Audit Activities of the Supreme Audit Offices in the V4 Countries: Comparative Analysis

Abstract

The paper focuses on an analysis of the work of Supreme Audit Offices (SAOs). The audits performed by Supreme Audit Offices represent the highest degree of independent audit. The paper aims to assess the performance of audit activities by the highest audit institutions in the V4 (Vise-grad Group) countries. These are Central European countries, EU and NATO member states with similar socio-economic, cultural and historical values. Descriptive statistics are used to assess and compare audit performance. The Kruskal-Wallis H test is used to evaluate the hypotheses. We compare the number of audits performed, the volume of audit findings, the number of criminal reports filed, the number of recommendations issued by auditors, and the number of measures taken by audited entities. Due to the differences in the public sectors of the analysed countries, from the results it is impossible to draw a clear conclusion that the SAO of one country has better or worse results than others. Nevertheless, we conclude that the SAO in Hungary produces the highest number of recommendations and measures, and thus, in conclusion, we present it as an example of good practice.