How to play the important role of national audit in national governance

CUHK Online School’s answer:

The role of national audit in national governance

(1) The role of power restriction

Restricting public power It is the focus of national governance. "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely."

"Everyone with power is prone to abuse power. This is an eternal experience." The report of the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China stated that "we must strengthen the restriction and supervision of power, establish a power operation mechanism with reasonable structure, scientific allocation, strict procedures and effective restrictions, and require focusing on strengthening the supervision of leading cadres, especially main leading cadres, Strengthen the supervision of the management and use of people, property and property”, and also propose to “play the role of judicial organs and administrative supervision, auditing and other functional departments”. National audit is an important part of the government's power restriction mechanism and supervision work. It is a high-level form of comprehensive economic supervision in our country and must and can play an important role in the power restriction mechanism. First of all, as a tool of democracy and rule of law, state audit is an instrumental element in the power supervision and restriction mechanism. This nature determines its role and status in government governance. Secondly, the basic function of national audit is to supervise the decision-making and execution rights of national finance and public fund allocation. Finally, the law gives the state independent audit power of supervision, that is, audit agencies at all levels must independently exercise the power of audit supervision without interference from the outside world, and objectively review the financial revenue and expenditure at all levels, the performance of economic responsibilities by leading cadres, and the effectiveness of the use of related funds. Make a fair assessment.

(2) The role of interest coordination

Coordinating interests is the fundamental requirement of national governance. The essence of the state is an institution that coordinates the conflicts of interests of all sectors of society and has the function of managing society. According to conflict theory, auditing is also an activity to reconcile conflicts of interest. Due to the inconsistent interests and objectives among stakeholders, this actual or potential conflict of interest leads to the possibility of false reporting in financial statements, and auditing is an activity to reconcile conflicts. The national audit has the constitutional responsibility to independently inspect the authenticity, legality and efficiency of the fiscal revenue and expenditure of various departments of the State Council and local people's governments at all levels. It can coordinate the implementation of budgets of governments at all levels and their results to coordinate various regions and all levels of government. It provides timely, objective and reliable decision-making information for the National People's Congress to review next year's budget and supervise government actions.

(3) The role of mechanism innovation

Innovating mechanisms is the ultimate goal of national governance. The strategic goal of national governance is to continuously promote the continuous optimization and innovation of national systems and mechanisms and lay a solid institutional foundation for the country to achieve long-term peace and stability.

Whether national audit conducts fiscal revenue and expenditure audits or government performance audits, it is necessary to audit the fiscal revenue and expenditures of the audited unit to evaluate the soundness and effectiveness of its internal controls, as well as the national governance The implementation status and effects of various policy measures, and in view of the main existing problems, suggestions and suggestions for improvement from the system, mechanism and institutional levels are put forward to promote continuous innovation in national governance.

(4) The role of risk prevention

Preventing risks is the primary task of national governance. Any country has more or less certain risks, that is, country risks.

The so-called national risk refers to various uncertainties related to national social changes caused by national sovereign behaviors. Within the scope of sovereign risk, the country, as a party to the transaction, directly poses risks through its default (such as stopping the payment of foreign debt principal or interest), and indirectly poses risks through changes in policies and regulations (such as adjusting exchange rates and tax rates, etc.). Within the scope of transferred risks, the country is not necessarily a direct participant in the transaction, but the country's policies and regulations affect the trading behavior of domestic enterprises or individuals. The primary task of national governance is to strengthen risk prevention to control and reduce national risks. By conducting business types such as fiscal and financial audits, foreign investment audits, fixed asset investment audits, national budget implementation and results audits, environmental performance audits, and tenure economic responsibility audits, the national audit can timely reveal and reflect weak links and weaknesses in the economic and social operations. risks and safeguard national security.

3. The path for national audit to play a role in national governance

(1) Carry out macroeconomic efficiency audit and promote policy implementation

Macroeconomic efficiency audit It refers to the audit supervision activities carried out by the audit agency on the formulation and implementation of the government's macroeconomic policies. The government is both the maker and executor of macroeconomic policies. Although some scholars believe that the government will not play a big role in promoting the transformation of economic development methods, or even hinder the transformation of economic development methods. However, as a constitutional arrangement, national audit will surely play a role in economic supervision of the government by functioning as an "immune system". To this end, the focus of national audit work should be on promoting the implementation of plans and supporting policies and measures, increasing the intensity of tracking and auditing the implementation of macroeconomic policies, and paying attention to the structure and policy implementation effects of government investment, fiscal expenditures and bank loans. and other situations, promptly expose and investigate and deal with problems such as dereliction of duty, deception, inaction and random behavior in the implementation of macroeconomic policies, and ensure that the central government’s decisions and deployments are implemented in place.

(2) Carry out economic responsibility audits and strengthen restrictions on government power

The core of national governance is the governance of "people", especially "leaders", and economic responsibility Auditing is a "personalized" type of auditing. Although it is not a direct audit of government departments, it evaluates the performance of the government's entrusted public responsibilities by auditing leaders, and defines the scope of responsibilities for effective governance. Economic responsibility audit is not only a product of democracy and legal system, but also a tool of democracy and legal system. To this end, on the one hand, through the audit of the control procedures, control methods and means, and accounting and management control systems of the unit where the auditee works,

weak links in internal control should be discovered, suggestions for improvement should be put forward, and government departments should be encouraged to Establish a sound internal control system, strengthen the self-discipline and self-control capabilities of government departments, reduce arbitrary government behavior and corruption, and promote the strengthening of government self-control capabilities. At the same time, it is necessary to review the budget execution and final accounts, extra-budgetary funds, special funds, state-owned assets, internal controls, etc. of the leader's department to find out the completion of the unit's goals, clarify the subjective responsibilities of the leader, and check Check whether they have misappropriated state-owned assets, violated integrity regulations and other disciplinary violations. On the other hand, it is necessary to implement an announcement system for economic responsibility audit results,

to bring the problems arising from the audit and the responsibilities that should be further investigated to the public, so as to "let sunshine and society guide accountability" and promote government responsibility. legalization and administrative transparency.

(3) Strengthen government performance auditing and consolidate the foundation of public administration management

Performance auditing is a product of democratic politics and is also a driving force for the development of political democratization. The introduction of the performance audit model in national audit not only meets the needs of national audit's own development, but also broadens horizons and stimulates vitality in effectively promoting national governance. By conducting government performance audits, the national audit audits the effectiveness of the use of public financial funds and the effects of government management actions to promote the effective realization of the government's public management functions and consolidate the foundation of public management. Specifically, the first is to analyze and evaluate the government's macroeconomic policies to examine whether the macroeconomic measures adopted by the government are in line with ideal expectations, the impact of macroeconomic policies on national development, etc., thereby promoting the government to strengthen macroeconomic regulation. functions to optimize the economic structure; the second is to evaluate a series of institutional arrangements such as government investment projects, tax policies and fiscal transfer payments to analyze whether they have fully played their role and achieved the expected results, and then evaluate the government's specific economic performance. Whether the behavior has had a positive impact; third, through the rationality analysis of the government's market supervision and social management system itself, it is judged whether the institutional arrangements have formed certain economic and social benefits.

(4) Strengthen government investment auditing to ensure the effective use of public resources

Government investment projects are major government decision-making matters and reflect the fiduciary responsibility of public resources. Auditing government investment projects is conducive to supervising the scientific nature of government investment decisions and the efficiency and effectiveness of public resource use.

To this end, we must first increase the intensity of auditing the completion and settlement of government construction projects, pay close attention to government hot construction projects, seize the key links of completion and settlement, and scientifically and rationally review the project cost, budget and final accounts, bidding, etc. of construction projects , effectively curbing opportunism, random visas, arbitrary changes and other phenomena in the implementation of construction projects, and promote further compliance, legality and orderliness in project construction and fund use. Secondly, it is necessary to strengthen the follow-up audit of major investment projects. Move the audit gate forward, implement full-process follow-up audits on key government investment projects, expand the scope of investment audits, and improve the follow-up audit system for major projects. For projects with large investment scales, many sub-projects, and long construction cycles, follow-up audits will be conducted throughout the entire process. Finally, we should actively explore the audit supervision of project bidding. Project bidding is an important part of the project construction process. In order to ensure the effective use of national fiscal construction funds, the audit department must intervene in the entire process of project bidding in advance and implement full and simultaneous supervision of the bidding work before, during and after the event. .

(5) Carry out risk management audits and pay close attention to financial operation risks

Finance is the core of modern economic society, and financial security is the first firewall to ensure economic security and social security. National audits should strengthen risk management audits and attach great importance to financial risks.

Audit agencies can implement financial risk management audits through the following aspects: first, inspecting the implementation of national financial policies by financial institutions and conducting special audits or investigations of major financial activities; second, paying attention to the quality of financial assets and risks.

Audit agencies must not only have a relatively accurate grasp of the asset quality of financial institutions, but also pay attention to economic crime cases in the financial field, focus on discovering clues to major cases, and resolutely crack down on illegal and criminal activities in the financial field, so as to National macro-control creates a good financial environment; third, we supervise and evaluate the performance of regulatory agencies, focus on establishing a safe, efficient, and stable financial operating mechanism, and promote financial regulatory agencies to perform their duties in accordance with the law.

IV. Guarantee conditions for national audit to play a role in national governance

(1) Innovative audit concept

In order to make the "immune system" of audit operate in accordance with the law and To be independent, dedicated and proactive in preventing, revealing and investigating problems, promoting the functional balance of other systems, serving macro-control, and maintaining the health and safety of the country's economy and society, we need to constantly innovate the concept of auditing and realize the concept of "auditing based on auditing" The change to the concept of "discussing national governance through auditing" and through audit work have prompted relevant departments to change their management concepts and take the road of intensive management. At the same time, we must actively promote the reform of the audit management system, establish an audit management system with scientific decision-making, equal rights and responsibilities, reasonable division of labor, smooth execution, and strong supervision, and establish an audit management system as soon as possible that can effectively promote national governance. It is necessary to reform and innovate the positioning and functional division of national audit responsibilities, increase and strengthen the function of auditing as a macro-management service, and provide effective services for promoting national governance.

(2) Innovative audit operation mechanism

First of all, it is necessary to realize the transformation from focusing on post-audit to giving equal emphasis to pre-audit and post-audit. Ex-ante auditing is particularly important to achieve changes in economic growth patterns. Secondly, it is necessary to realize the transformation from focusing on financial revenue and expenditure auditing to giving equal emphasis to financial revenue and expenditure auditing and economic efficiency auditing, and from accounting statement-oriented auditing to system-based and risk-oriented auditing. Finally, it is necessary to realize the transformation from mainly micro-auditing to a combination of micro-auditing and macro-auditing.

(3) Improve the auditing regulations and systems

On the basis of conscientiously studying and understanding the central government’s macroeconomic regulation and management policies, the auditing agencies must study and formulate auditing to play an effective role in promoting national governance. Special laws and regulations to legally determine the status and functions of the state audit agency in macroeconomic management, and to legally guarantee the exercise of legitimate supervisory functions by state auditors.

For example, formulating the "Government Performance Audit Standards" and "Economic Responsibility Audit Standards", etc., revising laws and regulations that are not suitable for the role of national audit agencies in macroeconomic management, and clarifying how national audit agencies serve macroeconomic management and Make clear and specific provisions on how to play a role in national governance and other aspects.

(4) Improving the quality of auditors

National governance has put forward more and higher requirements for national audit, and improving the quality of auditors is inevitable for national audit to adapt to the new environment and new requirements. choose. To this end, it is necessary to prioritize improving the overall quality of auditors and continuously strengthen follow-up education and training for auditors. The training of national auditors mainly includes professional knowledge, auditing skills and academic education, among which auditors should be provided with lifelong education in professional knowledge and auditing skills. In addition to strengthening the training of auditors' computer knowledge and operating skills, the developing audit methods must also strengthen the development and application of software, which is also one of the key links to improve audit efficiency. When necessary, explore and implement an exchange system for audit cadres to go to the finance, finance, and comprehensive economic departments of the National Development and Reform Commission to master the professional knowledge and skills of these departments.

(5) Innovative audit technology methods

As an important tool for national governance, national audit should continue to innovate technology methods, widely carry out risk-oriented audits, and strive to reduce audit risks. Specifically, national auditing should transform from traditional accounting-oriented auditing and system-based auditing to modern risk-oriented auditing methods. By carrying out risk-oriented auditing, we can provide early warning of risks in national fiscal and financial operations and evaluate major government decisions. , to serve as a "whistleblower" in national governance.

On the other hand, by conducting risk-oriented audits, we control and reduce audit risks and improve the quality of audit work. To this end, it is necessary to modify the current national audit standards, abolish the basic audit content of the system, and embed the risk-oriented audit model to standardize and guide the national audit work; at the same time, increase the intensity of technical training for auditors to understand and master modern risk-oriented Audit theory and methods, and be able to flexibly apply them in actual work.