Mission statement

The mission of the Office of the Public Auditor (OPA) is to serve the public interest by providing independent assessments that promote accountability, transparency, and excellence in governance within the programs, operations, and management of the Government of the State of Yap.

To achieve this mission, we conduct independent and objective audits, investigations, and other reviews to evaluate the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of government activities, ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, and to prevent, detect and deter waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct in the expenditure of public funds.

Who We Are

The OPA has been at the forefront of the state's efforts to fight government waste, fraud and abuse. Our vision is to be an agent of positive change and one that:

• Strives for continuous improvement and encourages fiscal integrity in program delivery and effectiveness.
• Is a continually learning and improving organization.
• Appreciates, challenges, respects, and honors its personnel.

What We Do

We carry out our mission using a multi-disciplinary and collaborative approach. The goal is to forge a strong alliance with management in identifying ways to enhance governmental processes and in prosecuting program abuses. We strive to make a difference in the state’s performance and accountability and endeavor to fulfill our mission by providing management with tools to improve operations. This is accomplished by conducting our work in an impartial, objective, and unbiased manner and in providing recommendations designed to bring to the attention of management opportunities for strengthening internal control and improving operating efficiency.

A majority of OPA’s resources are dedicated to supporting the audit of the government-wide financial statements performed by the external Certified Public Accounting firm. We conduct financial statement audits of the state’s component units and other entities which receive government funding. Our audits are performed in accordance with Government Auditing Standards, often referred to as “Yellow Book” audits. We also conduct performance audits in accordance with the Yellow Book, inspections and evaluations, reviews, and other analyses, surveys, and studies. We follow the Quality Standards for Inspections and Evaluations issued by the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) for the inspections and evaluations we conduct and, for investigative activities, the CIGIE Quality Standards for Investigations.