International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions

International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions
Abbreviation INTOSAI
Motto Experientia Mutua Omnibus Prodest, "Mutual experience benefits all"
Formation 1953
Type IGO
Headquarters Vienna, Austria
Website http://www.intosai.org

The International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) is a worldwide affiliation of governmental entities. Its members are the Chief Financial Controller/Comptroller General/Auditor General Offices of nations.

INTOSAI was founded in 1953[1] in Havana, Cuba.[2] Thirty-four audit organizations formed the group originally and as of 2010 the current membership includes 193 institutions (188 national institutions, the European Court of Auditors and 4 associated members).[1]

The members of INTOSAI are the primary external auditors of the United Nations.[2] The UN's General Assembly appoints the UN Board of Auditors (3 members appointed for 6 years) among the INTOSAI member representatives.[3]

INTOSAI holds a triennial conference entitled the International Congress of Supreme Audit Institutions (INCOSAI).[4] It publishes the quarterly International Journal of Government Auditing. Examples of its major publications are:

The ISSAIs, International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions

The International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI) are a benchmark for auditing public entities (External Audit Standards for public entities).
The "INTOSAI Auditing Standards" had been approved by the INCOSAI in 1998 and updated in 2001. In its strategic plan 2005-2010, the INTOSAI decided to "provide an up-to-date framework of professional standards", so the INTOSAI Professional Standards Committee decided to merge the existing and new INTOSAI standards and guidelines into a framework.
The framework comprises all documents endorsed by INCOSAI with the purpose →of guiding the professional standards used by SAIs

The ISSAIs can be found at INTOSAI.ORG and issai.org. The list of ISSAIs is in the table below:

Hierarchical level of the text ISSAI series Name NotesLink to ISSAI document
Level 1: Founding PrinciplesISSAI 1The Lima Declaration (endorsed 1977)Comprehensive precepts on auditing in the public sector
Level 2: Prerequisites ISSAI 10-40Prerequisites for the Functioning of Supreme Audit Institutions * The 'ISSAI 30' Code of Ethics is the statement of values and principles guiding the daily work of the auditors. One of the principles outlined in the Code of Ethics is the statutory auditor’s obligation to apply generally accepted auditing standards. (not to be mistaken with the AICPA's Generally accepted auditing standards)
Level 3: Fundamental Auditing PrinciplesISSAI 100-400Basic Principles, General Standards, Field Standards (endorsed 2001), and Reporting Standards
Level 4: Auditing GuidelinesISSAI 1000-1810Financial Audit Guidelines Financial_Audit_Guidelines_E.pdf
ISSAI 3000-3100Performance Audit Guidelines
ISSAI 4000-4200Compliance Audit Guidelines
ISSAI 5000-5010Guidelines on auditing International Institutions
ISSAI 5100-5140Guidelines on Environmental Audit
ISSAI 5200-5240Guidelines on Privatisation
ISSAI 5300-5399guidelines on IT-audit
ISSAI 5400-5499Guidelines on Audit of Public Debt
ISSAI 5500-5599Guidelines on Audit of Disaster-related Aid
ISSAI 5600-5699Guidelines on Peer Reviews
Guidance for Good governance INTOSAI GOVs 9100 - 9230 Internal Control and Accounting Standards www.issai.org/media(891,1033)/Internal_Control_Standards.pdf

Two main types of audit

The INTOSAI Auditing Standards distinguish basically two types of audit that a Government Auditor may perform:

In a regularity audit, the audit report contains the auditor's opinion.

In a performance audit, the report should contain a statement of assurance on those items tested for compliance, as the auditor's conclusion (as opposed to opinion).

The INTOSAI's (and GAO's or ECA's) Performance audit correspond to the Review Engagements or "Assurance Engagements other than Audits" of the IFAC.

Adoption by intergovernmental organizations

In addition to the INTOSAI members (the Supreme Audit Institutions), the following intergovernmental organizations have adopted INTOSAI AS:

INTOSAI and Internal Audit

The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) is among the 4 associated members of the INTOSAI.[8]
The INTOSAI is a strong advocate for the establishment of Independent Internal audit in public entities.

The guidance 'INTOSAI GOV 9100' states: -(page 46) "The Supreme Audit Institution also has a vested interest in ensuring that strong internal audit units exist where needed. Those audit units constitute an important element of internal control by providing a continuous means for improving an organisation's operations. In some countries, however, the internal audit units may lack independence, be weak, or be non-existent. In those cases, the SAI should, whenever possible, offer assistance and guidance to establish and develop those capacities and to ensure the independence of the internal auditor's activities." - "The creation of an internal audit unit as part of the internal control system is a strong signal by management that internal control is important.
(...) For an internal audit function to be effective, it is essential that the internal audit staff be independent from management, work in an unbiased, correct and honest way and that they report directly to the highest level of authority within the organisation.
(...) "For professional guidance, internal auditors should use the Professional Practices Framework (PPF) of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) (...) Additionally, internal auditors should follow the INTOSAI Code of Ethics".

Regional working groups

List of INCOSAI Conferences

INCOSAI Place Date Host Information
I November 1953 Ministry of Auditing and Control of the Republic of Cuba
II September 1956 Court of Audit of Belgium
III May 1959 Tribunal de Contas da União
IV May 1962 Court of Audit of the Republic of Austria
V June 1965 State Comptroller's Office of Israel
VI May 1968 Board of Audit of Japan
VII September 1971 Office of the Auditor General of Canada
VIII May 1974 Tribunal de Cuentas
IX October 1977 Contraloría General de la República del Perú
X June 1980 Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of Kenya
XI April 1983 Philippine Commission on Audit
XII April 1986 Australian National Audit Office
XIII June 1989 Bundesrechnungshof
German commemorative stamp from XIII INCOSAI
XIV October 1992 Government Accountability Office
XV September - October 1995 Central Auditing Organization of Egypt
XVI November 1998 Contraloría General de la República del Uruguay
XVII October 2001 Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea
XVIII October 2004 Hungarian State Audit Office
XIX November 2007 Contraloría General de la República de Mexicohttp://www.incosai2007.org.mx/
XX November 2010 Auditor-General of South Africahttp://www.incosai.co.za/en/
XXI 2013 National Audit Office of the People's Republic of China

Members of INTOSAI

Typical title of the members of INTOSAI: Office of the Chief Financial Controller / Comptroller / Comptroller General / Auditor General / Comptroller and Auditor General...
The list below is not exhaustive.

Country/Area INTOSAI Member Responsible
♦The European Union The European Court of Auditors, the fifth institution of the European Union, established in 1975 in Luxembourg to audit the accounts of EU institutions The President of the ECA.
AustraliaAustralian National Audit Office Auditor General of the Australian National Audit Office
Austria Court of Audit of the Republic of Austria
Belgium Court of Audit of Belgium
Bolivia Contraloría General de la República de Bolivia
Brazil Tribunal de Contas da União
Canada Auditor General of Canada
Chile Contraloría General de la República de Chile
ChinaNational Audit Office of the People's Republic of China Auditor General of China
Hong Kong Director of Audit of Hong Kong
Colombia The Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic of Colombia (Spanish: Contraloría General de la República de Colombia) is an 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 Comptroller General of Colombia (Contralor General de la República, currently Dr. Julio César Turbay Quintero) http://www.contraloriagen.gov.co
Costa RicaContraloría General de la República de Costa Rica
Cuba Ministry of Auditing and Control of the Republic of Cuba
EcuadorContraloría General de la República del Ecuador
Egypt Central Auditing Organization of Egypt
France Cour des Comptes "First President of the Cour des Comptes" FR fr:Premier président de la Cour des comptes (could be translated as "Chief Baron" of the French Court of Audit, by analogy with the judges of the English Court of Exchequer)
GermanyBundesrechnungshof
GreeceChamber of Accounts (Greece)
Guatemala Contraloría General de Cuentas de la República de Guatemala
Honduras Contraloría General de la República de Honduras
Hungary Hungarian State Audit Office
India Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India is an authority, established by the Constitution of India, who audits all receipts and expenditure of the Government of India and the state governments, including those of bodies and authorities substantially financed by the government. The CAG is also the external auditor of government-owned companies. The reports of the CAG are taken into consideration by the Public Accounts Committees, which are special committees in the Parliament of India and the state legislatures (Vidhan Sabha and Vidhan Parishad). The CAG of India is also the head of the Indian Audits and Accounts Service, which has over 58,000 employees across the country.
Indonesia Audit Board of the Republic of Indonesia, "Badan Pemeriksa Keuangan" (Cf. Constitution of Indonesia)Chairman of the Audit Board of the Republic of Indonesia (currently Hadi Poernomo) http://www.bpk.go.id
Ireland Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Irish: Oifig an Ard-Reachtaire Cuntas agus Ciste) The Comptroller and Auditor General of Ireland is a constitutional officer whose office was established under Article 33 of the Constitution of Ireland. The CAG is appointed by the President on the nomination of Dáil Éireann. The CAG operates independently of government. The office of the CAG is required to audit all accounts of moneys and all spending authorized by the legislature. The current CAG is Seamus McCarthy. The office of the CAG deals directly with citizens along with State officials.
IranSupreme Audit Court of IranSupreme Audit Court of Iran
IsraëlState Comptroller's Office of IsraelState Comptroller's Office
Italy Corte dei conti
Japan Board of Audit of Japan
Kenya Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of KenyaComptroller and Auditor General of Kenya
Korea Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea
Latvia State Audit Office of the Republic of LatviaAuditor General of the SAO
Mexico Contraloría General de la República de Mexico
The NetherlandsAlgemene Rekenkamer
New ZealandThe Office of the Auditor-GeneralController and Auditor-General, currently Lyn Provost
NicaraguaContraloría General de la República de Nicaragua
NorwayOffice of the Auditor General of Norway
Pakistan Auditor General of Pakistan
Panamá Contraloría General de la República de Panamá
Paraguay Contraloría General de la República del Paraguay
Perú Contraloría General de la República del Perú
PhilippinesPhilippine Commission on Audit
PortugalTribunal de Contas
República Dominicana Contraloría General de la República de República Dominicana
Scotland Auditor General for Scotland
Sierra Leone Audit Service Sierra LeoneAuditor General of Sierra Leone
Singapore In Singapore, the body managing tax records is referred to as The Comptroller of Income Tax.
SloveniaCourt of Audit of the Republic of Slovenia President of the Court of Audit of the Republic of Slovenia
South Africa Auditor-General (South Africa)
Spain Tribunal de Cuentas The President of the Court of Accounts - currently Manuel Núñez Pérez
Sri Lanka Auditor General of Sri Lanka
Sweden Swedish National Audit Office
Taiwan Control Yuan of the Republic of China
The United States The GAO Comptroller General of the United States; Cf. Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards or GAGAS or Yellow Book
UK The National Audit Office Comptroller and Auditor General
Uruguay Contraloría General de la República del Uruguay
Venezuela Contraloría General de la República de Venezuela

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Hussey, Roger; Ong, Audra Wei Ming (2006), International Financial Reporting Standards Desk Reference, Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, p. 289, ISBN 978-0-471-72715-6, OCLC 57573800
  2. 1 2 Franda, Marcus F. (2006), The United Nations in the Twenty-first Century: Management and Reform Processes in a Troubled Organization, Lanham, Maryland, U.S.: Rowman & Littlefield, p. 219, ISBN 978-0-7425-5334-7, OCLC 62895793
  3. http://www.un.org/auditors/board/mandate.shtml#cm
  4. Shah, Anwar (2007), Performance Accountability and Combating Corruption (PDF), Washington, D.C., U.S.: World Bank, p. 309, ISBN 978-0821369418, OCLC 77116846
  5. http://eca.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/audit
  6. http://www.un.org/auditors/board/modusop.shtml#soa
  7. The INTOSAI Financial Audit Guidelines will be based on the International Standards on Auditing (ISA) issued by the IAASB http://www.afrosai-e.org.za/HOME/Menu/TechnicalAdvancement/INTOSAIauditingstandards/tabid/82/Default.aspx
  8. Official membership list http://www.intosai.org/en/portal/about_us/organisation/membership_list/

External links

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