Why can OLMS accept the report of a unions independent auditor?
OLMS recognizes the important role that independent auditors play in ensuring union compliance with financial accounting standards and norms. The investigator will rely on the work product of an independent auditor, but only to a degree. An OLMS compliance audit is different from the work performed by a typical auditor. Auditors concern themselves with the financial and business aspects of a union’s operations. In the case of many unions, an external auditor does not actually conduct an “audit,” but provides what is known in the accounting profession as a “compilation” – a presentation of the union’s original data in the form of financial statements and supplemental schedules. In contrast, the role of an OLMS investigator is to assess compliance with all aspects of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) and the Civil Service Report Act (CSRA). Because the role of OLMS is much broader, compliance audits are more detailed and more thorough than a compilation or even a
