Performance Audit

The Promise of Performance Auditing

Government auditors believe that performance auditing shows great promise for strengthening the ability of citizens to govern themselves effectively, efficiently, and equitably. For example, The Audit Role in Public Sector Governance asserts, "Government auditing is a cornerstone of good public sector governance. By providing unbiased, objective assessments of whether public resources are responsibly and effectively managed to achieve intended results, auditors help government operations achieve accountability and integrity, improve operations, and instill confidence among citizens and stakeholders" .

The practice guide goes on to say, "An effective public sector audit function strengthens governance by materially increasing citizens' ability to hold their government accountable." INTOSAI's Implementation Guidelines for Performance Auditing states that "Legitimacy and trust are essential values in all government undertakings, and performance auditing may contribute to strengthening these values by producing public and reliable information on the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of government programs." In their study of performance auditing by supreme audit institutions in Europe, Pollitt et al. note the promise of performance auditing as well. They write, "Performance audit involves assessing whether government policies, programs, and institutions are well managed and are being run economically, efficiently, and effectively. This is a task of potentially great significance - at a practical level for citizens, and at a more abstract level for the health and vitality of democratic governance."

Nevertheless, there seems to be a disconnect between much of the official literature of government auditing and the views many auditors express. And there does not seem to be an agreed upon theory of how to fulfill the promise of performance auditing. Why is that?

Performance Auditing and 3 E's:

For performance auditing to focus on citizen trust in government, government audit organizations should design their audits to focus on equity as well as efficiency, and effectiveness. They need to provide work that allows citizens and elected officials to exercise accountability for the use of authority as well as the use of funds. When selecting and designing audits, audit organizations should consider at least the following types of equity: costs, services, access and coercion.

Images of Performance Auditors:

Auditors are being perceived or described as images of "Green eyeshade", "magnifying glass", "telescope", compass, "calculator, "junkyard dogs", "hunting dogs", "watch dogs", "guide dogs", "paid snitch", "policemen, "consultants", or "editors". Each of the images for the auditors highlights certain aspects of it. While some images seem to capture more of the essence of the auditors and to explain more of its functioning, none is complete in the understanding it provides. What kind of metaphor do you like?