Analyzing the 2026 Invoice Auditing Report

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Published July 2026

Invoice auditing is detailed and painstaking work.  You need to analyze thousands of invoices to find the few that require attention.  This is a necessary function for the City of Albany that doesn’t have much visibility, either the work or the outcomes.   The Office of Audit and Control, led by recently elected Chief Auditor Sam Fein, released the 2026 Mid-year Invoice Auditing Report.   Earlier this year we analyzed previous Office of Audit and Control communications and found those communications to be exceptionally lacking.  We wanted to explore how the recent Invoice Auditing Report does or doesn’t improve upon the previous communications.

We believe that providing letter grades is a good method to sum up our findings; reviewing the Mid-year report we determined that the report is a solid B and is the type of report that we should expect from our City functions.  We also have 8 recommendations for improving this report.

There is a lot to like about the mid-year report:

1. Firstly, the report exists - this wasn't just a non-executed concept  
2. The report details and explains the high level numbers, $2.4 million, $6,000, 7,000 
3. The report categorizes, explains and measures the “Pre-payment invoice audit categories”
4. The report highlights specific case studies to help us - citizens - understand the types of actions that happen
5. The report explains process changes that are happening in reaction to findings patterns 
6. Chief Auditor Fein also hosted a Facebook Q&A session to provide an overview and answer questions 

The report is generally readable, low on jargon, and likely accessible to most audiences.

We can itemize the things that are deficient and represent opportunities for improvement as this report (hopefully) evolves:

1. Data availability - from our previous analysis of the Office of Audit and Control’s reports we understand that it is possible to release the data.  We want to see the basic data - each line representing an audit finding, a date, a dollar value, a vendor, and a disposition.  Releasing the accompanying data allows anyone to drill into details and to validate the Office’s findings (and audit the auditor).  
2. “Savings” is not the correct word - Words are important and we noted this in our commentary earlier this year.  The Office of Audit and Control’s work is not “Savings” for the City, rather the activities of the Auditor’s Office should be termed "preventing loss" versus "cost savings".  
3. Case Study #1, any ongoing process change? - We have seen from FOILing loss prevention data that there are typically one or two big ticket, multi-million dollar loss preventions that are identified each year.  Cast study #1 represents 90% of the reported 6 month savings.   For Case Study #1 we would want to understand if there are process changes that resulted from this finding.
4. P-Card accountability - The report notes purchasing credit card (P-Card) processing issues are now mitigated with a new fiscal control process.  We have noted in the City’s budgets statements such as this from the 2026 Approved budget (pdf page 39)  - “In collaboration with the Treasurer’s Office, improved City purchase card accountability.”  Our interest here is understanding when the process was redesigned and when the benefit began to accrue; is this a new process created in 2025 and now executed in 2026 or something else?  We want to understand this so that we can properly connect process improvement with return or yield.
5. A commitment for an ongoing report - is this report setting a precedent for a semi-annual report?  
6. Context is always helpful - how do these numbers compare against last year?
7. Goals are always helpful - does this report suggest any goals, overall or for individual auditing activities?
8. Is there any downside? - Is there anything that the Office did not get to or did not accomplish in a positive outcome?  The report comes across as a little too bullish which may or may not be the case.

The Office of Audit and Control’s report is a remarkable improvement over previous communications from the Office.  Previous communications explaining the work and outcomes were press releases, while this report is a tool for communication, education and assisting citizens in understanding the role and value of the Office of Audit and Control.

We noted numerous opportunities for improvement.  While we recognize that this is a subjective judgment, if we take the value of the communication and the opportunities for improvement we see this report as a solid B.  

This report is a template for future Office of Audit and Control communications.  More importantly the report is a great template for other City departments to explain what they do, how they do it, and what the benefit or value of the is.