Table Of Content“The book will be of great interest to academics who have an interest in
audit, particularly public audit. There will also be practitioner interest,
particularly in the analysis of international perspectives”.
– Pat Barrett, former Auditor-General of Australia
“Public sector auditing currently has significant pressures and stresses
associated with emerging social, demographic, economic, technological,
and environmental challenges. This textbook presents several theoretical
and practical contributions to knowledge of public sector auditing. The book
provides a contemporary public sector auditing perspective that is geared to
include the current and future challenges and provide significant insights
for scholars and public sector actors to strategically decide on the many
dynamic challenges”.
– Giuseppe Grossi, Professor, Nord University, Norway,
and Kristianstad University, Sweden
“There is a dearth of academic research on public sector auditing. This text
will be of great value to SAIs, policy makers, and the academic community
in developing the critical role that SAIs play in systems of country
governance.”
– Robert Buchanan, Chairperson, New Zealand Auditing
and Assurance Standards Board
Public Sector Audit
This book provides a concise overview of the current context and types of
public sector audit and the varied structures within which public sector audit
is practised across the world.
It summarises the objectives of public sector audit as well as explores
the role of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions in
providing guidance to these. Drawing on public and private sector audit
as well as the views of academics and practitioners on public sector audit,
it provides a unique research-based guide to the current issues and future
challenges in the field.
Carolyn J. Cordery is Professor in Accounting at Aston University, UK.
Her main research focuses on not-for-profit organisations’ accounting and
accountability. She is interested in how these organisations are resourced, the
resource constraints that cause many of these organisations to be financially
vulnerable and the regulatory environment in which they work. Carolyn
also researches in the public sector, particularly in audit arrangements and
how they can enhance accountability. She is Joint Editor of Accounting
History and is Associate Editor of British Accounting Review.
David C. Hay is Professor of Auditing at the University of Auckland,
New Zealand. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of
Auditing. He has published about 50 articles in refereed research journals.
David’s research interests include auditing issues internationally and in
New Zealand, including auditor independence, corporate governance and
public sector auditing. He is also the editor of the Routledge Companion to
Auditing (2014) and The Future of Auditing (2019). David is a member of
the New Zealand Auditing and Assurance Standards Board.
Routledge Focus on Accounting and Auditing
Advances in the fields of accounting and auditing as areas of research and
education, alongside shifts in the global economy present a constantly shifting
environment. This presents challenges for scholars and practitioners trying
to keep up with the latest important insights in both theory and professional
practice. Routledge Focus on Accounting and Auditing presents concise
texts on key topics in the world of accounting research.
Individually, each title in the series provides coverage of a key topic in
accounting and auditing, whilst collectively, the series forms a comprehensive
collection across the discipline of accounting.
The Boundaries in Financial and Non-Financial Reporting
A Comparative Analysis of their Constitutive Role
Laura Girella
The Future of Auditing
David Hay
Accounting Regulation in Japan
Evolution and Development from 2001 to 2015
Masatsugu Sanada and Yoshihiro Tokuga
Gender and Corporate Governance
Francisco Bravo Urquiza and Nuria Reguera-Alvarado
Accounting, Representation and Responsibility
Deleuze and Guattarí Perspectives
Niels Joseph Lennon
Public Sector Audit
Carolyn J. Cordery and David C. Hay
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
Routledge-Focus-on-Accounting-and-Auditing/book-series/RFAA
Public Sector Audit
Carolyn J. Cordery
and David C. Hay
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Carolyn J. Cordery and David C. Hay
The right of Carolyn J. Cordery and David C. Hay to be identified as
authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Cordery, Carolyn, author. | Hay, David, 1955– author.
Title: Public sector audit/Carolyn J. Cordery and David C. Hay.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2021. |
Series: Routledge focus on accounting and auditing | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020031110 (print) | LCCN 2020031111 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Finance, Public – Auditing. | Public administration –
Evaluation.
Classification: LCC HJ9733 .H37 2021 (print) | LCC HJ9733 (ebook) |
DDC 657/.835045 – dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020031110
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020031111
ISBN: 978-0-367-19291-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-20163-9 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
Acknowledgements ix
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Introduction to the chapter 1
1.2 Structures 1
1.3 Types of audit undertaken 2
1.4 Types of auditees and approach 4
1.5 Overview and conclusion 6
2 Reasons for public audit and explanations for differences 10
2.1 Introduction 10
2.2 Neo-institutional theory 11
2.3 Explanations previously applied to auditing 18
2.4 Public value examined using Moore’s model 24
2.5 Explanations and evidence from other previous studies 25
2.6 Discussion and conclusion 29
3 Supreme Audit Institutions around the world 35
3.1 Introduction 35
3.2 Sources and analysis and the audit activities undertaken 36
3.3 SAI models and their activities 37
3.4 Isomorphism 47
3.5 Explanations for the existence of auditing, SAI model
and types of auditing 62
3.6 Size and culture 65
3.7 Effectiveness 67
3.8 Public value 74
3.9 Discussion and conclusion 74
viii Contents
4 Risks and opportunities in the future 80
4.1 Introduction 80
4.2 Future opportunities for audit 81
4.3 What are SAIs preparing for? 89
4.4 Implications for the future 94
5 Overview of main themes and projections 100
5.1 Introduction 100
5.2 Main themes 100
5.3 Conclusion 104
Index 106
Acknowledgements
There are many people to thank for the inspiration and completion of this
book. Our good colleague Adjunct Professor and ex-Deputy Auditor Gen-
eral of New Zealand Kevin Simpkins was someone who personified the
excellence of public sector audit. Due to Kevin’s untimely death in October
2015, we ended up working together on the Centre for Accounting and Gov-
ernance Research (CAGTR) project for New Zealand’s Office of the Audi-
tor General (OAG) on the ‘value of public sector audit’. This allowed for a
re-kindling of David’s interest in public sector audit and was the first major
Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) research project that Carolyn undertook.
It would be fair to say that both of us found the SAI world to be fascinat-
ing. We thank Tony van Zijl, Professor of Accounting and Finance at Vic-
toria University, for this opportunity and Ann Webster (then the Assistant
Auditor-General, Research and Development), who was also a member of
the CAGTR Board and enthusiastically introduced this project. We also
thank Lyn Provost – at the time the Comptroller and Auditor-General – who
funded and supported this research. OAG staff were also helpful in inform-
ing us during that research, but Deputy Auditor-General Greg Schollum and
Karen Smith, Research Officer, have continued to encourage us to research
on the functions of the SAIs, and we are grateful to them.
This book draws on data from the International Organisation of SAIs
(INTOSAI), and we are grateful that it allowed us to access data on charac-
teristics of SAIs. Director of the INTOSAI General Secretariat Dr Monika
González-Koss and Mr Francisco T. Parral-Pineda, Departmental Chief of
the National Anti-Corruption System Division of the Auditoria Superior de
la Federacίon, very helpfully provided access to INTOSAI’s database main-
tained by the SAI of Mexico. We are extremely grateful to Jika Mapila,
Chief Auditor of the Malawi National Audit Office, who assisted us in data
collection. We also present data in this book from a survey of INTOSAI
members, and we thank them for spending time to share their thoughts
which have helped us, especially in understanding the opportunities and
challenges for SAIs’ future.
