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Orientation on developing a medium-term audit plan for 2023–2025: Focusing on new audit contents and fields

13/09/2022

Orientation on developing a medium-term audit plan for 2023–2025: Focusing on new audit contents and fieldsAccording to the orientation set out by the Leadership of the State Audit Office of Viet Nam (SAV), it is planned not to increase the number of annual audits in the period 2023-2025, instead to adjust the audit structures, of which to increase the number of audits on new contents and focusing on new types of audit. Besides, the SAV identifies audit topics and tasks in order to develop a medium-term audit strategy.Orientation on audit topics and task According to the Department of General Affairs, along with the orientations on the content and areas of audit in the audit plan in 2023 and the Medium-term audit plan 2023-2025, the SAV intends to audit the appropriation reports of the ministries and central agencies at least 70% in 2023 (corresponding to 29 ministries and central agencies), 80% in 2024 and 2025 (corresponding to 33 ministries and branches); and at least 80% of annual local appropriation reports. As stated by the General Affairs Department’s leader, the basics for audit topics and tasks orientation are the tasks and solutions for socioeconomic development in the five years of 2021-2025 as stated in the 13th Party Congress Document, Resolution No. 134/2020/QH14 of the XIV National Assembly on the implementation of the National Assembly's resolutions on thematic supervision and questioning during the XIV term, and a number of other important resolutions, including those are directly related to the SAV’s tasks. Based on the audit plan medium-term for 2022-2024 and the orientation on developing the 2023 audit plan, the SAV’s units in charge of developing the medium-term 2023-2025 shall select appropriate audit topics and tasks. The SAV will conduct agency-wide audits with a large number of participating units. There are several specific recommendations including the Specialized Audit Department No. II and III to study and propose audits of at least two topics each year related to state management, programs and policies chaired and managed by central ministries and branches. The Specialized Audit Department No. IV, V, and VII to study and propose audits on topics relevant to their functions and tasks, ... Several regular or periodic audits should be included in the medium-term audit plan 2023–2025, namely Tasks under Resolution No. 43/2022/QH15 on fiscal and monetary policies to support the socio-economic recovery and development program as assigned in Action Program No. 17/CTr-BCSD of the SAV’s Party Committee on February 11, 2022, on the implementation of resolutions of the National Assembly; organizing regular audits on the price compensation settlement of the Petrovietnam in the off-take of products of the Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Project. At the same time, organizing the regular audits of the State Bank and the Bank for Social Policies; audit the costs of managing social insurance and unemployment insurance in the period 2022-2024 following the Resolution No. 09/2021/UBTVQH15 on social insurance and unemployment insurance management costs for the 2022-2024 period; conducting an audit of Social Insurance every three years. To increase the number of audits in new audit fields According to the medium-term audit orientation, the audit structure will be adjusted to strengthen the audit for new audit contents and fields such as theme audit, performance audit, information technology audit, and environmental audit. The adjustment has been set by the SAV a long time ago and has gradually been concretized in SAV documents. It has been specified in the SAV Development Strategy to 2030 (period 2021–2030), including: "To gradually promote performance audits, thematic audits, IT audits, environmental audits, and new areas of audits, aiming at approximately 30% of those audits over total conducted per year by 2025, and 40% or more by 2030". Therefore, the SAV units actively proposed audit content when developing the audit plan, following the SAV leadership's orientations and directions. Mentioning to the development of the audit plan, the leader of the Regional State Audit Office No. XI stated that they have completed the survey, gathered data, and sent the audit proposal to the Department of General Affairs for the preparation of the 2023 audit plan and the medium-term plan (2023-2025) of the SAV. "The proposed audit content primarily follows the SAV leaders' orientation and direction, with an emphasis on auditing local appropriation report of the in-charge regions ", said the leader. It is known by Specialized Audit Department No II that the contribution of thematic audit has been significantly accounted for in the audit results of SAV with many large-scale audits, wide audit scope, consuming a lot of the State resources with great impacts on the country's socio-economy. This proven result reveals the effectiveness of thematic audit, with its own advantages, as well as confirms the determination to focus on new, difficult, but necessary audit contents and types in order to meet the Party's and State's increasing requirements for audit profession. From a perspective of an audit expert with a certain understanding of the SAV, Associate Professor, Ph.D. Dinh The Hung (Institute of Accounting-Auditing, National Economics University) affirms that the SAV has made significant steps in recent years to improve its role in the economy and adapt to changing times. The strengthening of new audit contents and fields under the direction of the SAV is the right choice and follows the global auditing trend. The challenge is to concentrate on increasing audit capability while clearly demonstrating the advantages of each new field and type of audit. For example, the SAV should assess the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of state agencies when conducting performance audits. "Depending on the review approach, the SAV should select appropriate sampling, ensuring that the conclusions drawn are based on a sufficient audit sample, due to a broad scope of operation of the State ", said the Associate Professor. Emphasizing the need of increasing the number of audits in new content and fields, it is said that these audit contents are new to the SAV, while the guidance documents are being updated and the SAV resources are limited. Therefore, the SAV must pay attention on innovating and improving audit quality, from improving audit processes and forms to increasing auditor capability, tightening audit discipline, and employing advanced and effective audit approaches... Moreover, the audited topics must follow the Party's, National Assembly's, Government's, and SAV leaders' orientation, with high societal attention and be appropriate to the country's political and socio-economic situation at the time. According to the orientation on developing the medium-term audit plan for 2023-2025, the number of thematic, performance, environmental and IT audits will be gradually upward adjusted over the years, reaching about 24% of the total number of audits in 2023, 27% in 2024 and 30% in 2025. Nguyen Loc (Auditing Newspaper No. 32/2022)

According to the orientation set out by the Leadership of the State Audit Office of Viet Nam (SAV), it is planned not to increase the number of annual audits in the period 2023-2025, instead to adjust the audit structures, of which to increase the number of audits on new contents and focusing on new types of audit. Besides, the SAV identifies audit topics and tasks in order to develop a medium-term audit strategy.

The State Audit Office of Viet Nam focuses on new audit fields.

Orientation on audit topics and task
According to the Department of General Affairs, along with the orientations on the content and areas of audit in the audit plan in 2023 and the Medium-term audit plan 2023-2025, the SAV intends to audit the appropriation reports of the ministries and central agencies at least 70% in 2023 (corresponding to 29 ministries and central agencies), 80% in 2024 and 2025 (corresponding to 33 ministries and branches); and at least 80% of annual local appropriation reports.
As stated by the General Affairs Department’s leader, the basics for audit topics and tasks orientation are the tasks and solutions for socioeconomic development in the five years of 2021-2025 as stated in the 13th Party Congress Document, Resolution No. 134/2020/QH14 of the XIV National Assembly on the implementation of the National Assembly's resolutions on thematic supervision and questioning during the XIV term, and a number of other important resolutions, including those are directly related to the SAV’s tasks. Based on the audit plan medium-term for 2022-2024 and the orientation on developing the 2023 audit plan, the SAV’s units in charge of developing the medium-term 2023-2025 shall select appropriate audit topics and tasks. The SAV will conduct agency-wide audits with a large number of participating units. There are several specific recommendations including the Specialized Audit Department No. II and III to study and propose audits of at least two topics each year related to state management, programs and policies chaired and managed by central ministries and branches. The Specialized Audit Department No. IV, V, and VII to study and propose audits on topics relevant to their functions and tasks, ...

Several regular or periodic audits should be included in the medium-term audit plan 2023–2025, namely Tasks under Resolution No. 43/2022/QH15 on fiscal and monetary policies to support the socio-economic recovery and development program as assigned in Action Program No. 17/CTr-BCSD of the SAV’s Party Committee on February 11, 2022, on the implementation of resolutions of the National Assembly; organizing regular audits on the price compensation settlement of the Petrovietnam in the off-take of products of the Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical Project. At the same time, organizing the regular audits of the State Bank and the Bank for Social Policies; audit the costs of managing social insurance and unemployment insurance in the period 2022-2024 following the Resolution No. 09/2021/UBTVQH15 on social insurance and unemployment insurance management costs for the 2022-2024 period; conducting an audit of Social Insurance every three years.

To increase the number of audits in new audit fields

According to the medium-term audit orientation, the audit structure will be adjusted to strengthen the audit for new audit contents and fields such as theme audit, performance audit, information technology audit, and environmental audit.

The adjustment has been set by the SAV a long time ago and has gradually been concretized in SAV documents. It has been specified in the SAV Development Strategy to 2030 (period 2021–2030), including: "To gradually promote performance audits, thematic audits, IT audits, environmental audits, and new areas of audits, aiming at approximately 30% of those audits over total conducted per year by 2025, and 40% or more by 2030". Therefore, the SAV units actively proposed audit content when developing the audit plan, following the SAV leadership's orientations and directions.

Mentioning to the development of the audit plan, the leader of the Regional State Audit Office No. XI stated that they have completed the survey, gathered data, and sent the audit proposal to the Department of General Affairs for the preparation of the 2023 audit plan and the medium-term plan (2023-2025) of the SAV. "The proposed audit content primarily follows the SAV leaders' orientation and direction, with an emphasis on auditing local appropriation report of the in-charge regions ", said the leader.

It is known by Specialized Audit Department No II that the contribution of thematic audit has been significantly accounted for in the audit results of SAV with many large-scale audits, wide audit scope, consuming a lot of the State resources with great impacts on the country's socio-economy. This proven result reveals the effectiveness of thematic audit, with its own advantages, as well as confirms the determination to focus on new, difficult, but necessary audit contents and types in order to meet the Party's and State's increasing requirements for audit profession.
From a perspective of an audit expert with a certain understanding of the SAV, Associate Professor, Ph.D. Dinh The Hung (Institute of Accounting-Auditing, National Economics University) affirms that the SAV has made significant steps in recent years to improve its role in the economy and adapt to changing times. The strengthening of new audit contents and fields under the direction of the SAV is the right choice and follows the global auditing trend. The challenge is to concentrate on increasing audit capability while clearly demonstrating the advantages of each new field and type of audit. For example, the SAV should assess the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of state agencies when conducting performance audits. "Depending on the review approach, the SAV should select appropriate sampling, ensuring that the conclusions drawn are based on a sufficient audit sample, due to a broad scope of operation of the State ", said the Associate Professor.

Emphasizing the need of increasing the number of audits in new content and fields, it is said that these audit contents are new to the SAV, while the guidance documents are being updated and the SAV resources are limited. Therefore, the SAV must pay attention on innovating and improving audit quality, from improving audit processes and forms to increasing auditor capability, tightening audit discipline, and employing advanced and effective audit approaches... Moreover, the audited topics must follow the Party's, National Assembly's, Government's, and SAV leaders' orientation, with high societal attention and be appropriate to the country's political and socio-economic situation at the time.
According to the orientation on developing the medium-term audit plan for 2023-2025, the number of thematic, performance, environmental and IT audits will be gradually upward adjusted over the years, reaching about 24% of the total number of audits in 2023, 27% in 2024 and 30% in 2025.

Nguyen Loc
(Auditing Newspaper No. 32/2022)

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