Financial Audit

The Auditor General (AG) is required to submit audit reports on the financial statements of all the Accountable Government Agencies to the Accountable Officers (AO) by 31st May of every year, pursuant to section 36 (a) of the Law on Public Finance (Law No. 3/2006). Section 35 (a) of the law also stipulates that the AO of the AGAs to submit their financial statements to the AG for audit by 31st March every year. The AG is also required to submit the audit report on the consolidated financial statements of the State by 14th June of every year, pursuant to section 39 of the Law on Public Finances (Law No. 3/2006). 

The objective of a financial statement audit is to express an opinion on whether the financial statements give a true and fair view of the financial performance of the audited organization for the financial year and of its financial position as at the end of the financial year.  AGO has four departments carrying out financial statement audits. AGO carries out financial statement audit of the Whole of Government Accounts and of ministries and other Accountable Government Agencies (AGAs) AGO also audits the financial statements of donor-funded projects carried-out by AGAs. Pursuant to the Regulation for Audits and Accountability of State Owned Enterprises, AGO reviews the external audits. 

Financial audits are carriedout in accordance with the International Standards on Auditing (ISAs)

Compliance Audits 

Compliance audit deals with the degree to which the audited entity follows rules, laws and regulation, policies, established codes, or agreed upon terms and conditions, etc. Compliance audits carried-out by AGO mainly focus on (but not limited to) the compliance of the entities to the Public Finance Act and Public Finance Regulation. The reports on the compliance audits highlight the issues identified and the recommendations to the issues.

Special Audit

Special audit involves detailed examination of issues related to serious allegation of fraud, corruption, wastage, misappropriation of assets or mismanagement of public resources, which are beyond the scope of financial statements audit, performance audit or compliance audit. The findings of special audits are often referred with evidence collected to the Anti-Corruption Commission or the Maldives Police Services either for further investigations or prosecution.

Performance Audit

Performance Auditing is an independent, objective, and reliable examination of whether government undertakings, systems, operations, programs, activities, or organizations are operating in accordance with the principles of economy, efficiency, and effectiveness and whether there is room for improvement. In addition to promoting the 3Es, performance audit addresses accountability and transparency meaning that the potential scope of a performance audit may be wide and may be focused on themes such as on economic and social outcomes, environmental and sustainability outcomes, implementation of SDGs, effective procurement, coordination across government, health, education, and infrastructure.

Performance Audit is one of the three main types of public-sector audits defined in the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI). It is distinct from the other of types of audits in that it is a direct reporting engagement where the Auditor General would select the subject matter and criteria and measures or evaluates the subject matter against the criteria, considering risk and materiality and would form recommendations for the improvement of systems, processes, and for the better management of public resources.

Information Systems Audit

AGO conducts Information Systems (IS) audits of the entities under the discretionary power of AG. The audits mainly focus to evaluate evidence to determine whether a computer system saferguards assets, maintains data integrity, allows organizational goals to be achieved effectively and uses resources efficiently.