38
magazine
ALRAQABA
Financial & Audit Standards
Updates on Audit
Standards issued by the
International Organization
of Supreme Audit
Institutions (INTOSAI)
The Auditing Standards issued by the Interna-
tional Organization of Supreme Audit Institu-
tions (INTOSAI) include the adopted rules to
evaluate the performance quality and the gen-
eral framework of the procedures and practices
that should be followed while conducting the
audit procedure. In addition to the minimum
guidance and assistance to be provided to the
auditor in specifying the steps and the audit
procedures to be implemented .Such guidance
and assistance are considered as the scale
used to evaluate the quality of audit outcomes.
The INTOSAI Standards are guiding rules for
the Supreme Audit Institutions and government
auditors around the world, which would assist
them in developing the performance of the au-
dits exercised over the financial, economic, and
administrative and government activities of the
entities and the bodies subject to the SAIs con-
trol.
The said standards are issued through com-
mittees, and later on adopted by the Interna-
tional Conference held by the INTOSAI every
three years that is titled as (INCOSAI). One of
the member SAIs, which heads the organiza-
tion for the upcoming three years, hosts the
conference. Permanent members participate
in the conference, alongside to the participat-
ing members such as the United Nations, the
World Bank, the Internal Audit Institution and
many others.
Guidance on how to classify and rank the IN-
TOSAI Standards:
1- Using the title of (ISSAI), where each stan-
dard and respective document holds a number
(ISSAI).
2- The digit attached to the standard (ISSAI xx)
refers to the standard number.
3- A number is given to each document of the
standard ISSAI. The number contains 1–4 dig-
its. The digit numbers indicate the standard
level in the classification, e.g. if the standard in-
cludes one digit number this refers to level I, if it
includes two digits numbers this refers to level
II and so forth.
4- Standards that are given number which are
divided by 10 belong to a specified field. Digits
such as 01-02-03 are given to the standards
which contain a much detailed and precise is-
sues within the main topic, such as (ISSAI 10
Mexico Declaration – on Independency, ISSAI
11 Guidelines and Good Practices Related to
SAI Independence , ISSAI 20 Principles of trans-
parency and accountability , ISSAI 21 Principles
of Transparency and Accountability - Principles
and Good Practices).
5- Level 4 of the ISSAI Standards (Financial
Control 1000-2999) are originally the Interna-
tional Audit Standards issued by the Interna-
tional Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the
International Auditing and Assurance Standards
Board (IAASB). These standards are an exact
match in the content and the numbers , howev-
er the INTOSAI Standards (ISSAI) add number
Written by: Dr. Saud Ghasab Al - Zamanan
Director, Training & International Relations Department.
