With programs in 26 countries, many people wonder how we maintain the excellence and good stewardship of our operations around the world. In addition to annual external audits, we ensure the highest integrity in our programs through internal auditing.

Internal auditing, both in the development centers and country offices, is designed to determine how well our operations are running and to identify weaknesses that are causing goals and objectives to go unmet.

The first type of audit is known as a Center/Partnership Audit. Its primary purpose is to ensure that development centers are complying with our standards.

“These are conducted by a Partnership Auditor who resides in the country office,” says Walt Hintz, Compassion’s Field Audit Manager. There are about 50 Partnership Auditors worldwide. Partnership Auditors look at both financial and operational issues.

The center audits cover areas such as management, structure, budget, Christian development, finances and program communications. The focus is to make sure that the kids are communicating with their sponsors, that they are attending the centers, that funds are being used for their intended purposes, and that the program is being implemented the way it should be.

The first step of the auditing process is planning. The Partnership Auditors coordinate the auditing schedule with the Partnership Facilitators (who are the link between the country offices and the child development centers) and the directors of each center.

Before any audit takes place, the Partnership Auditors review past information from each center. This includes previous auditing results, Monthly Financial Reports, and Complementary Intervention (CIV) Fund proposals and reports. The Partnership Auditors assess this information before arriving at the center so that they can have a clear understanding of the potential risks and issues.

Finally, the Partnership Auditors may interview country office staff, such as the accountant, the CIV administrator, and the communications staff who have experience working with the center, prior to visiting the center. Then it’s time to visit the centers.

On average, a Partnership Auditor spends eight to ten hours in each center. While there, the auditor conducts interviews with the teachers and students and goes through financial records, child attendance records, child files and organizational documents.

A typical risk auditors look to assess involves proper documentation of expenses. Many of the countries we work with are cash societies, and receipts are not typically given. Center workers often have to ask the vendor to hand write a receipt, and it is up to the auditor to emphasize the importance of proper financial documentation to the center leaders.

After the audit takes place, the auditor communicates the findings with the center leadership, the Partnership Facilitator and the Country Management Team. Communicating the risk areas will ultimately lead to improving the partnership between Compassion and the local church.

Post audit, the auditor conducts an exit meeting to discuss the findings from the audit with the church partner and the Partnership Facilitator who is responsible for the relationship between the center and the country office.

During this meeting, the Partnership Facilitator and Partnership Auditor will document “Action Items,” — the important issues that need to be dealt with — and rate the items according to the level of risk. The Partnership Facilitator will work with the Implementing Church Partner to develop a plan to address the risk areas.

Afterward, a the completed audit report will be sent to the Country Director, the Partnership Facilitator, and Program Implementation Manager.

Our corporate standard is that 60 percent of centers must be audited each year with no more than 30 months between audits. This audit frequency prevents centers from going unaudited for more than two-and-a-half years. Also, it ensures that higher risk centers will be visited more frequently.

In between audits, the centers are frequently communicated with and visited by the Partnership Facilitators to ensure all is well.

Similar to the Partnership Audits, the second category of internal audits is the Country Office Audit.

Country Office Audits are holistic reviews of the operations and administration of our country offices. In order to improve business processes, these audits cover areas such as organizational management, human resources, payroll, financial reporting and program communications.

Typically, this includes four to eight center visits, and unlike center audits, these visits look for larger trends that reveal management, country or process issues.

Country Office Audits are conducted by four Senior Field Auditors, who are responsible for performing audits within a geographic area.

Like the Partnership Audits, the Country Office Audits are primarily risk based. Country offices are audited approximately every 24 months.

Once in the field, the auditor has an initial meeting with the Country Management Team (CMT) of that country office. This is followed by a series of individual interviews and center visits. For a period of about two weeks, the auditor conducts interviews and reviews documentation in both the country office and the centers.

Based on what the Field Auditor finds, certain issues will become “Action Items.” At the conclusion of the audit, the Auditor provides a list of these action items to the country office and the CMT during the exit meeting. The office staff determine how to address and resolve those items. The plan is then approved and it comes back to our Global Ministry Center in Colorado for filing. Internal Audit staff receive updates as the plans are completed.

Most issues are resolved within 90 days. Sometimes, action items are dealt with immediately, and sometimes complex issues may take years. Even though the issues range in severity, the vast majority of issues are considered low risk. Very few are considered high risk.

In the end, our goal in internally auditing both our centers and country offices is to uphold our core values and provide accountability for the goals and objectives we have set out to achieve.

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Seventeen months. I am an auditor.

2. What are the main responsibilities of being an auditor?

Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the partner church as well as the challenges it faces.

We look for strengths so that these can be used as a support for other churches. We look for weaknesses and challenges so we can suggest solutions and give the appropriate follow-up in order to correct and solve problems in the churches.

In other words, we hope to provide necessary and timely support to the church.

3. What does an average day look like for you?

Well, first of all I put each day in God’s hands. If there is a day with a scheduled visit to any child development center, I would have previously informed the center through the partnership facilitator.

Once I arrive at the center I gather the staff together and share in devotions before collecting information about different areas of child development.

I have a time in which I clarify any doubts about the information-gathering process. Prior to this, I have a special meeting with the administrative staff in order to evaluate them and the center documentation.

I also interview some children in order to understand their concerns and measure the results of the program objectives.

At the end of the auditing process I have a time to share the results of the visit. I make some suggestions and take into consideration the pastor’s opinion as well as those of the members of the support committee and administrative staff. This is known as the “exit meeting,” and we go through everything in the center activities log.

When there is no scheduled visit, I usually work on auditing reports at the office, revising center follow-ups and attending to any doubts or problems the church partners might have about the process.

4. What is the best part of your job?

Talking with the children and finding in each of them the fruit that each of us as Compassion staff have passed on to them.

5. What is the most challenging part of your job?

Not having enough time.

Sometimes a single day is not enough to evaluate objectively each center in all its areas, especially when I have to answer any questions and concerns of the staff.

Sometimes there is not enough time for the home visits, and besides that we are still working with the auditing concept because there are churches that have a wrong idea of the auditing objectives. In some cases we have a hostile environment as a result.

But God is in control of everything, and He just sets up every piece in its right place.

6. Why did you choose this particular area of work?

I think that God called me to this ministry. I feel privileged that the Lord has considered me useful, and I have tried to give my best to honor Him.

Professionally, I have had experience in the auditing field, and I’m prepared academically for the job.

Everything that I have been through with Compassion has been a unique experience with a remarkable objective – giving better support to churches.

Before working for Compassion, I used to work in a bank.

My work at the bank absorbed all my time and kept me from serving God. I felt burdened because of this. I prayed to the Lord for a new job that would not infringe upon my service at church.

During that week, I was told about a job opportunity in Compassion. I sent my resume, and I was called the following week for an interview. That same week I was hired.

Four months later I was promoted to project auditor. I know this was a response from God.

7. What motivates you about your job?

Knowing that this is not just another job. This is the place that God has given me here. Here I have the honor to serve the Owner of the kingdom.

8. What have you learned as a result of your job (about yourself, the plight of children or the way that God works)?

I have learned to value each thing that God has given to me. I have seen God moving in a powerful way. God has used different people from this ministry to help me to grow in His word and also as a person.

I have learned to see hope, love and humility in the eyes of the children. I feel pleased about what I’m doing in this place.

9. Will you share a situation or incident you have experienced through your job that has touched your heart?

I remember one day I was visiting a church at around 1:30 in the afternoon. As the many children began to come into the center, I noticed three children between between the ages of 4 and 7 years old who looked like brothers. They looked sad, and the youngest one was crying.

I talked to them, and they told me that they were very hungry because they had not had anything to eat since noon of the last day. Their mother was looking for a job in order to feed her children. The children were waiting anxiously for the lunch at the center.

On another occasion, I visit a center located in Santa Bárbara, and had the opportunity to talk to a young man.

He told about some surgeries that he had gone through in order to correct some problems that he had in his internal organs.

He said to me, “I’m alive because of the grace of God and thanks to the support of Compassion and my sponsor.” He told me his family would not have been able to cover all of his medical expenses.

10. Do you have a message for sponsors who support the children?

I think it is important that every sponsor know that their support changes the lives of many children. The sponsors are very important in the lives of these little ones. Not just because of the financial support, but also because of the communication and relationships they build. The letters let the children know that there is somebody out there in other place that loves them even without knowing them.

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