Tag: performance audit

The field of auditing faces challenges in keeping pace with unprecedented changes in perspectives and tools brought about by contemporary technologies resulting from technological advancements and the growing reliance on artificial intelligence tools. The information technology environment is no longer merely an assisting vehicle to improve audit quality; rather, it has become the primary driver for redefining the concept of auditing, as affirmed by INTOSAI in its professional pronouncements, which advocate for the development of audit tools and methods to align professional practice with the digital environment. This has prompted the Accountability State Authority (ASA), as the Organization’s chair, to move swiftly in this direction by putting forward pioneering initiatives, such as the Maat Initiative, which was brought up to the 25th INCOSAI agenda in Sharm El-Sheikh in October 2025. This initiative represents a contemporary vision that reflects the importance of utilizing artificial intelligence in the development of audit work, particularly in terms of performance audits that focus on evaluating the performance of government entities to verify the efficiency of public spending, thereby supporting governance and the protection of public funds.

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in the public-sector has reached a point at which Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) can no longer treat it as a distant or experimental matter. Emerging applications of agentic AI are beginning to reshape the work of professional knowledge services, including auditing. The pace of this development, driven both by private-sector commercial adoption and by the rapid evolution of open technical standards, makes technology relevant for public auditing today rather than at some point in the future.

The expanding complexity of digital governance has fundamentally reshaped the audit landscape. Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) today confront voluminous financial records, and rapidly evolving programme architectures that strain conventional audit methods. Sample based scrutiny, and conventional data analysis methodologies are increasingly inadequate to detect systemic risks, hidden relationships, and governance failures embedded within interconnected digital systems.

At present, countries around the world are facing significant pressure to strengthen public governance, achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and fulfill commitments to preventing and combating corruption, wastefulness, and other negative practices. In this context, Sustainable Development Goal 16 highlights the importance of enhancing transparency, good governance, and combating corruption in all its forms. At the same time, the Abu Dhabi Declaration of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) also emphasizes and reinforces the role of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) in preventing and combating corruption more effectively.

At the beginning of 2026, the Netherlands Court of Audit published a report on the use of taxpayers’ money to fund both voluntary and obligatory energy saving measures. To carry out the audit we relied heavily on AI to analyse the data and map the overlap between incentives and obligatory measures. In this article we explain how we approached the audit topic and the use we made of AI.

What do women with breast cancer actually pay for their treatment? Providing a rigorous answer based on available data poses a significant methodological challenge.

Data has become a central part for the management of complex public programmes. It helps to highlight trends, better understand impacts and identify the need for policy adjustments. For Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs), the question is therefore no longer whether data analysis should be used in performance audits and evaluations. Rather, the key issue is how data analysis can be planned, prepared and integrated into audit work in such a way that it is driven by the audit questions and contributes to better insights, more convincing recommendations and, ultimately, greater impact.

Performance auditing is undergoing significant transformation within the international public auditing community. Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) are increasingly moving beyond traditional economy-efficiency-effectiveness assessments toward more sophisticated evaluation-oriented approaches based on data analytics, impact assessment, risk analysis, and evidence-based policymaking.

Performance audit aims to secure government accountability by examining the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of government activities. Although INTOSAI established universal standards for performance audit, the specific manners of how each SAI operates, shows different developmental stages and outcomes of their performance audits are all different depending on their own historical background and political, administrative landscape.

Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) have increasingly expanded their role beyond legal compliance and administrative regularity to improve public policies and the quality of services delivered to society. Despite this evolution, many audits still focus on bureaucratic processes, governance structures, and institutional indicators, without fully capturing how public-sector shortcomings affect citizens’ daily lives.

In recent years, intermediate cities have emerged as critical drivers of regional development, yet evaluating their public services poses unique challenges for Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs). To address this gap, Costa Rica’s SAI developed and implemented an innovative performance audit methodology specifically tailored to these distinct urban centers. This specialized framework advances traditional performance auditing by integrating a pragmatic assessment of public value, equity, and sustainable development within decentralized contexts.

Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) play an essential role in strengthening accountability and transparency within democratic governance systems. As public policy challenges become increasingly complex and interconnected, SAIs are expected not only to provide assurance, but also to contribute more directly to governance improvement and sustainable development outcomes. This expectation is reflected in INTOSAI-P 12, which emphasizes that SAIs should create value and deliver tangible benefits to citizens through stronger accountability, transparency, and public sector performance (INTOSAI, 2013). International discussions have also highlighted the growing need for SAIs to address cross-sectoral and long-term governance challenges, including sustainable development and governance resilience (INTOSAI Journal, 2021).

Over the past several years, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimated fraud facing the U.S. government using rigorous approaches that helped communicate the extent and impact of fraud in federal programs to Congress, the American public and antifraud professionals.

Environmental audits, especially in marine protected areas, face challenges in obtaining reliable evidence as environmental conditions often evolve gradually and are not completely reflected in routine monitoring records. Such challenges may necessitate an approach beyond conventional audit methods.

In a world of rapid changes and increasing challenges, governments are asked more than ever to have concrete findings, provide high quality public service and manage the available resources efficiently, effectively and responsibly. With these changes, the public audit is not only viewed as just ensuring compliance with laws and protocols but also evaluating the performance and measuring the actual influence of government policies and programs on lives of citizens.

Mozambique’s supreme audit institution (SAI) continues to operate under a hybrid model inherited from the colonial epoch, resembling the jurisdictional model. Mozambique’s Administrative Court (Tribunal Administrativo, TA) consolidates three distinct courts within a single organization, represented by its respective chambers. The First and Second Chambers are focused on Administrative, and Tax and Customs litigation, respectively. The Third Chamber performs the functions of an SAI. Despite a visible and steady process of institutional development in recent years, the main obstacle to its progress has been its hybrid structure. This configuration hinders the institution’s organizational, financial, and functional independence, the foundational basis for the effective functioning of an SAI as recognized in the 1977 Lima Declaration. Consequently, there is no fully functional SAI in Mozambique that meets the recommendations of the United Nations (UN), INTOSAI, and international best practices.

This paper examines the integration of performance audit perspectives into financial audits on the Audit Board of the Republic of Indonesia’s (BPK) by using the Financial Audit with Performance Audit Perspective (FAPA) framework. This paper demonstrates how FAPA approach, documented through Long-Form Audit Reports, enhances audit impact by evaluating both financial accuracy and operational effectiveness. Despite challenges in methodological alignment, stakeholder management, timing, and coordination, we present a structured workflow model for effective implementation of the FAPA framework. The paper advocates for further integration of sustainability and foresight elements to promote long-term value creation in public financial management, better meeting evolving stakeholder expectations and supporting Sustainable Development Goals.

The audit of crisis management functioning within rail infrastructure was undertaken on the Supreme Audit Office of Poland, Najwyższa Izba Kontroli (NIK)’s own initiative and covered among other, procedures applied during the biggest breakdown of rail traffic control that occurred in March 2022, 3 weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine. The audit was also driven by a significant number of issues and accidents on railways. In 2020, 516 railway accidents occurred, of which 6 were serious accidents caused by collisions or derailment of trains and affected the safety of people within railway areas. Moreover, 1,218 incidents were noted that did not result in any fatalities or serious injuries or in material or environment damage. However, these incidents could have turned into events requiring actions provided for in crisis management plans. The also audit investigated issues identified during the mass coal transports from seaports at the turn of 2022-2023, issues related to movements of refugees from Ukraine, difficulties in rail traffic in the area of ​​Warsaw Junction caused by investment works in 2020-2023 and disturbances in rail traffic caused by an unauthorized broadcasting of radio-stop signals in 2020-2023.

Evaluations and performance audits require a robust selection process to ensure success. A thorough and systematic examination of potential performance audit topics allows the identification of those that present the highest risks and offer the greatest potential for improvement respectively. Furthermore, it facilitates determining the optimal timing for results to be integrated into the further development of respective public policies. Consequently, a well-considered selection of evaluation topics is more likely to influence existing public policies positively.

The Supreme Audit Office of the Republic of Poland (NIK) audited the implementation of a strategic pilotage project, Forest carbon farms, to verify its performance and if funds were spent efficiently during its implementation by the General Directorate of State Forests. The audit also looked at whether it enabled obtaining the best outcomes, and if forest divisions correctly and reliably planned and performed their activities included in the project. 

Climate change already has severe consequences for developing countries. Through the Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, Norway and other industrialised countries committed to support climate change adaptation efforts in developing countries. 

According to the State of the Climate in Asia (2023) report, the average temperature of Asian countries in 2023 rose by 0.91 degrees Celsius compared to the period from 1991-2020. This results in a rise in sea surface temperature, which further intensifies tropical cyclones and severe rainfall that leads to floods and landslides. Indonesia has encountered a total of 300 natural disasters, including 200 instances of flooding between 1990 and 2021. These events have caused harm to around 11 million individuals. Figure 1 shows that all-natural disasters that happened in Indonesia were caused by climate change.