Financial Audit Manual (FAM) would be implemented by the end of this year to ensure compliance of international standards in audit.
The new audit strategy envisages to promote desk audit and minimise auditor's discretion, use of IT tools, upgrade audit teams and appropriate staffing supervision and review at each stage, said Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) Tanwir Ali Agha while speaking at seminar on "Enabling Better Financial Management" here at local hotel on Friday evening.
The seminar was organised by the management of Project to Improve Financial Reporting and Auditing (Pifra) in collaboration with World Bank. The PIFRA is a part of the reforms being carried out in the Financial Management Sector which aims at providing accurate and timely financial reports that allow for transparency, accountability and credibility in Government's financial reporting system.
The prime objective was to have an interactive session with stakeholders, where the vision and strategic goals of Pifra were shared and the potential benefits and implementation prospects to the online divisions were also highlighted.
The Auditor General of Pakistan said that Pifra was established with an aim to modernise public sector accounting and auditing in Pakistan in harmony with international best practices.
He added that all provincial governments have adopted the new chart of accounts, budgeting and accounting models developed under Pifra and approved by the President. Tanwir Ali Agha said that the aim of today's seminar was to think about how we can make the most out of Pifra, which is a programme of the government that aims at developing capacity for good governance in financial management sphere.
"Through this conference, we seek better relationship with stakeholders by aligning our goals with government reform agenda, understanding our clients and improving communication. We want to work as partners and help clients achieve their objective economically, efficiently and effectively", he remarked.
About the client relationship he said that it would be ensured through associating the client throughout the audit process, institutionalising the feed track mechanism and promoting effective DAOs besides educating the client.
The AGP said that accurate and timely financial reporting along with system based auditing form key elements of sound public sector financial management framework critical for good governance.
He said Pifra reforms envisage development and implementation of new audit methodology through which audit is to be conducted as per INTOSAI auditing standards using computer assisted audit techniques.
He said increased focus would now be on risk based audit involving systemic issues and value for money auditing providing PAOs timely and performance based audit reports. He also spoke about challenges like skill deficit in emerging sectors, organisational structure inconsistent with new audit paradigm, clerical based audit and absence of an effective communication strategy.
"The transition path of Pifra reforms requires a paradigm shift in our processes, mindsets and outcomes. It requires immense work, planning, training, sequencing and continuous monitoring at all levels," he said.
These changes encompass not only the financial procedures, but also the organisational structures supporting these functions in the changed environment, he added. Tanwir Ali Agha said that the accounting function has already been separated from the Auditor General of Pakistan through the promulgation of Controller General of Accounts (CGA) Ordinance 2001.
He said new institutions of Chief Finance and Accounts Officers (CFAO) are being set up in the line ministries to augment their internal controls and render valuable financial advice to the Principal Accounting Officers (PAOs).
A strong centralised audit planning function is envisioned to be set up in the office of the Auditor General of Pakistan to take a holistic view of the available audit resources and plan the country-wide audit activities accordingly, he added.
"The re-structuring of the office of the Auditor General of Pakistan is one of the cornerstones of the Auditor General's vision. This is a difficult journey. It involves a lot of introspection, consultation and decision making," he remarked.
He said that excellence can only be achieved through satisfied clients, skilled and motivated work force, organisational structure supporting work processes and technological infrastructure to cope with new challenges.
He assured the participants that their useful suggestion and proposals would be taken care of with respect to audit. Project Director Pifra, Shabir Ahmed Dahar, Controller General Accounts Muhammad Mohsin, Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) M. Abdullah Yousuf and Chairman National Commission on Government Reforms Dr Ishrat Hussain also spoke on the occasion while Federal Secretaries, Additional secretaries and senior officials from World Bank and the department of Auditor General of Pakistan attended the seminar.
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