State Audit Conceptualized

Abstract

In this study, the key focus is on the relationship between international standards of public-sector audit and how such standards are handled by auditors in a Sub-Saharan African context. Due to the extensive range of international audit standards, operationalization of the standards is necessary to not only study what the auditors express, in terms of their views and opinions about international standards in general, but also the actions they take. In order to sort among all standards, the literature on public audit and what is argued to be the main characteristics for public audit institutions is used. Then, in accordance with the literature and the international public audit standards per se, the standards are operationalized into a model of a Supreme Audit Institution. The aim with the model is to enable a comparison to be made between what is described in the international standards and what may be considered national practices at the SAIs in Namibia and Botswana. Important to note is that the study has not the ambition to study the auditors’ everyday practice and to what extent they use international audit standards in their daily work. Rather, with the help of the model, the study focuses on the main characteristics of international standards and how the SAIs in Namibia and Botswana have handled these areas throughout the years.