the financial audit process
A ‘financial audit’ refers to an audit of the
financial statements of an entity:
- A financial audit provides assurance that the financial
statements of an entity present fairly the financial position, cash
flows and results of operations for the year, in accordance with
relevant financial reporting frameworks and standards.
- Some entities are also required to produce audited performance
statements, which contain performance indicators for the entity. We
conduct these at the same time as financial statement audits.
An audit strategy is developed for each agency, based on an
assessment of existing management controls and organisational and
environmental risks. Financial audits are conducted in accordance
with professional auditing standards using a risk-based
methodology. At the end of the audit, the entity is issued with an
opinion on its financial statements, which the entity includes in
its annual report.
Financial audits are undertaken for around 550
public sector entities each year. Around a third of these are
undertaken by VAGO staff. The remainder are undertaken by private
sector firms—audit service providers—contracted by the
Auditor-General. VAGO reviews this work and the Auditor-General
signs the opinion.
The Auditor-General reports on the results of financial audits.
The financial audit group also conducts a
review of the state’s Estimated Financial Statements and our review
opinion is included in the state’s Budget Papers.
Last updated on 31/08/2016