Audit

Audit Reports – Key

Each year every department and public entity’s finances are audited by the Office of the Auditor General. (AG)

The AG assesses how a particular department has managed its finances and whether it has recorded all its transactions in its financial statements in such a manner that they accurately reflect its financial position, and that they are in accordance with the relevant legislation, such as the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).

Upon concluding the audit, the AG issues an audit opinion, which describes how well the department has fared in this regard:

There are several indicators the AG may use in this regard:

|CLEAN |

• A ‘Clean’ report means that the department practiced sound financial management for the year in question. Their statements were deemed credible and complied with all statutory requirements. In other words, everything was accounted for and all monies were properly spent and managed.

|EMPHASIS OF MATTER |

• When the AG has particular concerns that do not relate directly to whether the financial statements of a department are accurate or not, i.e. matters concerning policy and proposed programmes of action or non compliance with statutory requirements, these are expressed as ‘Emphasis of Matter’.

Emphasis of Matter can and often is a very serious opinion. In many cases it means the Auditor-General has raised very serious concerns about weaknesses in the financial management procedures of a department or entity.

|DISCLAIMER/QUALIFIED/ADVERSE OPINION |

• A ‘Qualified Audit Opinion’ indicates that there are certain aspects of the financial...