Meetings of the heads of supreme audit institutions of the Visegrad Group, enlarged by representatives of Austria and Slovenia, create opportunities to discuss audit methodology and exchange information on various national experience. During the annual meetings, key decisions relating to audit and issues unique for this region are taken.
The main topic discussed in Lednice was the use of more and more data and indicators by auditors and possibilities to apply them in internationals comparisons. Ms Ewa Polkowska, Vice-President representing NIK at the meeting, highlighted that mastering data and its transfer into information that enriches knowledge on audited subject is a serious problem in an auditor’s work.
That is why, the further work on methods and tools used in the data analysis is required. They should be adjusted to auditors’ needs and simultaneously follow the ever changing IT environment of audited entities. Consequently, NIK, which chairs the Working Group of Information Technologies within EUROSAI structures, emphasises the importance of data analysis in the audit process, which can be put into practice through projects of IT self-assessment of SAI (ITSA) and IT audit self-assessment (ITASA).
On the first day of the meeting, President Krzysztof Kwiatkowski presented NIK’s experience use of data and indicators at various stages of the audit process: the need of adequate data analysis at the audit preparation and planning as well as its presentation in post-audit documents. The President spoke also about good co-operation between NIK and institutions with databases that could be used in audits.
Data analysis and data processing are becoming more and more important in audit process. Such an opinion is shared by all member SAIs of the V4+2 Group. That is why it is necessary to bear in mind the preparation of the auditors to conduct audits and also it is important to think about the addressee of the audit report. Our reports are to serve various stakeholders, thus the results of complex data analysis should be presented in a balanced way so that it is universally understood.
The meeting of the Heads of the SAIs of the Visegrad countries, attended also by representatives of the SAIs of Austria and Slovenia, was an opportunity for NIK to consult with its partners the possibility of supporting the SAIs of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. The debate about this initiative is carried out on the forum of the Contact Committee of the Supreme Audit Institutions of the European Union and works in this fields are continued.
The Presidents of the SAIs of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, as well Austria and Slovenia have been meeting interchangeably since 2002. The latest meeting of the Group was organised in Poland, in Promnice close to the city of Katowice.
