Performance Auditing Trends at a Supreme Audit Institution: UK National Audit Office, 1999 to 2021

Abstract

Performance audits have become increasingly important across the world. Scholars know that a variety of practices are incorporated within performance audits and have mapped this diversity. However, few quantitative studies examine performance auditing as a practice. This study fills that gap. By analyzing the published performance audit documentation of the UK National Audit Office (NAO), the study explores the influences of governmental change and crises behind changes in a supreme audit institution's performance audit. It also examines whether performance audits are diverse by examining the language used by the auditors. The study provides evidence that neither crises nor changes of government have a significant effect on the overall extent of performance audit reporting. However, over time, the study does find variation in the themes of performance audit reports, with more financial themes and fewer performance themes after 2010.