What Types of Audits Does the DOR Do? (Such As in State, out of State

Brandon,

I recently answered some similar questions to these for another student at Colorado in AIS. I'll do my best to answer your questions briefly in e-mail, if you have additional questions, you can contact me at 503-947-2129.

What types of audits does the DOR do? (such as in state, out of state,

corporation, individual, large companies, small companies or a mix of these)

All of the above. We have a Personal Income Tax division and a corporate audit division. Both involve auditing full year, part-year, and nonresidents.

What level auditors do you have and typically how many of each? (managers,

senior auditors, staff auditors)

We have Tax Auditor Entry (the first year), Tax Auditor 1 (automatically promoted to after first year) and Tax Auditor 2 (Senior Tax Auditor). Our Audit staff either works in the main building at the state capital (approximately 20 auditors personal income tax auditors and a similar amount for corporate auditors) or in a field office in a city in the state. (Probably 40 auditors are distributed throughout the field working on Personal Income tax)

Can you please explain the audit assignment process (is it performance based

or seniority based, do the auditors have a say in which audit they get, does it

differ for in state and out of state audits)?

We recently changed our assignment process. For audits, auditors are assigned an audit based on a "pull" done by a senior auditor. The senior auditor programs his criteria for which returns he wants the system to pull, and then the auditor is assigned returns to audit out of this pull. Auditors do not presently have a say in which audits they are assigned.

Are the auditors and managers happy with the current assignment process in

place?

It's still relatively new doing it this way, but so far it seems to be yielding decent results.

Do the auditors specialize in specific areas and types of businesses or do they

work all over?

In the past we have done more specialization. The division was divided up into teams and members of the teams would do audits related to the team they were on. This is still true to some extent, but we are focusing on quick and high dollar audits right due to the economic downturn so we are all auditing the same issues assigned from the pull.

What is the typical in state and out of state travel time per year per agent?

This really varies depending on what the agent is doing. Auditors that work in the main building have very little travel time. Field Auditors might have more, but I really can't even begin to guess how much.

Can you please explain your performance review system?

Initially, 100% of an auditor's work is reviewed. After the auditor shows competency, the review level is reduced to 20% and eventually down to 5%. This type of review is done by senior auditors to ensure the auditors adjustments are correct and properly explained. When an auditor makes an error on their audit, the reviewer gives them an error and the number of audits submitted for reviewer with errors on them is tracked. This number is known as an auditor's "error rate." We typically strive for no errors, but an error rate of 5% is considered acceptable for experienced auditors. We also keep track of the dollars generated from audits and have periodic meetings with our manager to discuss the metrics and other aspects of our performance.

Do you feel the performance review system is effective and is it being followed?

Yes

What types of incentives do you give agents to perform at their highest level?

First, we do an exceptional job of hiring driven employees. We are also offered several benefits such as flexible schedules and telecommuting opportunities, job shares (for employees who want to go from full time to part time). All of these types of benefits can be granted at the discretion of management. Practically, employees that are doing well get them. Those that are not, do not.

What benefits do you offer when recruiting new agents such as a set pay scale or

promotion and other benefits to stay competitive with public accounting firms?

The first big advantage we offer new agents is that our health care is fully paid for by DOR. When I moved from my previous job to DOR, the gross pay amount was only about 33% higher. However, the fact I no longer had to pay for health insurance resulted in my check being over 50% larger than it had been with my previous employer. We also are able to offer a less demanding work life than those in the private sector experience. Specifically, we work only 40 hrs a week and overtime is generally not allowed. As I'm sure you are aware, a 60+ hour work week is not uncommon in the private sector for accounting jobs. I've often made the case that by the time our retirement benefits (also funded by DOR), health insurance, and 40 hour work week is factored in, we probably do better on a per hour basis than those in the private sector.

What type of training do you offer (on the job, in a class room, additional

training every year)?

New Auditor's are hired in group hiring. They spend the first 6 weeks of their employment going through classroom training. They are then assigned mentors and begin doing single issue correspondence audits (i.e. They only look at one item on the tax return and don't meet with the taxpayer face to face). The classroom training has three tests. Each subject is taught by an auditor who has experience with the subject being taught. We also have yearly tax law updates and auditor workshops to improve our audit skills.

Would it be all right if a team member or I contact you in the future?

yes, if you have additional questions, please feel free to call me at 503-947-2129. No e-mail, please.

Jared Houser

Tax Auditor

503-947-2129