The Effect of Transition to Regularity Audit on the Turkish Court of Accounts Audit

Abstract

Purpose - International auditing standards in the public sector aim to ensure that Supreme Audit Institutions globally conduct audits according to established standards. For this purpose, INTOSAI (International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions), an independent and apolitical organization, was established in 1953. The organization in question has determined audit standards on how external auditing will be carried out in the public sector. Public sector external audit standards have been established by adopting the audit method that occurs in the private sector and is based on giving an opinion on financial statements. Aim of this study is to show how the adoption of international standards affects the quality of Turkish Court of Accounts audit. Design/methodology/approach – In this study, the content analysis model, one of the qualitative research methods, was used. The results of Turkish Court of Accounts' audit before and after international adaptation; The data will be examined numerically and comparatively. The actual number of auditors of the Turkish Court of Accounts, audit percentages of institutions, internal control system success scores and compensation and collection amounts will be examined comparatively. Findings – Although the number of auditors in the Turkish Court of Accounts has not increased or even decreased over the years, it has been determined that the rate of auditing institutions has increased, internal control systems have been improved day by day and, more importantly, detection of public loss by auditors and compensation amount have increased. Discussion – The thesis that switching to international standards in the Turkish Court of Accounts audit will reduce performance because it will increase the workload is not true. On the contrary, with the transition to international standards, the quality of the Turkish Court of Accounts audit and its contribution to the audited institutions have increased much more than before. The development of this new system will ensure the effective use of public resources.