At the AGO we have put in a place an organizational level as well as an engagement level Quality Control System to ensure that the audit reports issued by the Auditor General’s Office contain factual, reliable and accurate information. It is our responsibility to uphold the best practices and international standards in the conduct of our work and in reporting to Parliament and the public. As such our aim is to work towards providing consistently high quality audit products and services that meet stakeholder expectations in the most efficient and cost effective way. In our view, we should carry out our work while maintaining a high degree of integrity, accountability and competency.
We are determined to follow the examples set by our sister SAIs in adhering to the principles of accountability, probity, and objectivity and impartiality; work carried out by us should be able stand the test of Parliamentary oversight, judgements made by members of public on propriety, and professional codes of conduct – we are committed to ensuring compliance with INTOSAI Code of Ethics. We believe in an absolute standard of honesty and integrity in handling our work and resources. Since the AG’s independence is secured in statute – the Audit Act – and the Constitution, there is a need for us to be objective and impartial in all our work which entails accurate, fair and balanced reporting.
Quality Controls At AGO
Quality is strongly embedded in the AGO’s culture and manifests itself through:
• Code of conduct: - A code of conduct is signed by the staff confirming that they have complied with its provisions, all staff are expected to abide by the ethical standards and code of conduct of AGO
• Training on specialist skills – our audit teams are trained in-house and outside for specialist skills development areas, including audit software training, Supreme Audit institution workshops etc.
• Implementation of the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAIs) and international best practice guidelines to improve the quality of our work; we have well established review procedures to ensure that appropriate audit work is undertaken efficiently and in accordance with ISSAIs.
• Regular reviews at managerial as well as directorial level of all planning decisions and field work and reporting.
• Monitoring of progress on the audit on a continuous basis to ensure that the work is completed efficiently, effectively, to time and within budget.
• Establishment of a separate Quality Assurance (QA) to provide assurance to the Auditor General (Head of the AGO) that the quality control systems and practices in the organization are working effectively.
• Use of internal QA reviews and feedback from the audited organizations to assess the quality of our reports.