Financial Audit

Under the Public Management and Finance Act (PMFA), the OAG is responsible for the audit of the 47 financial statements audits (based on the 2024 financial audit strategic plan) broken down as follows:

* The OAG is grouped among the core government entities, but excluded from these figures. It is audited by a private audit firm appointed by the Public Accounts Committee.

The Auditor General is ultimately responsible for all the financial statements audits, whether they are delivered in house or by a private audit firm, reporting their results to Parliament.

In accordance with Section 61 of the PMFA, the Auditor General presents annually to Parliament the results of all financial audits conducted and any significant matters. The report summarises the audits of ministries, portfolios, offices, statutory authorities and government companies of Government for each financial year-end. In this report, the Auditor General discusses key audit matters, the statement of financial management reporting in Government, summarise findings and highlight emerging issues the Auditor General merits the attention of Parliament.

We carry out the financial statements audits in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB), which is part of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). Our audit staff are professionally qualified or are under training and, with a range of experience.

We conduct our financial audits using the latest risk-based auditing practices. Our financial audit work involves techniques to obtain audit evidence and assurance based on a thorough understanding of the client's business. This understanding allows us to develop an audit strategy which focuses on addressing specific risks whilst providing an acceptable level of assurance across the financial statements as a whole. We tailor our work to meet the needs of, and based on the risks faced by, individual clients.

We endeavor to add value in each of our financial audits.

Our understanding of the business, risk and controls assessment provides us the opportunity to give positive and constructive feedback through sharing our analysis of risk, and the effectiveness of risk management and control systems. This will enable the OAG to contribute more effectively towards improving financial reporting, financial management and corporate governance processes not only at entity level but across the public sector.

The OAG has strict policies procedures in place to ensure our independence, objectivity and integrity including an annual declaration by staff which identifies any potential conflicts of interest or other similar matters arising. For further information please see our Code of Conduct, and policies on Register of Interests and Ethics and Independence. We also proactively disclose the Registers of Independence of our senior leadership.

We aim to maintain and build on the existing good relationships we have with our audit clients. We aim to provide clients with appropriate advice and access to relevant guidance which enable them to ensure that their financial statements are prepared in accordance with the appropriate financial reporting and accounting standards.

We issue a report to those charged with governance at the end of every financial audit to communicate significant matters.

Quality is fundamental to the culture and processes within the OAG and we have well established review procedures to ensure that audit work is undertaken efficiently and in accordance with International Standards on Auditing. We have a system of audit quality management (SoAQM) as prescribed by international audit quality standards. We monitor the quality of the work conducted by our teams and the reports they produce, as well as the other components of our audit practice that foster the integration of quality in every aspect of our audits.

We adhere to the International Standards on Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI 140), “Quality Management in SAIs”, issued by the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI). We also refer to the International Standards on Quality Management (ISQM) issued by the IAASB in operating our SoAQM.