MSG Team's other articles

9191 Equity Theory of Motivation

The core of the equity theory is the principle of balance or equity. As per this motivation theory, an individual’s motivation level is correlated to his perception of equity, fairness and justice practiced by the management. Higher is individual’s perception of fairness, greater is the motivation level and vice versa. While evaluating fairness, employee compares […]

11251 Seven C’s of Effective Communication

There are 7 C’s of effective communication which are applicable to both written as well as oral communication. These are as follows: Completeness – The communication must be complete. It should convey all facts required by the audience. The sender of the message must take into consideration the receiver’s mind set and convey the message […]

10152 Leadership Theories – Important Theories of Leadership

Just as management knowledge is supported by various theories, the leadership function of management too is authenticated by various theories. While the behavioural theories of leadership focused on discovering the constant relationship between leadership behaviours and the group performance, the contemporary theories emphasized the significance of situational factors (such as stress level, job structure, leader’s […]

11208 Scott and Jaffe Change Model

This model of change is one of the unique models of change as propounded by Cynthia Scott & Dennis Jaffe in their article ‘Survive and Thrive in Times of Change’. The model derives its inspiration from the work of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, in which she highlighted through her research the ways in which people coped with […]

11755 Introduction to Value At Risk (VaR)

The concept of value at risk (VaR) is closely connected with the concept of market risk mitigation. This is why the discussion about one invariably turns to a discussion about the other. The concept of value at risk (VaR) was developed by many financial institutions as they wanted to know how volatile their portfolio was. […]

Search with tags

  • No tags available.

Audit is an instrument, a tool of financial control, which is employed by the public or private sector or an individual to safeguard itself against fraud, extravagance and more importantly to bring credibility to the audited.

According to International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions audit is defined as “Evaluation or examination of systems, operations and activities of a specific entity, to ascertain they are executed or they function within the framework of certain budget, objectives, rules and requirements.” This is a modern definition of audit in Public sector and does not constrict itself with only cash audit, which was the case originally.

For sound and effective functioning of government and to ascertain that the benefit of public funds being used, reach the lowest strata of society and to every individual, audit is an indispensable tool.

It helps secure accountability of the executive to the Parliament and towards the public in general. The legislature can exercise control over the executives and verify that the public resources have been utilized responsibly, for the purpose intended and funds raised through various sources like taxes reach government fully.

There are a few International bodies which recommends agreed upon auditing practices, reports and requirements. They are:

  1. INTOSAI: International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions
  2. IFAC: International Federation of Accountants
  3. IGAE: Intervencion General de la Administracion del Estado

In accordance with the target objective several kinds of audit can be defined in Public Sector.

  1. Financial Audit: Intended to verify financial statements, accounts and balances as per generally accepted accounting principles. Also, to verify money expended has been applied to the same purpose and premise for which it was obtained and within the boundaries of acceptable vagaries.

  2. Audit of Legality Concordance: Intended to verify all transactions, processes are in full accordance with the law of the land and do not in any case harm or influence an organization or an individual for its own means.

  3. Audit of efficacy or of programs: Intends to verify the result obtained from a plan for which money was employed is in conformance with the objective for which program was made.

  4. Audit of Economy and efficiency: Intends to verify the way resources have been managed. Whether resources have been acquired at minimum cost and employed for maximum benefit.

  5. Audit of Systems and Procedures: It is important for every organization which follows rules and laid down principles to verify its system and processes for improvement and quality conformance.

Financial and Audit of Legality concordance were originally grouped together to form Audit of Regularity and rest other audits were termed as Operational Audit.

After audit is complete it is necessary to file a report which has adequate representation of facts and figures, adequate content, adequate preparation, adequate opinion for the target audience to understand it better and enough publicity for the report.

Audit must be treated as an instrument for exercising control over processes, systems, finances and individuals to make governments and governing bodies more responsible towards the public and its resources, but it cannot be considered as an end unto itself.

Article Written by

MSG Team

An insightful writer passionate about sharing expertise, trends, and tips, dedicated to inspiring and informing readers through engaging and thoughtful content.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Articles

Comparative Public Administration

MSG Team

The Closed and Open Models of Public Administration

MSG Team

Classical Theory of Public Administration

MSG Team