A supreme audit institution is an independent national-level institution which conducts audits of government activities. [1] [2] Most supreme audit institutions are established in their country's constitution, and their mandate is further refined in national legislation. [3] 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. [4] They also contribute to anti-corruption efforts. [5] Depending on the country, a supreme audit institution may be called a court of audit (common in Europe and its former colonies), auditor-general (common in the Anglosphere) or the board of audit (in some Asian countries). 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. [6]
In some countries, such as with Taiwan's Control Yuan, the audit institution may constitute a separate, independent branch of government in addition to the more typical executive, legislative and judicial branches.
The European Court of Auditors is the supreme audit institution of the European Union (EU). It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg and is one of the seven EU institutions. The Court comprises one member from each EU member state supported by approximately 800 civil servants.
The Auditor General of Canada is a Supreme audit institution which acts as an officer to the Parliament of Canada tasked with highlighting accountability and oversight by conducting independent financial audits of federal government's operations. These performance audits, known as the Auditor-General's Report provide members of parliament with objective evidence to help them examine the government's activities and hold it to account and improve good governance among public officers included.
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.
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.
National Audit Office may refer to audit authorities of various national governments:
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.
The Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts is Brazil's federal audit office. It provides assistance to the Congress of Brazil in its Constitutional duty to exercise external audit over the Executive Branch. Its members, known as Ministers, are appointed by the National Congress and the President of Brazil. The TCU employs a highly qualified body of civil servants to prevent, investigate and sanction corruption and malpractice of public funds, with national jurisdiction.
The Court of Audit of Belgium is a Belgian governmental institution established by article 180 of the Belgian Constitution. The Court of Audit is a collateral body of the Belgian Federal Parliament and exerts external control on the budgetary, accounting and financial operations of the Federal State, the Communities, the Regions, the public service institutions and the provinces. The task of the Court of Audit is defined in its organic law of 29 October 1846. This law gives the Court of Audit a large independence and a wide autonomy to perform its missions.
Under the French monarchy, the Courts of Accounts were sovereign courts specialising in financial affairs. The Court of Accounts in Paris was the oldest and the forerunner of today's French Court of Audit. They oversaw public spending, handled finances, protected crown estates, audited the accounts of crown officials, and adjudicated any related matters of law.
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 Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic of Colombia is a Colombian independent government institution that acts as the highest form of fiscal control in the country. As such, it has a mission to seek the proper allocation of resources and public funds and contribute to the modernization of the state, by means of continuous improvement in the various public entities. It is one of the Colombian Control Institutions along with the Office of the Inspector General of Colombia.
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.
European Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI) is a European intergovernmental organization whose members are supreme audit institutions in their respective countries. It is one of the seven regional working groups of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI).
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 General Comptroller of the Republic of Chile is a constitutionally autonomous body of the Government of Chile based on chapter 10 of the Constitution of Chile and it is in charge of the control of the legal aspects, management, preaudit and postaudit functions of all the activities of the centralized and decentralized civil service, whatever its forms of organization may be, as well as of other powers granted by law.
Ahmed El Midaoui was President of the Moroccan Court of Audit until his replacement and Minister of the Interior between 10 November 1999 and 7 November 2002, being in the office during the Perejil Island crisis in 2002.
The Chamber of Accounts of the Republic of Azerbaijan is a supreme audit institution, the highest financial control authority of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
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.
The Superior Auditor of the Federation is the supreme audit institution of Mexico. A technical agency of the Chamber of Deputies, it is empowered to conduct external audits of federal, state and local governments and agencies. The ASF is a member of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions.
Commission Supérieure des Comptes is a supreme public audit institution in the Principality of Monaco. Its main functions are audit of the accounts, budgetary and financial management of Monaco, the commune and public institutions. The Board of Auditors is required to submit annual reports to the Prince of Monaco. The reports provide the analysis of the accounts of the State of Monaco and are available on the official portal of the Board of Auditors. The Board of Auditors is a member of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI). Current Chairman of the Board is Jean-Pierre Gastinel, the Honorary Chamber President at the Court of Auditors (Paris).