COMMISSION ON AUDIT MEMORANDUM NO.

99-089
December 14, 1999

TO : The Director, Local Government Audit Office; All Directors and Officers-in-
Charge, COA Regional Offices; Provincial/City/Municipal Auditors; Audit
Teams assigned to audit Barangays and others concerned.

SUBJECT : Three-Year Period Cyclical Audit of Barangays and Uniform Simplified Format
of Reporting.

A. CYCLICAL AUDIT

The Local Government Code of 1991 (RA 7160) provides, among others, that
representatives of the Commission on Audit shall audit the barangay accounts annually or as
often as maybe necessary.

The annual audit of all barangays is difficult to attain, considering the 41,939 barangays
to be audited nationwide as compared to the number of auditors available to undertake the
audit thereof. Hence, COA Resolution No. 97-002 dated January 9, 1997 was issued
wherein the Commission Proper resolved to adopt the policy of cyclical audit of barangays. It
provides that the Provincial/City/Municipal Auditor may upon approval of the COA Director
concerned, adopt the cyclical audit of the barangays such that within the period of two years,
an Audit Report on Barangays (ARB) shall have been rendered for all the barangays under
the audit jurisdiction of the Auditor concerned. Under said resolution, the system and criteria
for the ranking of barangays for purposes of determining audit priorities are as follows:

a) Audit is specifically requested by the President or by other authorities.

b) Barangays that are subject of serious complaints.
c) Where transactions of a barangay are found after audit to be tainted with
irregularities.
d) Barangays with substantial or biggest amount of funds in relation to or compared
to others in the same city/municipality.
e) Barangays undergoing change in administration for reasons other than the result
of an election.

The Resolution also states that for barangays audited in the second year of the two-year
period, the Audit Report shall cover the period from the last audit conducted up to the portion
of the current year when the audit was actually undertaken.

In the past two years that the cyclical audit has been implemented, some auditors found
the two-year period for the cyclical audit of all barangays to be insufficient. This
Memorandum therefore, is issued to give auditors the option to adopt either the annual, two
or three-year cyclical audit of barangays to enable them to cover the audit of all the
barangays under their audit jurisdiction without sacrificing the quality of audit. The adoption
of the two or three-year cycle is subject to the condition that the auditor must have the prior
approval of the COA Director/Officer-in-Charge concerned.

To further facilitate audit work, auditors are hereby authorized to use any of the audit
sampling methodologies prescribed by the Commission in the post-audit of barangay
accounts.

B. AUDIT REPORT ON BARANGAYS (ARB)

1.0 RATIONALE

These revised guidelines are hereby prescribed to ensure uniformity of presentation

and preparation of the ARB; and to conform with the provisions of COA Resolution No.
97-002 dated 9 January 1997.

2.0 OBJECTIVE

The ARB as the final output on the results of the audit of barangays, shall have the
following objectives:

a) inform the barangay officials of problems confronting their barangay;

b) provide recommendation to remedy the problems identified; and
c) serve as an aid in legislation and decision making of the auditee.

3.0 REPORT FORMAT

The ARB shall have the following format:

3.1 Cover

The cover shall be labeled as follows:

a. For barangays outside Metro Manila --

Republic of the Philippines

COMMISSION ON AUDIT
(Provincial/City Auditors Office)
___________(Address)__________

AUDIT REPORT

ON

______________________
(Barangay)

_____________________________
(City/Municipality)

_____________________________
(Province)

For the Period _____________ to ___________

b. For barangays within Metro Manila --

 Republic of the Philippines
COMMISSION ON AUDIT
(City/Municipal Auditors Office)
___________(Address)__________

AUDIT REPORT

ON

______________________
(Barangay)

_____________________________
(City/Municipality)

For the Period _____________ to ___________

3.2 Letter of Transmittal

This is a letter signed by the respective City/Municipal Auditor addressed to the

Barangay Chairman concerned, in case of Metro Manila barangays. For
barangays outside Metro Manila, the letter of transmittal shall be signed by the
concerned Provincial/City Auditor. It shall contain the following:

subject matter of the report, period covered and type of audit employed;
highlights of the report focusing on the financial position and operations
of the barangay;
significant audit findings and the corresponding recommendations; and
acknowledgement of the cooperation extended to the auditing staff.

3.3 Flyleaf

The Flyleaf is the blank page between the Cover and the Table of Contents.

3.4 Table of Contents

The Table of Contents is the outline of the Report Proper with the corresponding
starting page number opposite each topic.
3.5 Report Proper

3.5.1 Part I - Introduction

3.5.2 Part II - Findings and Recommendations
3.5.3 Part III - Status of Implementation by the Auditee of Prior
Years Audit Recommendations
3.5.4 Part IV - Appendices

(Please see Annex A for the details and examples of the content of the Report
Proper)
4.0 PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION OF THE ARB

All audit teams assigned to audit barangays shall prepare the ARBs under their audit
jurisdiction and shall submit the same to the Provincial/City/Municipal Auditor
concerned not later than April 30 of each year.

5.0 REVIEW, TRANSMITTAL AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE REPORT

The ARB shall be reviewed and transmitted to the Punong Barangay (Barangay
Chairman) not later than May 30 of each year. The transmittal letter shall be signed by:

a) Metro Manila Barangays - City/Municipal Auditor concerned

b) Barangays Outside Metro Manila - Provincial/City Auditor concerned

The following shall also be furnished copies of the Report:

The City/Municipal Mayor concerned

The Presiding Officer, Sangguniang Panlungsod/Bayan

6.0 SUMMARY OF AUDIT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The Provincial/City Auditors (for Barangays outside Metro Manila) and City/Municipal
Auditors (for Metro Manila Barangays) shall submit to the LGAO on or before June 15
of each year the Summary of Audit Findings and Recommendations. The Findings and
Recommendations which should be classified as to audit areas shall include details as
to the number of barangays and amount involved. The audit areas may be classified as
follows:

Cash
Fixed Assets
Revenue
Procurement
Others

7.0 REPEALING CLAUSE

Any provision of existing memoranda/issuances of the Commission inconsistent

herewith is hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

8.0 EFFECTIVITY

This Memorandum shall take effect in the 1999 audit of barangays.

(Sgd.) CELSO D. GAGAN

Chairman
ANNEXES:

Annex A - (MS Word 97, 36 KB)

Annexes B and C - (MS Word 97, 24 KB)