Negotiating the credibility of performance auditing

This paper reports the results of a longitudinal field study of a performance audit which used in-depth interviews and observation to examine the process by which auditees and auditors in the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) negotiated their relationship. The findings enhance understanding of auditee reactions to both the practice of performance auditing and the auditors themselves and the impact that these have on the credibility of performance auditing. Using the lens of Oliver's typology of strategic responses, the study confirmed the prevalence of auditee responses to performance auditing by the ANAO which ranged from co-operative acquiescence and co-operation to confrontational defiance. The paper addresses recent and ongoing calls for more studies of public sector auditing in action to deepen our understanding of the responses or manoeuvring of auditors and auditees during the process of performance auditing. A key contribution of the paper is confirmation that performance auditing continues to be a contested activity and its credibility in practice remains uncertain. The empirical (and historical) evidence suggests that audits that are perceived as especially politically sensitive can provoke active forms of resistance, including avoidance and defiance.     

Performance Audit Scope and the Independence of the Australian Commonwealth Auditor-General

The introduction of performance auditing through the 1979 Australian Audit Act amendments continues to challenge the Australian Commonwealth Auditor-General's independence. By international consensus, performance auditing includes effectiveness issues. In contrast, the Australian amendments omit reference to 'effectiveness' issues and do not define 'efficiency' audit. Interpretation of these omissions varies. The Australian National Audit Office sees no prohibition on including effectiveness audit. But successive governments have attempted to curb the CAG's independence by excluding effectiveness auditing as a forbidden intrusion into policy areas; an exclusion that the ANAO rejects in relation to audit of effectiveness at operational levels. This study investigates the practical effect of these conflicts on performance audit scope. The results show that the ANAO consistently goes beyond audit of economy and efficiency to make substantive recommendations on effectiveness issues.     

风险导向审计模式下公共财政绩效审计思路探讨

审计署2008至2012年审计工作发展规划提出要全面推进绩效审计,提高财政资金和公共资源配置、使用、利用的经济性、效率性和效果性。到2012年,每年所有的审计项目都开展绩效审计。可见,公共财政绩效审计是在财政财务收支审计发展到一定阶段推出的又一新的审计领域。本文着力探讨了在公共财政绩效审计中引入风险导向审计模式的理论可行性,以及在实践中运用风险导向审计模式的基本思路。     

VALUE FOR MONEY AUDITING IN NEW ZEALAND: COMPETING FOR CONTROL IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

This paper provides an overview of the changing role of performance or Value for Money (VFM) auditing in the New Zealand public sector. In many countries there has been a strong interest in public sector reform and the place of accounting technologies such as VFM. A theoretical framework, derived from public policy literature, is used to explain the changing role and relevance of VFM auditing in New Zealand. Within the policy process problems, solutions and opportunities are relatively separate streams. Expert groups or epistemic communities compete to define the problem and to advocate their particular solutions. The Office of the Auditor-General is presented as an epistemic community within the New Zealand policy process and the technology of VFM as a solution to the problems of the day. However, the Treasury (NZ) also developed a policy solution involving radical restructure of the public sector, challenging the existing role of VFM. In response, the Audit Office re-defined the role of VFM auditing as a service to the parliamentary select committees. The changing role of VFM illustrates the flexible and the contestable nature of accounting technologies and casts some doubt on the argument that the growth of accounting in the public sector is inevitable.     

论我国政府绩效审计的内涵

审计署2008至2012年审计工作发展规划提出要全面推进绩效审计,提高财政资金和公共资源配置、使用、利用的经济性、效率性和效果性。到2012年,每年所有的审计项目都开展绩效审计。可见,政府绩效审计是在财政财务收支审计发展到一定阶段推出的又一新的审计领域,对推动政府审计工作、建立节约性政府、创建和谐社会具有很好的现实意义。本文着力论述了政府绩效审计的必要性,对经济性、效率性、效果性的内涵做了相应的探讨。     

Commentary: Performance Audit of PPPs – Getting the Basics Right

Performance auditing (PA) is an important vehicle for assessing Value for Money (VFM) of Public‐Private Partnerships (PPPs), as well as providing assurance to the Parliament and to the public about the accountability for the supporting strategic and operational frameworks. Experience to date with PPPs in Australia has been limited and mixed in terms of results. Few projects have reached the mature stage, let alone been completed. It has been suggested that we can learn from the audit approaches and systems developed by the National Audit Office in the UK. Australian Audit Offices need to ensure that they have robust PA/VFM auditing systems, analytical methodologies and tools in place to undertake quality evaluations at various stages of a PPP, but experience to date at federal and state levels also indicates that there is still a lot to do to get the basis elements of PPPs “right”.     

External Audit Fee Levels in NHS Trusts

This article discusses the external auditing regime of NHS trusts and analyses the fees charged by their auditors. It adapts approaches developed in the private sector to investigate audit fees paid by NHS trusts and finds that, while similar factors are associated with the audit fees of trusts, there is no evidence of a 'Big 6' premium and trust audit fees are significantly lower than those of similar private sector organizations. Explanations for this are sought in the different natures of public and private sector audits, which indicate that differences in fees might be anticipated in the public sector, especially with the presence of a quasi-regulator in the form of the Audit Commission.     

Stakeholder perceptions of performance audit credibility

This paper examines the credibility of performance audit at the micro-level of practice using the general framework of Birnbaum and Stegner's theory of source credibility in which credibility is dependent upon perceptions of the independence of the auditors, their technical competence and the usefulness of audit findings. It reports the results of a field study of a performance audit by the Australian National Audit Office conducted in a major government department. The paper establishes that problems of auditor independence, technical competence and perceived audit usefulness continue to limit the credibility of performance auditing.     

Jurisdictional Competition Between Private and Public Sector Auditors:The Case of the Danish Certified Public Sector Auditor Qualification

Abstract: This paper explores the apparent paradox that while public sector auditors have become more powerful by claiming performance auditing expertise and linking this to New Public Management reforms, the same reforms have provided an opening for competition between private and public sector auditors. In Denmark, the competitive relation has led to a jurisdictional dispute between public and private sector auditors in which the former have developed a special qualification for public sector auditors. The paper analyses the development of this qualification using Abbott's (1988) theory of the system of professions, thus focusing on how the involved groups have attempted to build networks of support for their competing jurisdictional claims of expertise. The case contributes to knowledge about the potential for development of a distinct public sector auditor identity. The case suggests that to develop such an identity and gain professional recognition, public sector auditors need to convince parliaments, standard‐setting bodies and universities that a public sector auditing qualification serves as a solution to some of their problems, too.     

The Strategic Options of Supreme Audit Institutions: The Case of Four Nordic Countries

Based on the theory of professional competition, this paper identifies and investigates four strategic options of supreme audit institutions (SAIs) through a case study of four Nordic national audit offices: a performance auditing strategy; a financial auditing strategy; a portfolio strategy; and a hybrid strategy. The analysis of the Nordic SAIs shows that while one SAI appears to have adopted a hybrid strategy, the portfolio strategy has been chosen by the three other SAIs, although with some variations in the portfolio. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of these strategic options for public sector auditing.     

PERFORMANCE AUDITING IN THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN

Performance auditing is a common interest in the Supreme Audit Institutions of the developed countries. In Japan, the Board of Audit (JBA) has been developed and has expanded performance audits since its establishment (1880). In this paper, the methodological and organizational problems which arise according to expansion of performance audits are discussed, based on JBA's experiences. As for methodological problems, a self-development approach should be needed, added to the compliance approach (that is, traditional auditing concept). And as for organizational problems, the function presenting feedback information to the Diet should be put in an important position in government auditing to avoid "unintended effects".     

A Two-country Comparison of Public Sector Performance Reporting: The Tortoise and Hare?

Recent Australian and Japanese second tier public sector performance measurement changes are compared and contrasted. The case analyses are presented within a theoretical structure derived from Hood's depiction of NPM which predicts an increased emphasis on explicit performance reporting. Significant differences and similarities are identified in terms of performance reporting effort and output; motivation for changed performance reporting; role of central agencies; and degree of resultant accountability discharge. NPM is a useful analytical framework and is enhanced by Luder's Contingency Model, epistemic community influence and governance. The explanatory factors identified reinforce views that NPM is a term best used solely in the context of the governmental traditions of each relevant public sector.     

The Australian Auditing and Assurance Standards Board after the Implementation of CLERP 9

This paper traces the establishment of the reconstituted Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AUASB) as a result of the CLERP (Audit Reform and Corporate Disclosure) Act 2004, and its progress in developing auditing standards that are "in the public interest". The paper canvasses the composition of the AUASB, its transparency and due process, its relationship with the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board and the Financial Reporting Council, and its resourcing and attitude to researching issues of importance in auditing. The paper discusses methods that might be used to provide evidence of the efficacy of the reforms to auditing standard-setting.     

LINKING COMPREHENSIVE PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT TO THE BALANCED SCORECARD: EVIDENCE FROM HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Over the course of the last twenty years there has been a growing academic interest in performance management, particularly in respect of the evolution of new techniques and their resulting impact. One important theoretical development has been the emergence of multidimensional performance measurement models that are potentially applicable within the public sector. Empirically, academic researchers are increasingly supporting the use of such models as a way of improving public sector management and the effectiveness of service provision ( Mayston, 1985 ; Pollitt, 1986 ; Bates and Brignall, 1993 ; and Massey, 1999 ). This paper seeks to add to the literature by using both theoretical and empirical evidence to argue that CPA, the external inspection tool used by the Audit Commission to evaluate local authority performance management, is a version of the Balanced Scorecard which, when adapted for internal use, may have beneficial effects. After demonstrating the parallels between the CPA framework and Kaplan and Norton's public sector Balanced Scorecard (BSC), we use a case study of the BSC based performance management system in Hertfordshire County Council to demonstrate the empirical linkages between a local scorecard and CPA. We conclude that CPA is based upon the BSC and has the potential to serve as a springboard for the evolution of local authority performance management systems.     

Infrastructure assets disclosure in Australian public sector annual reports

Recent Australian public sector reforms have raised concerns about the disclosure of infrastructure asset information as a basis for improved accountability. This paper examines whether specific infrastructure asset information identified in relevant literature is disclosed in practice. A cross-sectional, content analysis of 1999 annual report disclosures made by 73 Australian public sector entities operating in economic infrastructure industries revealed a low level of, and considerable diversity in, disclosures, particularly relating to the physical condition of infrastructure assets, their maintenance and performance measurement. Such disclosure was found to be driven by government reporting guidelines rather than the use of corporate form.     

Measuring audit quality of local governments in England and Wales

The purpose of this paper is to model and test the audit quality provided to local governments in England and Wales. A key question is: are there major differences in audit quality provided? The Audit Commission, a national public body under Parliament, regulates the audits. It sets audit standards, appoints the auditors, and (although each auditor and client local government set the specific audit fee for that client) it establishes a formula to determine standard audit fees. The Audit Commission also conducts an annual review of the audit quality provided by the selected auditors, as well as a survey of client satisfaction. The majority of audits are conducted by District Auditors (public sector employees of the Audit Commission). About a quarter of local governments are audited by one of six private sector auditors (including three of the Big 4). Actual results indicate that audit quality differences are associated with the number of governmental audit clients and local government type. Generally, there were modest quality differences by auditor category.     

The Seven Deadly Sins of Performance Auditing: Implications for Monitoring Public Audit Institutions

Performance auditing is a longstanding feature of democratic government in many countries. It aims to lift the efficiency and effectiveness of public sector organisations, but numerous authors have voiced scepticism about its ability to do so. From three decades of performance auditing literature, this paper distils seven critiques of performance auditing: ‘anti‐innovation’, ‘nit‐picking’, ‘expectations gap’, ‘lapdog’, ‘headline hunting’, ‘unnecessary systems’ and ‘hollow ritual’. The paper concludes that the critiques are not valid in all cases, but serve to categorise risks to be managed in the design of performance audit programs and associated institutional arrangements. In light of the critiques, the paper proposes desirable elements of frameworks for monitoring and reporting the performance of institutions with performance audit mandates.     

注册会计师在环境审计中所占地位初探

随着国际地位的日益提高以及经济的快速发展,我国的环境保护压力日益加剧,环境审计势必将发挥越来越重要的作用。但现阶段我国环境审计的主体是政府主导的相关部门,审计效果并不理想。为了避免在公有制经济中政府干预进入市场导致低效率,根据委托-代理理论的相关内容,可以确立注册会计师在环境审计中的主体地位。在此基础上,进行以财务为导向的审计活动,从而增强所披露信息的准确性及时效性,以促进企业利益相关者做出正确的决策。     

公共财务管理与政府财务报告改革

本文根据政府财务报告主要反映政府财务受托责任和财务受托业绩 ,并为上级政府、政府主要官员、审计机关、监督机构提供政府财务信息 ,以及近年来公共部门存在一系列财务管理问题的客观现实 ,拟从报告主体内部管理的需要出发 ,阐述公共 (部门 )财务管理对政府财务信息的需求 ,提出改革政府财务报告的基本思路 ,以促进公共 (部门 )财务管理水平的提高 ,并推动政府对外财务报告的改进