Income Tax Audit Manual

Compliance Programs Branch (CPB)

Chapter 8.0 Business Intelligence

In 2013, the Compliance Programs Branch established the Business Intelligence (BI) structure to focus on risk and to improve audit selection. BI is a regional function, meaning workload development is done at the regional level, except for Underused Housing Tax (UHT) which screens its own workload at Headquarters (HQ). You will find more information on the workload development for UHT on their SharePoint. 

The goals of BI is to:

• strengthen audit and internal controls
• segregate duties
• enhance risk assessment so issues of greatest risk are identified, selected, and audited

8.1.0 Workload Development Section

The Workload Development Section (WDS) is the HQ team that supports the program, while the regional teams continue to be referred to as BI teams.

WDS provides guidance, support and oversight to regional BI teams with respect to risk assessment, and selection of audit cases for various Small and Medium Business Audit Programs.

Key services:

• Provide program support and guidance to regional BI teams
• Develop and maintain policies, procedures, and job aids used by the regional BI teams
• Assess and update national standards
• Perform regular program monitoring
• Provide direction on and coordinate the development of SMED audit program workloads and projects

8.1.1 Regional BI

The regional BI teams are responsible for:

• identifying and risk assessing files for various Small and Medium Business Audit Programs
• reviewing and addressing files of WDS-directed mandatory workload
• identifying the right files from various work sources such as leads and referrals, and creating a self-generated workload
• gathering, analyzing, integrating, and applying business intelligence to support file selection
• collecting regional intelligence and contributing to national risk identification

This structure allows for a more systematic and coordinated approach to achieve the stated program objectives at the regional and national levels.

The creation of regionalized BI teams ensures that there is adequate knowledge in the BI Program. This ensures that sufficient expertise exists and knowledge transfer takes place. It also facilitates analysis and sharing of risk information and business intelligence.

For information about BI, go to:

• Analytics and Program Insights Division
• Workload Development Section (WDS)
• The Regional Business Intelligence (Income Tax) Function and its impact on TSO audit activities