DEVELOPING A Strategy FOR AUDITING OUTSOURCED PUBLIC SECTOR CONTRACTS

At every level of the public sector, government officials are contracting with commercial sector firms at an ever-increasing pace to provide services previously delivered by their own employees.12 With the current emphasis on outsourcing for services,3 public sector managers may find themselves without adequate resources to assure that the quality, quantity, timing and cost of service delivery is meeting expectations. These managers are relying on their audit staffs to examine the issue of outsourced services to determine whether outsourcing is meeting service delivery requirements. Public sector audit organizations are preparing themselves to assume this recently expanded responsibility.