Auditor generals must ensure accountability of public spending, warns ACCA

ACCA and the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) have warned that auditor generals must ensure the accountability of spent public funds amid the pandemic, as they look to highlight the important role of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) during times of crisis. Following “unprecedented” public sector interventions in societies and economies across the world, they said that SAIs are “essential” in holding governments to account in how they spend and allocate resources. To support SAIs, ACCA and IDI are releasing resources so that SAIs can carry out post-Covid-19 compliance audits that focus on “transparency, accountability and inclusiveness”. Their new toolkit for SAIs focuses on three policy briefs: Leave no one behind: Covid-19 exacerbated inequalities, many of which were overlooked when socioeconomic packages to tackle the impacts of the pandemic were developed and implemented. Public audits can help shed light on whether legislative and regulatory frameworks account for such inequalities and if existing safeguards were complied with. Procuring at speed: This brief focuses on the risks associated with emergency procurement during the Covid-19 crisis. Specifically, how public audits can evaluate if existing and emergency frameworks were effective. Beyond keeping receipts: At times of crisis, accountability and transparency tend to take a back seat – making public audit a more difficult undertaking. However, to maintain public trust and protect public funds, governments must ensure all public spending has a clear audit trail. Mike Suffield, director of ACCA’s Professional Insights said: “The nature of the current Covid-19 pandemic has meant public spending, in many jurisdictions, occurred through fast-tracked processes. As a result, risks of corruption, mismanagement and waste have certainly been increased. “This is where Supreme Audit Institutions must take the lead. They can help address concerns around equality and transparency as countries review how spending actually occurred – who received the benefits of this spending and who was left behind?” He added: “With the help of Auditors General, we can begin to learn lessons from the pandemic and ensure our responses in the future better consider the importance of transparency, accountability and inclusiveness.” Einar Gørrissen, director general of IDI said: “SAIs have been increasingly challenged throughout the last 15 months, not only to ensure that their governments are held to account in unprecedented circumstances, but to learn, apply and roll out complex compliance audits at a time when pressures on resources have been enormous. “The role of the SAI auditor has never been more important, relevant and visible than during this pandemic. Together, we can ensure that the lessons and learning of the past year impact positively on the transparency, accountability and inclusiveness of all SAI audits.”

Auditor generals must ensure accountability of public spending, warns ACCA

To support SAIs, ACCA and IDI are releasing resources so that they can carry out post-Covid-19 compliance audits that focus on ‘transparency, accountability and inclusiveness’

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