The noun “audit” is defined in several ways, including an examination of records or accounts to check their accuracy, an adjustment or correction of accounts, and an examined and verified account. These three definitions would seem to suggest auditors must possess accounting, bookkeeping, or other “administrative” talents. Although knowledge in such disciplines is obviously helpful, other areas of understanding are equally valuable.

      It is interesting to note the word audit is derived from the Latin auditus, which means a hearing, reportedly taken from the past participle of audire, meaning, to hear. From this, we might conclude that an audit is actually a sort of trial or test. Might it also be fair to presume that this suggests an auditor should strive to be a good listener? The answer is most assuredly yes.

      A measurement audit should seek immediate as well as long-term results by satisfying the present audit scope while also improving the entire gas measurement and accounting process for all involved parties.

      Said another way, it is a good idea for gas companies to look inside their own gas measurement organizations while auditing others.

      In today’s energy industry, measurement auditors emerge from many backgrounds, some coming from within the natural gas industry and others from outside. Auditors having gas accounting backgrounds sometimes view the measurement processes quite differently than those with experience in gas measurement, operations, volume processing, and other technical areas.

      Knowing something about the backgrounds of those involved in an audit can help minimize confusion, especially where multiple disciplines are involved. Identifying the various participants before the onset of an audit expedites the entire process and helps smooth the wrinkles that inevitably occur.

      Administrative audits usually concentrate primarily on measurement documentation, industry and company standards, calculation methods, measurement procedures, historical records, and accounting methods (based on measurement data). This type of audit is sometimes referred to simply as an office audit.

2008 Stark & Associates, Inc.
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