The Compliance Audit Subcommittee of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions held its 20th anniversary meeting in Budapest on 22-23 November 2023. 36 experts from 16 countries attended the meeting chaired by the SAI of India and organised in cooperation with the State Audit Office of Hungary. During the two-day meeting, audit experts reviewed the experiences on methods used to assure and enhance compliance audit quality and discussed how SAIs may contribute to reducing social inequalities through audits.
INTOSAI CAS engagement expands – fighting social inequalities
The INTOSAI Compliance Audit Subcommittee (INTOSAI CAS), established in 2004, is responsible for developing and maintaining compliance audit principles and guidelines. The INTOSAI CAS currently has 19 SAIs as members and is chaired by the SAI of India. The State Audit Office of Hungary has been participating in the Subcommittee since 2013.
“The Subcommittee has a dual purpose: to provide a broad contribution to further INTOSAI projects, but also to create a forum for the exchange of experience in compliance auditing” – said Monika Karas, Vice-President of the State Audit Office of Hungary, in her opening speech, in which the Vice-President gave an overview of the methodological renewal of the SAO’s operation, as well. Girish Chandra Murmu, Comptroller and Auditor General of India and Chair of the Subcommittee, highlighted the role of compliance audit in strengthening accountability and transparency in a video message. He expressed his pleasure that the Subcommittee intends to develop a concept of compliance auditing of inclusiveness and equality, as it will enable the Subcommittee to play a pioneering role in reducing social inequalities.
Day 1 – review of the experience of compliance audits and CAS activities
The first speaker of the conference, Reema Prakash, representing the SAI of India, gave a detailed account of the work of the Subcommittee in the recent past. She highlighted the review of the ISSAI 140 quality control framework for SAIs as a key task, as CAS is an active member of the working group set up for this purpose. Regarding the work plan of the Subcommittee for 2023-2025, Reema Prakash informed members that the Subcommittee would like to develop a document to promote the adoption of diversity in audits.
Deputy Director Zhang Haihui gave a presentation on the latest achievements of the National Audit Office of China. Participants learned that the NAO has significantly improved the quality of compliance auditing with its newly established guidelines and policy manual. The second part of the day focused on the activities of the European, Hungarian and Slovak SAIs. Paul Sime, Manager of the European Court of Auditors, presented the role of the ECA as independent external auditors of the European Union. He also highlighted the factors having considerable impact on the future EU budget, including Russia’s war against Ukraine and the external risks of high inflation.
Zsuzsa Borcsiczky, as representative of SAO Hungary, presented audit methodology innovations achieved. Following the presentation, a number of questions and suggestions were raised, and the new type of SAO audits aroused great interest among the members of the Subcommittee. Lubica Hajduckova, Director of the Supreme Audit Office of Slovakia, presented their development strategy. She pointed out the importance of audit planning, but also underlined that nowadays SAIs are obliged to react quickly to the issues that drive society.
Day 2 – focus on inclusiveness and equality
In addition to presenting the ISSAI 140 review project, its working group, timeline and process, Ingvild Gulbrandsen, advisor at the Office of the Auditor General of Norway, also spoke about the Norwegian quality control system. Saranya Baskar, representing the SAI of India, presented the progress of the elaboration of the Concept Paper on Compliance Audit of Inclusiveness and Equality. The rapporteur also pointed out the factors that trigger exclusion, such as age, gender and ethnicity. The closing speaker, Patricia Kochi, gave an overview of the commitment of Federal Court of Accounts of Brazil to equality, through the creation of internal regulations to increase the number of women in senior management positions and an overview of the first year of operation of a dedicated audit unit on equity and human rights policy.
During the Subcommittee meeting, each presentation was followed by a Q&A session, which led to a lively exchange of views. Discussions revealed that the development process is often in its early, transitional stage in some SAIs, while in case of other institutions the quality assurance of compliance audits is already a functioning system. This presented also the significance of the conference: all participants agreed that the event provided an opportunity to share the experience of the SAIs and to learn from it.
The organisers ensured that representatives of the SAIs could gain not only professional but also cultural experience during their stay in Budapest, and learn about Hungary’s national heritage and cultural treasures.