The Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador is appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council and confirmed by a resolution of the House of Assembly
The Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly is one of two components of the General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador, the other being the Queen of Canada in Right of Newfoundland and Labrador, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Newfoundland and Labrador General Assembly meets in the Confederation Building at St. John's.
The Auditor General Act creates the Office of the Auditor General to assist in carrying out the duties prescribed. The Act appoints the Auditor General as the House of Assembly's independent legislative auditor of Government, its departments, agencies of the Crown, and Crown controlled corporations. The Auditor General reports to the House of Assembly, on significant matters which result from the examination of these entities.
The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their sub-divisions. Legally ill-defined, the term has different meanings depending on context. It is used to designate the monarch in either a personal capacity, as Head of the Commonwealth, or as the king or queen of his or her realms. It can also refer to the rule of law; however, in common parlance 'The Crown' refers to the functions of government and the civil service.
The Act also appoints the Auditor General as the auditor of the accounts and financial statements of the Province. This results in an opinion as to the fair presentation of these financial statements. In addition, the Auditor General is the auditor of the financial statements of a number of agencies of the Crown and issues a separate report for each of these agencies as to the fair presentation of their financial statements.
History
The Office of the Auditor General has a long history in Newfoundland. The first Comptroller and Auditor General, F.C. Berteau, was appointed in 1898. In his 1898-99 Report for the Colony of Newfoundland, Berteau made the following comment relating to the role of Auditor General:
" I take it that the duties of an Auditor General do not stop at the checking and overseeing of the Public Accounts. They go further; he should note where and how alterations making for the economy and the better management of the Public Funds can be effected without injury to the efficiency of the several services."
Role of the Auditor General
The Auditor General Act, which was assented to on 31 October 1991, determines the role of the Auditor General. Implicit in the Act is the requirement for the Auditor General to provide the House of Assembly with timely, relevant information, necessary to enhance public sector accountability and performance.
The Auditor General's fundamental role is to bring an independent audit and reporting process to bear upon the manner in which Government and its various entities discharge their responsibilities and report on their planned programs and their use of public resources. This role of the Auditor General is superimposed on the accountability relationship which exists between all levels of Government through to the House of Assembly.
To fulfil its legislated mandate, the Office of the Auditor General has a staff of approximately 36, with 32 staff at the head office in St. John's and 4 staff at its Corner Brook branch. The Office is responsible for auditing financial statements and other accountability documents, evaluating management practices and control systems, and determining compliance with legislative and other authorities. Eighty-percent of audit staff hold professional accounting designations. The staff with their extensive experience in legislative auditing is one of the Office's greatest assets.
On an annual basis the Auditor General examines the consolidated summary financial statements prepared by Government which include in the reporting entity certain organizations that are accountable for the administration of their financial affairs and resources either to a Minister of Government or directly to the Legislature, and that are owned or controlled by Government. The Auditor General also examines the statements of the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Province which have been prepared by Government. Comments on these financial statements and comments on the reporting entity are included in a report prepared annually entitled Report of the Auditor General to the House of Assembly on the Audit of the Financial Statements of the Province.
The Auditor General is the auditor of the financial statements and accounts of the Province and makes those examinations considered necessary to report as required under the Auditor General Act. There are 18 departments, the Consolidated Fund Services and the Legislature, involved in the administration of the revenue and expenditure program.
The size and complexity of government operations prevent the audit of all programs and systems on an annual basis. Therefore, the Auditor General audits a selection of programs and systems each year designed to cover all significant operations on a cyclical basis.
The Auditor General is the auditor of the financial statements of certain agencies of the Crown. As part of these audits, the Auditor General expresses an opinion on the financial statements and when appropriate, issues a management letter. This letter highlights certain matters which come to attention as a result of the audit and includes any recommendations for improvement. These audits are performed in accordance with the provisions of the various legislation which creates the entities.
Each year the Auditor General performs additional examinations of certain agencies of the Crown including those whose financial statement audits are performed by private sector auditors. These additional examinations are designed to review compliance with various legislation and to ensure that the entities have adequate systems of management control in place. The results of these examinations are disclosed in a report prepared annually entitled Report of the Auditor General to the House of Assembly on Reviews of Departments and Crown Agencies.
About the Office of the Auditor General
As outlined in the Auditor General Act, the Auditor General's fundamental role is to bring an independent audit and reporting process to bear upon the manner in which Government and its various entities discharge their responsibilities, report on their planned programs and their use of public resources. The role of the Auditor General complements the accountability relationship which exists between Government, its departments, agencies of the Crown and the House of Assembly, as illustrated in Figure 1.
The Auditor General reports to the House of Assembly on significant matters which result from the examinations of Government, its departments and agencies of the Crown. The Auditor General is also the independent auditor of the Province's financial statements and the financial statements of many agencies of the Crown and, as such, expresses an opinion as to the fair presentation of their financial statements.
In addition to allocating our resources to perform the above audits, reviews, and examinations, we may also receive requests to complete special assignments. Under the Auditor General Act, these special assignments may be requested by the House of Assembly, the Public Accounts Committee or the Lieutenant-Governor in Council. In these special assignments, the Auditor General reports to whoever makes the request.
Section 12 of the Auditor General Act requires the Auditor General to report, at least annually, on:
The work of the Office;
Whether, in carrying out the work of the Office, the Auditor General received all the information including reports and explanations required;
The results of the examination of the Province's financial statements;
Audits, examinations and inquiries performed under the Act; and
The results of the examination of the accounts of the Province calling attention to anything the Auditor General considers significant relating to:
Collections of public money;
Disbursements of public money;
Instances where accounts have not been faithfully and properly kept;
Instances where assets acquired, administered or otherwise held were not adequately safeguarded or accounted for;
Instances where accounting systems and management control systems that relate to revenue, disbursements, the safeguarding or use of assets or the determination of liabilities were not in existence, were inadequate or had not been complied with; and
Any factors or circumstances relating to an expenditure of public money which in the opinion of the Auditor General should be brought to the attention of the House of Assembly
Expertise in public sector matters
As a result of working exclusively in the public sector, Legislative Auditors have acquired extensive corporate and operational knowledge of Government. They are specialists in the field of public sector auditing and their credibility with legislators (for example, on topics such as emerging public sector trends and accountability issues) is thus well established. Given their extensive interaction with legislators, Legislative Auditors are in the notable position of being aware of, and understanding legislators' concerns.
Furthermore, having a whole-of-Government mandate has allowed Legislative Auditors to speak to legislators about broad Government matters and to better identify those accountability and performance issues that have the greatest impact on Government. As a consequence, Legislative Auditors are better able to promote consistency of accounting across government organizations, and to make informed decisions about the selection, conduct and reporting of audits.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Related Research Articles
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch government agency that provides auditing, evaluation, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal government of the United States.
An audit is a systematic and independent examination of books, accounts, statutory records, documents and vouchers of an organization to ascertain how far the financial statements as well as non-financial disclosures present a true and fair view of the concern. It also attempts to ensure that the books of accounts are properly maintained by the concern as required by law. Auditing has become such a ubiquitous phenomenon in the corporate and the public sector that academics started identifying an "Audit Society".
The auditor perceives and recognises the propositions before them for examination, obtains evidence, evaluates the same and formulates an opinion on the basis of his judgement which is communicated through their audit report.
A financial audit is conducted to provide an opinion whether "financial statements" are stated in accordance with specified criteria. Normally, the criteria are international accounting standards, although auditors may conduct audits of financial statements prepared using the cash basis or some other basis of accounting appropriate for the organisation. In providing an opinion whether financial statements are fairly stated in accordance with accounting standards, the auditor gathers evidence to determine whether the statements contain material errors or other misstatements.
The National Audit Office (NAO) is an independent Parliamentary body in the United Kingdom which is responsible for auditing central government departments, government agencies and non-departmental public bodies. The NAO also carries out value for money (VFM) audits into the administration of public policy.
International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) are a set of accounting standards issued by the IPSAS Board for use by public sector entities around the world in the preparation of financial statements. These standards are based on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).
The Federal Accountability Act is a statute introduced as Bill C-2 in the first session of the 39th Canadian Parliament on April 11, 2006, by the President of the Treasury Board, John Baird. The aim was to reduce the opportunity to exert influence with money by banning corporate, union, and large personal political donations; five-year lobbying ban on former ministers, their aides, and senior public servants; providing protection for whistle blowers; and enhancing the power of the Auditor General to follow the money spent by the government.
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 New Jersey State Auditor is a constitutional officer appointed by the New Jersey Legislature and administratively placed within the Office of Legislative Services. The Auditor conducts financial and performance audits of State agencies, certain school districts, and vicinages of the Judiciary. The State Auditor also conducts studies on the operation, economy and efficiency of State-run or State-supported programs.
The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) is the national auditor for the Parliament of Australia and Government of Australia. It reports directly to the Australian Parliament via the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate. Administratively, the ANAO is located in the Prime Minister and Cabinet portfolio.
The Pennsylvania Auditor General is the chief fiscal officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It became an elected office in 1850. The current Auditor General of Pennsylvania is Democrat Eugene DePasquale.
The Controller and Auditor-General is an Officer of the New Zealand Parliament responsible for auditing public bodies. John Ryan began his seven-year term as Controller and Auditor-General on 2 July 2018. The Deputy Controller and Auditor-General is Greg Schollum. Their mandate and responsibilities are set out in the Public Audit Act 2001. They are appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the House of Representatives.
The Tribunal de Cuentas 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 Law.
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 Auditor General of British Columbia is an independent Officer of the Legislature of British Columbia, responsible for conducting audits of the government reporting entity (GRE) which consists of ministries, Crown corporations, and other government organizations such as universities, colleges, school districts, health authorities, and similar organizations that are controlled by or accountable to the provincial government. Independence is a vital safeguard for fulfilling the Auditor General's responsibilities objectively and fairly based solely on the evidence found while conducting proper audit procedures. For this reason, the Auditor General reports directly to the Legislative Assembly and not the government of the day.
The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh (C&AG) is the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) 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 audits 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 role of the Auditor General of Ontario is to aid accountability by conducting independent audits of Ontario provincial government operations. The office was created in 1869.
The California State Auditor's Office (CSA), formerly known as the Bureau of State Audits (BSA), is the supreme audit institution of the Government of California. The CSA was created by SB 37 in 1993. It is headed by the State Auditor who is appointed by the Governor to a 4-year term from a list of 3 qualified individuals submitted by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee of the California State Legislature.
The Auditor-General of New South Wales helps the Parliament of New South Wales hold government accountable for its use of public resources.
The Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1866 is the UK Act of Parliament under which most of the revenue from taxation, and all other money payable to the Exchequer must be paid into the Consolidated Fund. The Act "established a cycle of accountability for public funds": Public Spending was authorised by the House of Commons while the public fund was controlled by "The Comptroller and Auditor General" who was also responsible for auditing the financial accounts produced by each government department. The Committee of Public Accounts which had been established in 1861 by William Gladstone, was appointed to oversee the work of The Comptroller.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) is the constitutional officer responsible for public audit in Ireland. The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General is the public audit body for the Republic of Ireland and is headed by the C&AG.
