An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon." Auditing also attempts to ensure that the books of accounts are properly maintained by the concern as required by law. Auditors consider the propositions before them, obtain evidence, roll forward prior year working papers, and evaluate the propositions in their auditing report.
The state auditor of North Carolina is a statewide elected office in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The state auditor is a constitutional officer responsible for overseeing and reviewing the financial accounts of all state government agencies. The auditor also conducts performance audits of state agencies, ensures state agencies' accounting conforms with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, evaluates the integrity of computer-generated information, and investigates the misuse of state funds or property. The incumbent is Jessica Holmes, who became state auditor on December 16, 2023.
Chartered accountants were the first accountants to form a professional accounting body, initially established in Scotland in 1854. The Edinburgh Society of Accountants (1854), the Glasgow Institute of Accountants and Actuaries (1854) and the Aberdeen Society of Accountants (1867) were each granted a royal charter almost from their inception. The title is an internationally recognised professional designation; the certified public accountant designation is generally equivalent to it. Women were able to become chartered accountants only following the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 after which, in 1920, Mary Harris Smith was recognised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and became the first woman chartered accountant in the world.
The Cour des Comptes is France's supreme audit institution, under French law an administrative court. As such, it is independent from the legislative and executive branches of the French Government. However, the 1946 and 1958 French constitutions made it the Court's duty to assist the Cabinet and Parliament in regulating government spending. The Court thus combines functions of a court of exchequer, comptroller general's office, and auditor general's office in common-law countries. It is also a Grand Corps of the French State and mainly recruits among the best-ranked students graduating from the Ecole nationale d'administration.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India is the supreme audit institution of India, established under Article 148 of the Constitution of India. They are empowered to audit all receipts and expenditure of the Government of India and the State Governments, including those of autonomous bodies and corporations substantially financed by the government. The CAG is also the statutory auditor of Government-owned corporations and conducts supplementary audit of government companies in which the government has an equity share of at least 51 percent or subsidiary companies of existing government companies. The CAG is also the statutory auditor of the Lokpal.
The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), South Africa’s pre-eminent accountancy body, is widely recognised as one of the world’s leading accounting institutes. The institute provides a wide range of support services to more than 48,000 members and associates who are chartered accountants (CAs(SA)), as well as associate general accountants (AGAs(SA)) and accounting technicians (ATs(SA)).
In Greece, the Hellenic Court of Audit is the supreme audit institution of the Hellenic Republic, auditing the use of public funds in Greece according to the principles of legality, regularity and sound financial management. Synedrio is also the Supreme Financial Court, one of the three Supreme Courts of Justice, grounded on the Constitution, provides for its jurisdictional, advisory and auditing competences.
Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS) is a group 'A' central civil service under the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the supreme audit institution of India. Its central civil servants serve in an audit managerial capacity in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department (IA&AD), and are responsible for auditing the accounts of the Union government and state governments, as well as their public commercial enterprises and non-commercial autonomous bodies. The service's role is analogous to the US Government Accountability Office and the UK National Audit Office.
The Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector is an elected Constitutional officer for the U.S. State of Oklahoma. The State Auditor and Inspector is responsible for auditing and prescribing bookkeeping standards of all government agencies and county treasurers within Oklahoma. The office in its current form is a consolidation of the office of State Auditor with that of the office of State Examiner and Inspector, both of which dated back to statehood in 1907. The two positions were combined in 1979 after passage of State Question 510 in 1975. Tom Daxon was the first person to hold the combined office and the first Republican as all previous occupants of either position were Democrats.
The Court of Auditors is the supreme governmental accounting body of Spain responsible of the comptrolling of the public accounts and the auditing of the accountancy of the political parties, in accordance with the Constitution and its Organic Act.
The Court of Audit of the Republic of Slovenia is the highest body for supervising state accounts, the state budget and all public spending in Slovenia. The Constitution of Slovenia further provides that the Court of Audit is independent in the performance of its duties and bound by the Constitution and law. The Court of Audit Act also defines that the acts with which Court of Audit exercises its powers of audit cannot be challenged before the courts or other state bodies.
The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh (CAG) is the supreme audit institution of the country. Like the SAIs in many other countries across the world, the institution is established by the Constitution of Bangladesh. This institute is responsible for maintaining accounts of the republic and auditing all receipts and expenditure of the Government of Bangladesh, including those of bodies and authorities substantially financed by the government. The reports of the CAG are discussed by the Public Accounts Committee, which is a standing committee in the Parliament of Bangladesh.
The auditor-general of New South Wales helps the Parliament of New South Wales hold government accountable for its use of public resources.
The Office of the Auditor-General of Kenya is an Independent Office established under Article 229 of the Constitution of Kenya to audit Government Bodies and report on their management of allocated funds. The current Auditor-General is Nancy Gathungu.
Thembekile Kimi Makwetu was a South African Chartered accountant. He served as the Auditor-General of South Africa between 2013 and 2020.
The Financial Reporting Act 2015 is an act created by the Bangladesh National Assembly. The act was passed on September 6, 2015, in order to follow the accountability and transparency of the financial reporting procedures in the country. On September 9, 2015, the act was officially published by the Government of Bangladesh.
Terence Mncedisi Nombembe is a qualified Chartered accountant who served as Auditor General of South Africa from 2006 to 2013. During his tenure as Auditor General, Nombembe gained a reputation for integrity. An outspoken critic of corruption, he has been called the commercial equivalent of former Public Protector Advocate Thuli Madonsela. In August 2017, Nombembe was re-appointed as Non-Executive Director of the South African Reserve Bank. He is currently the chief executive officer of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Richard Quartei Quartey is a Ghanaian accountant who served as the Auditor-General of Ghana from 2009 to 2016 and vice-chair of the UN's Independent Audit Advisory Committee in 2020.
The Ghana Audit Service is an independent government agency in Ghana that is responsible for carrying out the audits on the accounts of the Government, Regions as well as the activities of the Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Companies under the Government of Ghana. Both the Office of the Auditor-General of Ghana and the Ghana Audit Service were established by the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. Internationally, the equivalent of the Ghana Audit Service is referred to as the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI). The International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) is the international board that oversees and creates benchmark for auditing public entities for all Supreme Audit Institutions including Ghana who are also members.
Nokuzola Gladys Tolashe, also known as Sisisi "Sisi" Tolashe, is a South African politician from the Eastern Cape. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), she has been the Minister of Social Development since June 2024 and the president of the ANC Women's League since July 2023.
