About this learning event

To meet the growing demand for ensuring value for money in government operations in the region, this workshop will give an overview of the techniques and tools for planning, conducting, and communicating the results of performance audits. 

The event will draw on the experience of the Central Government Audit Service of the Dutch Ministry of Finance and other case studies. Also, it will address the key skills required for auditing performance frameworks, look into regulations, concepts, and principles of performance auditing, and go through practical steps in each phase of a performance audit. 

What will you learn

This learning initiative will be designed as a mixture of presentations, group discussions, and exercises, providing a safe environment for participants to encounter different situations and build confidence in initiating performance audits.

By the end of the workshop, participants will have:

• Reviewed the concepts and tools used in performance audit and how they differ from an audit of regularity, audit of financial statements, and system-based audit
• Learned about how to identify performance issues, prioritize and select the most relevant performance auditing topics
• Examined how to define the scope and design of a performance audit
• Learned how to develop a question and evidence matrix and select appropriate audit methodologies
• Applied performance auditing techniques in group settings
• Learned about embedding quality assurance and quality control aspects in performance auditing
• Learned about using analytical tools for forming findings, conclusions, and recommendations as part of the audit report

Who should attend

The workshop has been designed for audit professionals ( e.g. internal and external auditors, staff charged with audit methodologies and quality assurance in the audit process, performance analysts, and quality managers) from Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI), ministries of finance, line ministries, and other public institutions charged with service delivery from SEE countries.

Participants are expected to take an active part in this workshop. The success of the workshop is directly dependent on the participants’ active engagement in the discussions and group work.

In view of the interactive nature of the event, it will be helpful if participants have a good command of the English language as there are no interpretation services planned.

Faculty

• Mireille van den Akker, Ministry of Finance, the Netherlands

Mireille currently works as a coordination advisor at the Central Government Audit Service functioning as an advisor and project lead for different internal projects. Previous employers include the Ministry of Defense where she worked as an Army officer specializing in Administration and Audit. Her educational background is rooted in the Military, with military Business Studies at the Royal Netherlands Military Academy. Followed by a Master of Business Administration with a specialization in government and non-profit and a study in coaching.

• Frank Schuiten, Ministry of Finance, the Netherlands

Frank currently works as a senior operational auditor and facilitator at the Central Government Audit Service both functioning as a team member and project lead. Previous employers include the European Court of Auditors and the Dutch Royal Air Force. His educational background is rooted in international relations, with a cum laude Master’s degree in European Public Affairs. Frank nearly finished his specialized post-master studies in Audit and Advisory from the Erasmus University of Rotterdam.

• Jussi Bright, European Court of Auditors 

Jussi is currently a principal auditor in the quality control directorate (DQC) at the European Court of Auditors (ECA). Besides normal quality control functions, DQC is responsible for drafting and updating audit manuals and methodological guidance generally with the aim of improving ECA performance audits. He has more than 20 years of auditing experience in the Court. During this period he has been involved for nine years in auditing pre-accession funds of the European Commission. He has been involved in numerous performance audits in ECA and was the Head of Task of a 1½ year development capacity project involving six state audit institutions of western Balkans. He has a Master of Economics degree (University of Turku, Finland), an MBA (Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Belgium), and a Master of Management of Public Organisations (Université de Lorraine, France).

• Lejla Marinko, Court of Audit, Slovenia

Lejla currently works as a principal auditor at the Slovenian Court of Audit, leading and conducting environmental audits. She has worked in this institution for almost 20 years, first on regularity audits, then performance, and for the past 6 years on environmental audits. She has also had a background in translating Acquis communautaire to Slovenian and has spent a year working at the SAI of Ireland (or Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General). She has a Bachelor of Economics degree from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, where she also studied environmental economics.

Partners

This learning initiative was supported by: