Columbus - Auditor of State Dave Yost announced today that Plante & Moran, PLLC will be the accounting firm to conduct the first performance audit of a state agency: the Auditor of State’s office.  Plante & Moran was selected from a pool of six firms who responded to the Auditor of State’s Request for Proposal.  
 
“This is an exciting first step in “skinnying” down government through performance audits.”  Auditor Yost said.  “The signing of Senate Bill 4 this week will kick off a statewide effort to streamline government, and I am looking forward to being the first state agency to be evaluated.”
 
Senate Bill 4, which will be signed into law by Governor Kasich tomorrow, requires a performance audit of certain state agencies each biennium. Auditor Yost has voiced his support for this legislation and believes performance audits will streamline government by helping agencies identify waste, inefficiency or duplication of services.
 
Auditor Yost pledged to have his office be the first state agency to undergo a performance audit.  In following through on that promise, Auditor Yost released a Request for Proposals for a performance audit of the office on February 7, 2011.  A panel comprised of Brenda Rinehart, Chief of Staff of the Auditor of State’s office; Michael Grodhaus, Chief Legal Counsel for the Governor’s Office; and Laura Hay, CPA of the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants reviewed all applications.  The period for submission closed on March 7th, 2011.
 
“Thank you to Laura and the Ohio Society of CPA’s as well as Michael and the Governor’s office for helping us evaluate the RFP’s and determine the best firm for the job,” Auditor Yost said.  “Their objective input was invaluable to the process.”
 
The performance audit of the Auditor of State’s office will focus primarily on the office’s business operations and finances to ensure the best use of available resources and that the office reflects best practices in the audit field.  
 
The selection of Plante & Moran will be submitted to the State Controlling Board later this month.

The Auditor of State is one of five independently elected offices under the Ohio Constitution. Auditor Yost’s office is responsible for auditing over 5,600 state and local government agencies. Staff also works in partnership with state and local governments to deal effectively with financial, accounting and budgetary issues.

Contact:
Carrie Bartunek
Press Secretary
(614) 728-7198