1. Michael MARTINDec 16 th,2008 The role of the Austrian Court of Audit (ACA) in the system of the public budgeting program

2. Michael MARTINDec 16 th, 2008 Page 2 OVERVIEW The public budgeting program Involved parties The role of the involved parties The role of the Austrian court of audit

3. Michael MARTINDec 16 th, 2008 Page 3 The public budgeting program Involved parties The Austrian government The Austrian parliament Stakeholder The Austrian Court of Audit

4. Michael MARTINDec 16 th, 2008 Page 4 The public budgeting program The role of the involved parties The Austrian government Planning and creating the budget Execution of the budget

5. Michael MARTINDec 16 th, 2008 Page 5 The public budgeting program The role of the involved parties The Austrian parliament Discussing and approving the budget Monitoring the budget Deciding consequences for deviations

6. Michael MARTINDec 16 th, 2008 Page 6 The public budgeting program The role of the involved parties Stakeholder All public institutions and units that are part of the budgeting program Planning and Spending

7. Michael MARTINDec 16 th, 2008 Page 7 The public budgeting program The role of the involved parties The Austrian court of audit Checking the regularity and legality of budget allocation Monitoring the budgeting program Auditing the federal financial statements Illustrating the budget implementation Presenting the financial statements to the parliament Standard setter for accounting rules

8. Michael MARTINDec 16 th, 2008 Page 8 The role of the Austrian court of audit Checking the regularity and legality of budget allocation Legal obligation (Sec 9 Court of Audit Act 1948) On-sites checks with focus on Regularity Legality Checks only for actual values (but compared with plan)

9. Michael MARTINDec 16 th, 2008 Page 9 The role of the Austrian court of audit Monitoring the budgeting program Continuously monitoring during the budget year Stakeholder have to inform ACA when overspending During the actual year: only information, no commitment through ACA But, within the audit report after year end: Possibility to comment irregular/ illegal overspending

10. Michael MARTINDec 16 th, 2008 Page 10 The role of the Austrian court of audit Auditing the federal financial statements Sec 9 Court of Audit Act 1948 Procedure of auditing the federal financial statements: Obtaining all financial statements from ministry of finance Audit procedure Communication of errors Corrections of errors through the ministry of finance Preparation of the audit report

11. Michael MARTINDec 16 th, 2008 Page 11 The role of the Austrian court of audit Illustrating the budget implementation Part of the audit and the audit report: Illustrating the budget implementation Illustrating significant budget deviations Pointing out errors and system weaknesses Commenting implemented recommendations of past periods

12. Michael MARTINDec 16 th, 2008 Page 12 The role of the Austrian court of audit Presenting the financial statements to the parliament The financial statements and the audit report have to be presented to the National Council, a part of the Austrian parliament Not later than 30 September of the subsequent year

13. Michael MARTINDec 16 th, 2008 Page 13 The role of the Austrian court of audit Standard setter for accounting rules Accounting Standard Act 1990 set out by the ACA Act does specify: Structure Form Content of the federal finance statements Also regulates: Procedures of error corrections Documentation

14. Michael MARTINDec 16 th, 2008 Page 14 The budget system in Austria Court of Audit Checking / monitoring / presenting Government Planning and creating Government Execution Parliament Approving the financial statements Parliament Approving the budget Audit report Audit of the Financial Statements Budget Plan Budget