elected official by statute or recall election. Officials who abuse their power are often corrupt. In the United States, abuse of power has been cited in the impeachment of at least five federal officials. Two of these (Judge George English and President Richard Nixon) resigned before their trial in the Senate could take place, and two others were acquitted by the Senate. The first impeachment trial of President Donald Trump concluded with the president being found not guilty on both articles of impeachment with one of them being the charge of abuse of power. At the state level, Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois was impeached and unanimously removed from office by the Illinois Senate in 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
