COVID Module Question 23

Did the SAI adapt its auditing approaches and practices for emergency response and deliver on its planned auditing of emergency fiscal policy packages?

Guidelines
As highlighted in the INTOSAI Development Initiative’s (IDI’s) recent note, ‘Accountability in Times of Crisis,’ experience from previous crises shows that the swift government action needed to respond to the crisis can bring increased levels of waste, mismanagement, and corruption. Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) have a vital role to play in helping deter the misuse of funds and providing advice on whether public funds are spent as intended and used efficiently and effectively to respond to the crisis.

SAIs will need to revise their audit plans in light of the COVID-19 crisis. This question assesses whether the SAI has adapted its audit workplan and if the SAI has delivered on its planned emergency response and auditing of emergency fiscal policy packages.

The SAI should publish information on its audit plans and schedules, detailing how it has adapted auditing processes to the emergency situation as well as on what audits it intends to carry out as part of its emergency response.

In addition to those audits that can be conducted after the crisis, SAIs may undertake real-time financial, compliance, and performance audits during the crisis. Real-time audits can have a deterrent effect and contribute to safeguarding public resources. Pages 17 – 18 of the IDI note cited above provides a summary of potential audit topics in the short, medium, and long term.

Timely publication of audit findings is critical to ensuring that audit findings are available during the crisis so that issues highlighted by the audit can be addressed promptly.

The extent to which audits hold the government to account for its implementation of emergency fiscal policy packages depends on whether there is adequate and timely follow-up on the recommendations provided in the SAI’s audit reports. Governments should report publicly on the steps it has taken address COVID-related audit findings.

Researchers should provide weblinks to audit plans, audit reports and published audit findings, and governments response to audit findings.

Tick boxes: ''Please check the boxes of the items that appear in the relevant documentation. If none of the items are presented, please check ‘None of the Above’. In the comment box, please provide a detailed citation for each item selected below as described in the assessment directions as well as any additional details.''


 * ☐  Publication of audit plans and schedules
 * ☐  Adoption of real-time audits and concurrent monitoring, or other similar approaches
 * ☐  Publication of findings from completed audits
 * ☐  Government response to audit findings
 * ☐  None of the above