Performance audit

Performance audit

Performance audit refers to an examination of a program, function, operation or the management systems and procedures of a governmental or non-profit entity to assess whether the entity is achieving economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the employment of available resources. The examination is objective and systematic, generally using structured and professionally adopted methodologies.

In most countries, performance audits of governmental activities are carried out by the external audit bodies at federal or state level. Many of these audit bodies have established guides for conducting performance audits which explain how performance audits are planned, conducted and its results reported.

INTOSAI, the international association of Supreme Audit Institutions, has published generally accepted principles of performance auditing in its implementation guidelines. In the United States, the standard for government performance audits is the Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS), often referred to as the "yellow book", maintained by the federal Government Accountability Office (GAO). Similarly, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) has developed a "performance audit manual" for its audits of the sound financial management of the European Commission and the programmes funded through the EU budget.

Performance audits may also be conducted by Internal Auditors who are employees of the entity being audited. However, some national governments require agencies, departments and branches to periodically retain outside auditors to conduct them.

In the USA, all auditors who follow GAGAS standards are required to maintain independence, supervision, continuing professional education, and conduct the audit using a specific process designed to increase the quality of the audit and reduce the politicization of audit work. Although there are separate professional credentials and certifications for Financial Auditors, the persons that conduct Performance Audits in the USA are often Certified Public Accountants, Certified Internal Auditors, or have a broad background in public policy, business or public administration.

The scope of performance audits may include the detection of fraud, waste and abuse, although often these are not included in the scope. Prior to engaging in a performance audit, the auditor must have a scope and plan defined which will be used to guide the audit process.

Performance auditing differs from performance measurement, the latter being the responsibility of management of the entity. In addition, performance measurement may include a broad variety of activities that do not meet the rigour of an independent external assessment.

References

* "Managerial Auditing Journal", ISSN: 0268-6902, Emerald Publishing Group
* "Performance Measurement and Metrics", ISSN: 1467-8047, Emerald Publishing Group
* "Benchmarking: An International Journal", ISSN 1463-5771, Emerald Publishing Group

See also

* Government performance auditing
* Total quality management


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • performance audit — UK US noun [C] ► HR an examination of the methods and processes used by an organization to check that it is working effectively: »They are working to correct operational shortcomings found in a performance audit two years ago …   Financial and business terms

  • Performance Audit — An audit performed on an asset manager by an outside accounting firm to verify that the performance figures shown to the public on marketing materials represent the true aggregate results of the firm s clientèle. The CFA Institute has… …   Investment dictionary

  • performance audit — An audit of an activity or operation with reference to adherence to *policies, *procedures, Regulations, and defined objectives. Performance auditing is an aspect of *management auditing and Operational auditing, and it is often associated with… …   Auditor's dictionary

  • Audit (disambiguation) — Audit may refer to:*Audit an evaluation of an organization, system, process, project or product * Auditor of a Student Society, especially in Ireland, having a similar etymology. *Academic audit the completion of a course of study for which no… …   Wikipedia

  • Audit Scotland — is a public body in Scotland which is responsible for auditing approximately 200 public organisations, which spend over £29 billion of public money each year. These include the Scottish Government, local councils and NHS Scotland.The role of… …   Wikipedia

  • audit — detailed checking of the financial records of a business by an independent qualified person ( auditor) in order to verify their correctness or to detect errors or fraud. Glossary of Business Terms An examination of a company s accounting records… …   Financial and business terms

  • Performance management — is closely connected to Performance measurement. They are sometimes mistaken for each other. In careful usage, Performance Management is the larger domain and includes Performance Measurement as a component.Performance measurement is the process… …   Wikipedia

  • Audit Record Generation and Utilization System — or Argus is a fixed model Real Time Flow Monitor designed to track and report on the status and performance of all network transactions seenin a data network traffic stream, doing that by that categorizing IP packets which match the boolean… …   Wikipedia

  • Audit — For other uses, see Audit (disambiguation). Accountancy Key concepts Accountant · Accounting period · Bookkeeping · Cash and accrual basis · Cash flow management  …   Wikipedia

  • Audit committee — In a publicly held company, an audit committee is an operating committee of the Board of Directors, typically charged with oversight of financial reporting and disclosure. Committee members are drawn from members of the Company s board of… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”