By Meresimani Vosawale-Katuba, Program Director, PASAI
With the revised ISSAI 140 Quality Management for SAIs taking effect from 1 January 2025, we continue to collaborate with the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI) in a pilot program supporting 5 SAIs (Cook Islands, Fiji, Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu) in setting up a system of audit quality management (SoAQM).
The SoAQM focuses on key processes in quality management, rather than on defining what should be in specific components of the quality control system in a SAI. These processes include quality risk management, monitoring and remediation, and evaluation which provide scalable solutions to SAIs.[1] Such systems will be consistent with the standard which requires SAIs to move towards a holistic and systemic risk-based approach to quality management.
The pilot program began with integrated professional education in April 2024. This was followed by a phase where SAIs identified the gaps in their current audit quality systems and procedures, and possible solutions.
As mentioned in a blog post last January,[2] our members and other SAIs in small island developing states (SIDS) face unique challenges in capacity to adhere to international standards. A major factor is the small pool of qualified and experienced supervisors to provide a robust system of quality controls for their audit engagements.
The SAIs are also relatively small. The biggest, in Fiji, has 82 staff in total. The rest have fewer than 20 staff each.
Be that as it may, a history of limited resources and remote geographical locations have made our SAIs rather resilient as they have always needed to improvise solutions. Our aim, no matter a SAI’s size or resources, is to address the challenge of ensuring audit quality through this program.
We gathered program participants again last month to support their development of a SoAQM action plan and policy for each of their SAIs. Participants also shared experiences and knowledge on navigating the challenges in assessing their current system of audit quality and identifying relevant solutions.
SoAQM workshop participants during training
Our support in this event was strengthened by the assistance of staff from the New Zealand Office of the Auditor-General (OAG). They shared their experience of implementing a SoAQM and provided practical technical assistance.
A key message to participants during this second workshop was that although the implementation of the SoAQM is a daunting process, it is not an impossible one.
SAIs benefit from a “journey map” to develop an SoAQM based on their own context and available resources. Program participants get this with the IDI SoAQM Playbook, guidance materials, tools, support from us and IDI, as well as technical assistance from the OAG through the Technical Hub.
The next phase for our pilot group of SAIs is the approval of their policies to begin the implementation of a risk-based approach to managing quality.
Quality risk management enables the SAI to focus its resources on matters that are of most significance to achieve audit quality. It allows SAIs to develop and implement strategies even before a risk in quality occurs. It also helps the SAI to customise its SoAQM based on its quality needs.[3]
Achieving quality audits takes time. It also needs collaboration and commitment from everyone involved in the SoAQM at a SAI. This process is therefore a continuous journey of improvement.
Through the IDI–PASAI SoAQM program, we will continue to provide regionally customised support to SAIs to transition from the old concepts of quality control/assurance into systemic, dynamic, scalable and risk-based quality management. With the success of the current program, we will endeavour to take more SAIs from our region through this process with the long-term aim of ensuring audit quality, even in SIDS.
References
[1] IDI's System of Audit Quality Management (SoAQM)
[2] Challenges faced by our SAIs in ensuring audit quality
[3] IDI SoAQM Guidance 4: Quality Risk Management Process – page 1