The state budget execution audit is the most important task that the NIK performs every year. It will be concluded with two documents. The first is a detailed analysis of the implementation of the State monetary policy guidelines. The other presents the NIK’s opinion on the vote of approval for the government. The President of the NIK will submit these two documents in summer at a plenary session of the lower chamber of the Polish Parliament, i.e. the Sejm.
Which bodies does NIK audit?
The NIK audits all institutions that use public money, and there are almost 400 of them. The NIK also audits earmarked funds whose financial plans are included in the budget act, the NBP, i.e. the National Bank of Poland - with regard to state budget servicing, and some non-public entities that use budget subsidies. So NIK auditors are to visit the ministries, local government offices, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF), the Central Anticorruption Bureau (CBA) and the Polish National Police, to name just a few.
What does the NIK audit?
NIK audits cover numerous issues related to the auditee’s finances. Auditors verify the regularity and integrity of financial and accounting documentation, and whether public money beneficiaries comply with the regulations, rules and procedures applied for budget revenues and expenditures. The NIK also scrutinises the functioning of internal control systems in public institutions.
Audit criteria
Legality, sound management, integrity and efficacy - these are the criteria against which the NIK assesses the state budget execution. The NIK verifies whether activities taken by audited entities are compliant with the law and whether funds from the state budget are spent economically, effectively and efficiently.
The biggest audit
Audits related to the state budget execution make over 50 percent of the NIK’s tasks every year. They start already in January and involve the participation of all NIK’s audit departments and regional branches. The state budget execution audit is a huge undertaking and it is an indispensable element of the state’s appropriate functioning.
