Audit plan of the National Audit Office for the period 2022–2026
The National Audit Office’s audit and monitoring operations are based on the audit plan. The plan includes performance targets for 2022, as well as resource calculations and a plan on the allocation of resources during the operational and financial period 2022−2026. The audit plan also serves as the operational and financial plan referred to in budget legislation.
Operating environment and resources
The audit and monitoring activities of the National Audit Office of Finland (NAOF) focus on issues that are significant for central government finances and society, and on material risks related to central government finances.
The audit work of the National Audit Office is centred around four subject areas. Some of the audit themes or perspectives extend to several subject areas.
Audit activities: Sustainable General Government Finances
The impact area Sustainable General Government Finances consists of five areas: fiscal policy, central government asset management and investments, financing risks, ownership steering of state-owned companies and organization of central government operations, and supervision of the financial sector.
Audit activities: Sustainable Governance and Public Administration
Development of public administration and sustainable development are themes that are broadly connected with the entire central government. Auditing will be targeted, for example, at the unity of the Government, the functioning and renewal of management and steering systems, the use of information in decision-making, and competence development.
Audit activities: A Safe, Healthy and Affluent Society
The audits conducted in the impact area A Safe, Healthy and Affluent Society focus on assessing the functioning, efficiency, and indirect financial impacts of the different areas of an affluent society and their interconnections.
The Information Governance area covers issues related to the common information flows in the management of central government finances, the reliability of central government data, the development of the cost-effectiveness of production, the improvement of the State Group information, the management of central government risks, internal control, and compliance with the budget.
Oversight activities: Oversight of the legality of election campaign and political party funding
As a politically independent actor, the National Audit Office is a credible and fair oversight authority in issues concerning election campaign and political party funding. The oversight operations can detect and prevent funding that is in violation of the Act on Political Parties or the Act on a Candidate’s Election Funding and thus influence the legality of election campaign and political party funding. The oversight enables improper funding to be detected.
Through follow-ups, we examine what measures the audited entity has taken on the basis of our conclusions and recommendations and whether these measures are, in our opinion, adequate to correct the shortcomings detected in the audit. Follow-ups help us to assess what kinds of audit activities we should target at the matter in the future.
Digitalization of the audit and monitoring activities
The digitalization of society and public administration and the utilization of data and digital technologies set a number of requirements for the core activities of the National Audit Office.
Through international cooperation and interaction, the National Audit Office is able to draw on the experience of other Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) in its work and to share expertise. This supports the efficient implementation and development of external audit and monitoring and thereby creates preconditions for a sustainable reform of public finances and administration both in Finland and internationally.
High-quality and efficient support services help to create the preconditions for the National Audit Office’s effective audit and monitoring activities. Clear responsibilities within the support services and the guidelines and expert services provided by them ensure that the rest of the personnel can focus on the NAOF’s core activities and external impact.
The HR policy of the National Audit Office is based on the NAOF’s values and implements the NAOF’s strategy. The HR policy includes the principles for the management of HR issues and presents the operating principles of the NAOF’s HR management. The HR policy aims at competent, healthy, and happy personnel.
Competence development has been selected as one of the focus areas of the strategy period. The changing operating environment and the requirements set by the audit sector will shift the focus of competence development towards broader and more versatile competence paths.
The target of the National Audit Office is to have societal impact. The NAOF reviews its external impact by monitoring the implementation of its audit recommendations and the opinions of the Parliamentary Audit Committee, by regularly requesting its stakeholders’ view on its activities, and by monitoring the achievement of its performance targets.
