Past Performance

About this experience

Valley Financial Advisors was founded in 2025. The work below was performed by our principal, Zahid Syed, while he served as a federal auditor and COR. It is presented as key personnel experience, not as contracts performed by the firm. The same person who did this work leads every engagement we take on today.

Principal's Federal Audit Experience

Internal Control Reviews and OMB A-123 Assessments

Small Business Administration

🎯 Scope

Reviews of SBA program offices on a three-year cycle, including loan servicing centers, disaster loan offices (some reporting directly to Congress) and congressionally funded grant programs. Also performed GAO Green Book and OMB A-123 internal control assessments and improper payment reviews within SBA's Internal Controls Division.

💡 Role and approach

Planned and performed risk-based reviews of program office operations
Tested control design and operating effectiveness against the Green Book principles
Documented deficiencies, root causes and corrective actions with office leadership
Served as Contracting Officer's Representative (FAC-COR Level III): reviewed contractor invoices, monitored performance and escalated delays to the Contracting Officer and agency leadership

✅ Outcomes

$1.5M in compliance risks identified and resolved
Findings reported to program office and agency leadership

Focused Assessment Import Compliance Audits

Customs and Border Protection

🎯 Scope

Import compliance audits of Fortune 500 importers across many industries, including apparel, consumer goods, raw materials, healthcare and pharmaceuticals.

💡 Role and approach

Evaluated importers' internal controls over customs value, tariff classification and trade program claims
Worked with company data in Oracle, SAP and PeopleSoft environments
Developed risk-based audit procedures and supported findings with transaction testing

✅ Outcomes

$6M+ in federal revenue recovered through audit findings

Federal Supply Schedule Contract Reviews

VA Office of Inspector General

🎯 Scope

Compliance reviews of vendors holding VA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts, including pharmaceutical contracts.

💡 Role and approach

Worked two FSS vendor contract compliance reviews under Blue Book contract review standards
Tested vendor pricing and contract terms against FSS requirements

✅ Outcomes

Wrote the published VA OIG report on temporary price reductions on FSS pharmaceutical contracts

Audit Work

U.S. Department of State

🎯 Scope

Audit work performed under Government Auditing Standards at the U.S. Department of State.

Principal's Federal Audit Experience

Internal Control Reviews and OMB A-123 Assessments

🎯 Scope

💡 Role and approach

✅ Outcomes

Focused Assessment Import Compliance Audits

🎯 Scope

💡 Role and approach

✅ Outcomes

Federal Supply Schedule Contract Reviews

🎯 Scope

💡 Role and approach

✅ Outcomes

Audit Work

🎯 Scope

Experience Summary

Years Experience

Federal Agencies

Audits Conducted

FAC-COR Level

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