National Audit Office of Finland

Last updated
National Audit Office (NAO)
Valtiontalouden tarkastusvirasto (VTV)
Agency overview
Formed 1948
JurisdictionFinland
Headquarters Helsinki
Employees151 (2023) [1]
Annual budget€17.1 million (2023) [2]
Agency executive
Website vtv.fi

National Audit Office (abbreviated NAO, Finnish : Valtiontalouden tarkastusvirasto (VTV) [3] ) oversees the management of public finances in Finland and monitors fiscal policies as well as election and party funding. It operates as the supreme external auditor in connection with the Parliament. Independent audit work ensures that state funds are used in accordance with the decisions of the Parliament, lawfully and effectively, and that financial policy is managed in a sustainable manner. The tasks of the NAO are defined in the Finnish Constitution. [4]

Contents

The Parliament appoints the Director General of the National Audit Office for a term of six years. Since January 2022, the Director General of the Audit Office has been Sami Yläoutinen. [5] At the end of 2022, the office had 145 employees. [6] The main office of the agency is located in Helsinki, with another office in Oulu. [7] The office premises in Helsinki have been located in Ruoholahti since 2017 at Porkkalankatu 1. [8]

The National Audit Office's area of operation includes the Government and ministries, state agencies and institutions, funds outside the state budget, state-owned enterprises and companies, grants and subsidies to municipalities, businesses, and other organizations, as well as transfers between Finland and the European Union. The Audit Office does not audit the finances of the Parliament, funds under the responsibility of the Parliament, the Bank of Finland, or the Social Insurance Institution of Finland.

History

During the Swedish rule in Finland, a governmental agency named Kamarirevisio was established in 1695 to oversee the Crown's financial administration. Its name was changed to Kamarioikeus in 1799. [9] At the beginning of the autonomy of Finland, supervision of state taxation and auditing belonged to the Senate's Chamber Office, which established the revisiokonttori for this purpose. By the Senate's regulation, an independent agency named Yleinen revisionioikeus was established on December 16, 1824, which included the revisiokonttori. The agency was led by a commissioner. Its task was to audit the state accounts, and the role of the court was to handle any detected abuses and to bring possible charges. The revisionioikeus was eventually transferred from the Chamber Office to the State Treasury Office.

The name of the agency was shortened by a new regulation issued on December 29, 1923, to Yleinen revisionilaitos. The revision court continued under its authority until it was replaced in 1931 by a board of revision. [10]

The Act on the Audit of State Finances was passed on December 23, 1947, and the National Audit Office began its operations the following year. According to the law, the National Audit Office was tasked with auditing the legality and appropriateness of state financial management and overseeing the implementation of the budget, which remain its main tasks to this day. The general accounting of the state and the preparation of the state financial statements were transferred to the State Treasury by a regulation issued on April 14, 1965. The tasks of the NAO were expanded in 1993 to include the supervision of the State Guarantee Fund and, along with it, bank support, and in 1995 the supervision of financial transfers between Finland and the European Union. Since 2001, the National Audit Office has operated as an independent agency under the Parliament, separate from the Ministry of Finance, as the Constitution, which entered into force in 2000, required the agency to be functionally independent. [10] [11] The supervision of party funding was transferred from the Ministry of Justice to the NAO from the beginning of 2016.

The Parliamentary Ombudsman issued a reprimand in December 2020 to the Director General of the NAO, Tytti Yli-Viikari, and to the Director in charge of legal affairs, Mikko Koiranen. The reprimand concerned the fact that Yli-Viikari and Koiranen had concluded an agreement in the spring of 2016, whereby a senior inspector at the agency was paid full salary without any work obligation for the second half of 2016 and half salary from the beginning of 2017 to the end of July 2018. [12]

Organization

The National Audit Office is led by the Director General, elected by the Parliament for a six-year term. The Director General approves the audit plan and decides on the reports and audit instructions to be submitted to the Parliament. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California State Controller</span> Chief financial officer of the U.S. state of California

The state controller of California is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of California. Thirty-three individuals have held the office of state controller since statehood. The incumbent is Malia Cohen, a Democrat. The state controller's main office is located at 300 Capitol Mall in Sacramento.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office of Thrift Supervision</span>

The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) was a United States federal agency under the Department of the Treasury that chartered, supervised, and regulated all federally chartered and state-chartered savings banks and savings and loans associations. It was created in 1989 as a renamed version of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, another federal agency. Like other U.S. federal bank regulators, it was paid by the banks it regulated. The OTS was initially seen as an aggressive regulator, but was later lax. Declining revenues and staff led the OTS to market itself to companies as a lax regulator in order to get revenue.

A regulatory agency or independent agency is a government authority that is responsible for exercising autonomous dominion over some area of human activity in a licensing and regulating capacity.

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada is an agency of the Government of Canada that enforces consumer protection legislation, regulations and industry commitments by federally regulated financial entities. It also provides programs and information to help consumers understand their rights and responsibilities when dealing with financial institutions and promotes financial literacy.

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) is the supreme audit institution of Australia, functioning as 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swedish National Audit Office</span>

The Swedish National Audit Office is the agency responsible for oversight of the state finances through financial and performance audits of state agencies, state-owned companies and the Government of Sweden. It serves directly under the Riksdag and is therefore independent of the Cabinet. All state agencies are required to submit copies of their annual accounts and reports to this office for review.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Senate Properties</span> Finnish real estate company

Senate Properties is a Finnish unincorporated state-owned enterprise, which manages a major part of the real estate assets owned by the Republic of Finland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General Secretariat for Development Planning</span> Qatari governmental agency

The General Secretariat for Development Planning (GSDP) is a governmental agency in the State of Qatar, established through an Emiri Decision No (39) in 2006 and amended by Emiri Decision No (50) in 2009. The GSDP coordinates plans, strategies and policies in support of Qatar's National Vision 2030.

The Police University College is a university of applied sciences in Tampere, Finland providing police academy training and research under the Ministry of the Interior for the Police of Finland and other Finnish law enforcement units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inspection générale des finances (France)</span> French government agency

The General Inspectorate of Finance or Inspection générale des finances (IGF) is an interdepartmental auditing and supervisory body in France. Its general mission is to provide oversight, audit, analysis, consulting and evaluation services in administrative, economic and financial matters. In the recent years, the IGF has been at the head of the movement of modernisation of the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ministry of Justice (Finland)</span>

The Ministry of Justice is one of the 12 ministries which comprise the Finnish Government. Headed by the Minister of Justice, it is responsible for maintaining the legal safeguards necessary for the successful operation of democracy and fundamental rights of the inhabitants of Finland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ministry of Finance (Somalia)</span> Government agency

The Ministry of Finance, abbreviated MOF, is a ministry of the Government of Somalia that is charged with the responsibility for government expenditure and revenue raising. The ministry's role is to develop economic policy and prepare the federal budget. The Ministry of Finance also oversees financial legislation and regulation. Each year in October, the Minister of Finance presents the Somali federal budget to the Parliament.

The National Audit Office of Estonia is an independent institution in Estonia, which is responsible for exercising economic control in order to assure the parliament and the public that public assets are used legally and effectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attorney General's Office of Indonesia</span>

The Attorney General's Office of the Republic of Indonesia is the competent authority to advise the Government of Indonesia on matters of law. It serves as the central organization for the Indonesian Public Prosecution Service. The Attorney General's Office is seated in the national capital Jakarta.

The Minnesota Department of Management and Budget, otherwise abbreviated as MMB, is a cabinet-level state agency responsible for coordinating the financial management and personnel administration processes of state government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VATT Institute for Economic Research</span>

The VATT Institute for Economic Research, previously the Government Institute for Economic Research, is a government agency in Finland. VATT is an acronym from VAltion (Government) Taloudellinen (Economic) Tutkimuskeskus. The research institute operates under the administrative domain of the Ministry of Finance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ministry of Federal Territories (Malaysia)</span> Malaysian ministry

The Ministry of Federal Territories(Malay: Kementerian Wilayah Persekutuan; Jawi: كمنترين ولايه ڤرسكوتوان‎), abbreviated KWP, was a ministry and is now a department under the Prime Minister's Department of the Government of Malaysia that is in charge of overseeing the administration and development of all three Federal Territories in Malaysia; Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finland State Treasury</span>

Finland State Treasury is a Finnish central agency operating under the Ministry of Finance. The State Treasury is responsible for state internal service production and development. This includes state financing activities, central accounting, financial management, and payment transactions, as well as reporting of state financial and personnel information, internal insurance operations of the state, and state inheritance. The State Treasury employs approximately 300 people. Its offices are located in Hakaniemi, Helsinki, at Sörnäisten Rantatie 13. The State Treasury also supports state organizations in the changing work environment, promotes data-driven decision-making, and develops municipal financial information services. The acting Director-General of the State Treasury is Timo Laitinen.

The National Police Board of Finland is the central agency under the Ministry of the Interior of Finland responsible for planning, leading, developing, and supervising police operations in Finland and its support functions. It also ensures equitable access to police services across the country, decides on cooperation between police units, and oversees the performance management of police units. The National Police Board began its operations at the beginning of 2010. Its organization is two-tiered: the National Police Board leads and directs operational police activities. Directly under the National Police Board are the police departments and the national police units, including the National Bureau of Investigation and the Police University College of Finland. The Finnish Security Intelligence Service is directly under the Ministry of the Interior.

References

  1. ↑ "Henkilöstötiedot" (in Finnish). Tutki hallintoa. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  2. ↑ "Valtion talousarviomenot kirjanpitoyksiköittäin" (in Finnish). Tutki hallintoa. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  3. ↑ "Valtionhallinnon nimet ja niiden lyhenteet U–Y". Kielitoimiston ohjepankki (in Finnish). 2023-03-28. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  4. ↑ "14.7.2000/676". finlex.fi. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  5. ↑ "VTV | Uusi pääjohtaja Sami Yläoutinen haluaa palauttaa luottamuksen VTV:hen: Tarkastusviraston tulee "keskittyä perustehtäviensä tehokkaaseen hoitamiseen", hän sanoo". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 2021-12-20. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  6. ↑ "Valtiontalouden tarkastusviraston tilinpäätös vuodelta 2022" (PDF). vtv.fi. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  7. ↑ "Valtiontalouden tarkastusvirasto". web.archive.org. 2010-01-16. Archived from the original on 2010-01-16. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  8. ↑ "Valtiontalouden tarkastusvirasto". Valtiontalouden tarkastusvirasto (in Finnish). Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  9. ↑ "History". National Audit Office of Finland. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  10. 1 2 Pääjohtajakunta, p. 248–250.
  11. ↑ "Valtiovarainministeriö: Valtiontalouden tarkastusvirasto eduskunnan yhteyteen". vm.fi. 2014-02-22. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  12. ↑ "Valtiontalouden tarkastusvirasto maksoi yli kaksi vuotta palkkaa, jotta virkamies ei tekisi mitään". www.iltalehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 "NAOF". National Audit Office of Finland. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
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.