An auditor general, also known in some countries as a comptroller general or comptroller and auditor general, is a senior civil servant charged with improving government accountability by auditing and reporting on the government's operations.
Frequently, the institution headed by the auditor general is a member of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI).
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The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan government agency within the legislative branch that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal government of the United States. It identifies its core "mission values" as: accountability, integrity, and reliability. It is also known as the "congressional watchdog". The agency is headed by the Comptroller General of the United States. The comptroller general is appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. When a vacancy occurs in the office of the comptroller general, Congress establishes a commission to recommend individuals to the president. The commission consists of the following:
The comptroller and auditor general (C&AG) in the United Kingdom is the government official responsible for supervising the quality of public accounting and financial reporting. The C&AG is an officer of the House of Commons who is the head of the National Audit Office, the body that scrutinises central government expenditure.
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.
A comptroller is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level executive who acts as the head of accounting, and oversees the preparation of financial reports, such as balance sheets and income statements.
Government performance auditing focuses on improving how governments provide programs and services. While there is no one universally agreed upon definition, there are key definitions which capture the scope of government performance auditing. According to the US Government Auditing Standards, "Performance audits are defined as audits that provide findings or conclusions based on an evaluation of sufficient, appropriate evidence against criteria." Additionally, the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions defines performance auditing as "an independent examination of the efficiency and effectiveness of government undertakings, programs or organizations, with due regard to economy, and the aim of leading to improvements.
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.
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.
National Audit Office may refer to audit authorities of various national governments:
State auditors are fiscal officers lodged in the executive or legislative branches of U.S. state governments who serve as external auditors, financial controllers, bookkeepers, or inspectors general of public funds. The office of state auditor may be a creature of the state constitution or one created by statutory law.
The Supreme Audit Office of the Czech Republic – alternately known in English as the Supreme Control Office of the Czech Republic – is a "unique, independent constitutional entity to supervise the management of the state property and the state budget."
The International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) is an intergovernmental organization whose members are supreme audit institutions. Nearly every supreme audit institution in the world is a member of INTOSAI. Depending on the type of system used in their home country, the members of INTOSAI may be variously titled the Chief Financial Controller, the Office of the Comptroller General, the Office of the Auditor General, the Court of Accounts, or the Board of Audit.
A supreme audit institution is an independent national-level institution which conducts audits of government activities. Most supreme audit institutions are established in their country's constitution, and their mandate is further refined in national legislation. Supreme audit institutions play an important role in providing oversight and accountability in a country by monitoring the use of public funds and reviewing the quality and accuracy of government financial reporting. They also contribute to anti-corruption efforts. Depending on the country, a supreme audit institution may be called a court of audit, auditor-general or the board of audit. Nearly every supreme audit institution in the world is a member of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions, which works to establish and disseminate international standards and good practices.
Elmer Boyd Staats was an American public servant whose career from the late 1930s to the early 1980s was primarily associated with the Bureau of the Budget (BOB) and the GAO. Staats was born to Wesley F. and Maude (Goodall) Staats. Staats received his AB from McPherson College in 1935, his MA from the University of Kansas in 1936, and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1939.
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.
Shashi Kant Sharma is a retired central civil servant of 1976 batch under IAS cadre belonging to Bihar. He was the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. In July 2014 he assumed office as a Member of the United Nations Board of Auditors. On 11 January 2017, Sharma took over as the Chairman of the United Nations Board of Auditors. The reports of the Board serve as a key input for policy making within the UN.
Vijayendra Nath Kaul was the tenth Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) from 2002 to 2008. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2014.
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.
The State Audit Office of the Republic of Latvia is a public auditing body overseeing the finances of national and local government in Latvia. It was first created in 1918, and re-established in 1992 when Latvia again became independent.
The auditor-general of Ghana is the head of the Ghana Audit Service, a legislative branch agency re-established by the government of Ghana in 1992 through the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. It was established as part of the Audit Service through Article 188 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana as part of the Public Services of Ghana. The auditor-general through the Audit service undertakes audits of the public accounts of Ghana and all public offices as mandated by Article 187 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
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.