The Role of Internal Audit Function in The Public Sector: Managerial Auditing Journal January 2016
The Role of Internal Audit Function in The Public Sector: Managerial Auditing Journal January 2016
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ABSTRACT
The internal audit functions are used to control the financial departments’ employees’ actions.
Traditionally, the internal audit was found in private sector only, but recently, the internal audit
expanded to cover the public sector. This study aims to highlight the role of internal auditors in
maintaining the public money. The results show that the Internal Auditor government departments have
a role in the maintenance of public money. Additionally, the results show that The Internal Auditors in
government departments have knowledge to maintain the public money. Thus, the results support the
alternative hypotheses.
INTRODUCTION
Financial control over public money originated since General applicable money systems regulatory system
ancient times, as a result of expansion of the activities of currently, thereby maintaining the public funds of
State and Government and the increase in the volume of manipulation or fraud or embezzlement and achieves
public resources with the development and function of optimal use of most of the public assets and resources
states from the clipboard on the security and available and take advantage and activating audit by the
administration of justice to intervene in various aspects of sudden inspection and regulation procedures and
economic activity, and this requires more effective mechanism and the scope of the sudden examination
oversight to ensure the maintenance of public money. and raise the efficiency and effectiveness of the control of
The Minister of Finance Dr. Mohammad Abu Hammour public funds in all its forms, whether they are related to
said that the ministry was prepared in cooperation with the previous audit or subsequent of internal control or
the Court of Audit project special system of internal external control .and to improve the tools to control over
financial control to maintain public money from the public money to fit into the development of the
manipulation, forgery and embezzlement. computerized financial systems in such a way to speed
The minister pointed out that the ministry has errors or manipulation or fraud discovery systems and a
completed a study reform of the oversight of public review of legislation governing the procedures for the
money system and prepared by a team of specialists documentary cycle of financial transactions to ensure the
from the Ministry of Finance and the State Audit Bureau safety of preventive measures to maintain public money.
and the importance of this study through its contribution The system also provides that mainly aims units of
in the provision of efficient and effective and able to internal control in government departments and units to
address the weaknesses and imbalances in the control of the maintenance of public money and public assets of
waste and loss, misuse and ensure conservation and professional requirement to do so.
good use optimally through the achievement of the
validity and accuracy limitations and data and accounting
information and the effectiveness and efficiency of Independence
financial operations and the protection of financial
resources and assets of the waste and abuse. As the definition states, Internal audit is an independent
The golden principles that state the Code of Ethics for appraisal activity. We need to carefully note here that the
Internal Auditors in Government are Integrity, Objectivity, word “independent” is important, even though it gets
Competency, Confidentiality and Independence. (world neutralized by the fact that it is within an organization.
bank, 2015). Independence stands for an internal auditor being able to
report on material facts and figures, uninfluenced by any
favor or frown.
Integrity
Perhaps the internal financial control to achieve the units in terms of the reality regulatory and independence
above advantages in exchange for control made it clear, and the study confirmed the weakness of
To activate the role of financial oversight bodies in the the independence of those units, and the lack of detailed
government sector and to overcome the difficulties faced evidence to the policies and procedures in those units,
by the writer believes to be taken the following and the study showed that the units audited often do not
recommendations: follow the methodology of work documented and clear
- The need to review legislation governing the work of when carrying out the internal audit.
regulatory agencies, whether purely administrative or Afifi (2007) examines the obstacles to the work of units
financial of internal audit in government in the Gaza Strip
- Should regulators legislation is not limited to ensure institutions, was the use of a questionnaire as a tool for
the achievement of the objectives of government the study to collect data on the constraints existing in the
departments and the discovery of irregularities and administrative and financial control departments, the
obstacles, but to deal with this legislation means and study showed the presence of a number of constraints
ways to reform the treatment. that limit the effectiveness of the work of units of internal
- The development of laws and regulatory legislation audit was the most important trends and behavior of the
which requires government departments to submit top management and the absence of laws governing the
financial control - and begin to seriously apply the oversight work of these units, and the problems caused
principle of reward and punishment at all levels. by administrative Titles applicable, in addition to the lack
- Supplement the financial control equipment staff of experience and competence of the auditors the study
specialists and those with scientific and practical made a number of recommendations including The need
skills in the areas of control. to support the independence of the internal audit units
Salem (2013) aimed to identify the reality of the internal and activate its role, and that is issuing the laws that It
audit in the municipalities of the Gaza Strip, and to turns out its mandated tasks and powers, including
achieve the objectives of the study and testing of imposing presence effectively on tourism. Kore et al.
hypotheses, a questionnaire was designed and (2006) aimed to assess the organizations that have the
distributed to (77) of workers in the units of internal audit internal audit function and comparing the one that does
and control, financial accountants and managers in the not have an internal review in terms of the ability to detect
municipalities of the Gaza Strip, and the study found the fraud. This study used a self scale to detect fraud,
internal auditors tasks Audit required of them, and their primarily related to the misappropriation of assets. The
commitment to the internal audit generally accepted researchers conducted a survey of the process of fraud in
standards, and the attention of the members of the 2004 for clients (KPMG), and it became clear from the
Municipal Council of the importance of the existence of study that the organizations that have the internal audit
the Department of Internal Audit, and follow the internal function better able to detect manipulation and fraud and
audit department in the municipalities of the Gaza Strip to fraud within their organizations for those that do not have
the Department of Finance and not to senior that function, in addition to organizations that rely on the
management, and lack of interest by senior management external auditor only less ability to detect fraud within
to develop the internal audit department, the study their organizations. The study concluded that the internal
concluded that the number of Recommendations of them, audit is the added value through better control and
the need for the internal auditors of all internal audit monitoring of the work environment within the institutions
functions of the municipalities in the Gaza Strip, and to to detect fraud, and pointed out that the preservation of
increase the commitment of internal auditors generally the internal audit function within the organization is more
accepted internal auditing standards. effective than the use of all external references.
Sahli (2011) seeks to shed light on the internal audit in
the public sector, through the study of the reality of units
of internal audit in government agencies field application Objectives of the study
units of internal audit in five ministries, Saudi Arabia, and
the aim of this research is to explore the reality of these This research aims to highlight the important role played
units through the analysis of the structural and by the internal auditor in the maintenance of public
professional factors influencing the internal audit in money and to explore their qualifications in terms of their
government agencies quality, the study relied on the ability to control the governmental departments’ actions.
framework of the internal audit quality evaluation (IAQAF)
proposed by the Ministry of the British Treasury, The
study found a number of results which show that there Research hypotheses
are shortcomings and obvious talent working in those
units in terms of number and qualification, as varying This study has two hypotheses as following
Published by Basic Research Journal of Business Management and Accounts
Thaer Abu Tabar. 04
There are four types of the independence of the internal The objectives and characteristics of internal auditor
auditor are as follows (Salem, 2012) (Gerrit and Rita, 2014)
Scope of work
Independence in the performance of the audit
process Internal audit may include a detailed review of what is
available a comprehensive view of the Internal Auditor of
It means not affected by the internal auditor of others the time and the possibilities of being able to achieve it.
views when the audit planning process and in doing
examination, the researcher believes that this so-called
objectivity that is supported rules of high professionalism The party that works on its behalf and benefiting from
and ethics level is respected by the internal auditor and their work
by related parties work.
The internal auditor employee institution under the
authority of management and guidance, and is therefore
Technical independence: in the senior management of the institution service, and
strives to meet all its needs, and it presents the results of
It means the possession of the internal auditor in the examination and review.
highest degree of skill entrusted with the performance of
the work, and be strengthened through high academic
qualifications and appropriate training. Part of the organization being evaluated:
is not complete and that it was no doubt he was relatively Characteristics government units (Khatib and
more independent than under review in the areas that are Mahayni, 2010)
being tested and reviewed person.
We can summarize the most important government
accounting system characteristics are as follows:
The timing of the inspection and audit: the internal 1. does not aim to make a profit but to provide a service
auditor examined the activities of the Foundation on to the community paid a symbolic or free of charge, such
an ongoing basis. as: the Ministry of Education - Ministry of Health, and
government units can be divided into: government
The method of preparation of the work program: Revenue unit, non-Revenue government unit.
2. There is no correlation between state revenues and
Begin the internal work of the reflux organizational chart expenditures. expenditures in the state do not work on
of the institution program and its field activities for each the creation of revenue, there is full independence
room and no specific financial and accounting aspects. between what his disposal unity government and
receives payments where all ministries and government
departments to deposit all its proceeds in cash
Qualifications of internal auditor: (Abdel et al., 2007) Foundation, and gets the expenses of the institution,
according to financial credits.
Usually it includes accounting expertise in the sense that 3. There is no capital for government units (which is the
has obtained a degree in accounting. He is also due to difference between assets and liabilities).
the extension of the scope of the internal auditor to The state transferred its activities on an annual basis in
operational aspects and assesses the efficiency of the the light of the introduction of public estimates of
various sections and departments; it undoubtedly expenditure and income. The scientific foundation of the
requires additional qualified Internal Auditor to be familiar government accounting: (Mahmoud, 2013).
with the technical aspects and administrative specialist. Resulted in accounting thought all three theories could
be used to shed light on the nature of the financial and
economic activity in terms of the analysis of the nature of
Government accountability definition the assets, liabilities, income and expenses and profits as
well as legal and accounting for air conditioning unit and
The branch of accounting based on a set of principles for these theories are:
recording, classification and summarizing financial
transactions related to government activity in order to
impose financial and legal controls on state revenues and Owners theory
expenditures and to assist in decision-making and the
scientific foundations definition (Ahmro, 2003). (Co-ownership theory) emerged this theory in individual
projects and individual companies where there was no
break between the personal project and personal angel of
Objectives of government accountability: (Mahmoud, the project owner of the project is responsible for the
2013) debt, loans and profits and losses of the project, and as a
result the business is measured by finding the difference
1. Impose financial and legal control over state revenues. between the project's assets and liabilities first period and
And it keeps track of revenue collection operations and most recently.
ensure that all revenue owed to the state have been
collected in accordance with the laws and regulations.
2. Impose financial and legal control over state expenses. Personal moral theory
By recording operations spending-she-goes manner as to
enable tracking of spending so as not to exceed the This theory emerged when the administration broke away
expenses allocated by the authority. (Spending has been from the property due to the inflation of administrative
allocated on the proper place). workers and the difficulty of obtaining large capital
3. The provisions of control over the state-owned assets projects and took the form of joint-stock companies or
4. Disclosure of Financial Results for the state. limited by shares her financial and personal legal
5. Assist in decision-making, and by providing the independent edema. The result is determined by the
necessary analytical data. project of the profit or loss as the difference between the
project revenues or expenses.
The funds allocated theory crime of embezzlement of public money intentional crime
take the picture of the mental element of criminal intent.
This theory is based on the premise that a certain amount Questionnaire were deigned and sent to the
of resources devoted to the performance by the particular governmental depart, which are Ministry of Finance,
activity and have restricted the use of resources to Social Security, and Ministry of Education. This study
achieve the purpose for which allocated for. distributed 90 questionnaires, only 65 were returned.
The funds allocated by the theory is considered more of
these theories to explain the relevance of the scientific
basis upon which the accounting in the administrative METHODOLOGY
nature of government units.
This study will addresses some of the important aspects
of the research about government accountability in terms
Criminal protection of public money of definition and objectives, characteristics and the
differences between them and the Financial Accounting
Legislation has been identified in the states that public and then the checker and what it is addressed, and what
money has sanctity and can not be encroachment upon auditing and definition of some associations to audit the
and to this end has developed various texts and set generally accepted rules of the audit process and the
penalties for each offense, according to what he sees as types of audit, and then go to the linked to a financial and
the legislator appropriate in the state, and here we do not administrative corruption and its definition and knowledge
want to expand on this side, but it can be said that there of its manifestations, its causes and its forms and its
is a sanctity of public money and may not be daring him implications and the mechanism and strategy to combat
and embezzling from the staff in the state, and in this it, and finally is extremism to the topic of the Eiffel
spammers researcher believes that to be the definition of importance, namely public money and to identify it, and it
embezzlement, crime and its elements for public money will be done through a questionnaire we tried the
(Penal Code, 1960): coverage of the important aspects of the subject.
Embezzlement: known commentator according to Internal Audit: is the "Activity independent and objective
Jordanian law as a public employee or equivalents of designed to increase the organization value and improve
workers in banks, or specialized lending institutions or its operations, and helps the internal audit organization to
public shareholding companies, snapped money or achieve its objectives by pursuing an objective and
money or other things that are special to the State or to a orderly entrance to evaluate and improve the
person had been delivered to him to manage or money effectiveness of risk management, control, operations
collected or saved because of his job so he entered in his control." (Juma, 2009).
duty and taking it. Public money: "the money that is allocated to account
for all the processes that are not accounted for in another
money, this definition shows the important of money as
To determine this crime to be in this regard; must responsible for a wide range of ongoing activities and
stand on its members, according to the Jordanian most government services shows majoring rest of the
Penal Code, are: money to account for events or specific projects." (Khatib
Mahayni, 2010).
The first element. Internal Audit: it (independent evaluation activity of the
Department or branch within the enterprise mission
The culprit in the recipe; the first pillars of this crime, a examined the various business in accounting, financial
defaulter, and stipulated that it be a public servant. and operational areas and evaluating the performance of
departments and divisions at this as a basis to serve the
senior management, as it management control lead by
The second element measuring and evaluating the effectiveness of monitoring
tools Other (Khatib, 2010).
The act of embezzlement and placed a material element
of the crime and the crime realized that adds money to
his property. Questionnaire design
Total 65 100
Notes from table no. (3) That the higher the proportions of the study
sample according to years of experience for the class was more than
15 years and at a rate of (81.5%), while the percentage of
representation category of 5-10 years was (18.5%)
General information: the job title, qualification, years value of Alpha Cronbach's coefficient (76.5%), a relatively
of experience, age. high value indicating the reliability of study tool, where the
minimum is then an internal consistency of the scale
The role of the internal auditor in government institutions value (60%).
in the province to gauge public money, the researcher Statistical methods used: the use of statistical methods to
used Likert scale modeled, It consists of (23) paragraph suit the study variables and assumptions, where the use
(strongly agree, agree, neutral, not agree -OK, is not of simple statistical methods such as frequencies,
agree strongly), and given weights (5.4, 3.2, 1) and percentages, averages and standard deviations. As well
therefore whenever high average indicates a higher as the use of one sample.
degree of approval paragraph.
Table 5. Averages and standard deviations of the respondent’s answers to the paragraphs of the scale
Arithmetic standard
No Paragraph Ranking
mean deviation
1 Internal Auditor in the government departments scientifically 3.20 0.90 10
qualified for this work.
2 Internal Auditor in the government departments is facing 3.34 1.16 8
pressure from senior management
3 Internal Auditor in government departments has friendly 2.54 1.03 23
relationship with the external auditor.
4 Internal Auditor in government departments have knowledge 3.63 0.80 2
of generally accepted accounting principles.
5 Internal Auditor government departments believe in the 3.71 0.46 1
sanctity of public money.
6 Internal Auditor in government departments has self- 3.40 0.49 5
censorship.
7 Internal Auditor in government departments is committed to 3.22 0.74 9
the regulations and laws in force in the State, since he has
the knowledge of the offense of daring to public money.
8 Internal auditor doing his job perfectly 3.08 0.71 15
9 Internal Auditor government departments feel of job security. 2.98 0.65 18
10 Internal Auditor in government departments charges a 3.15 0.97 13
salaries and incentives satisfactory.
11 Internal Auditor in government departments well dealing with 3.57 0.92 3
e-government.
12 Internal Auditor in government departments briefed on 3.40 0.83 6
financial procurement by the accountant periodically.
13 Internal Auditor in government departments, keen not to 3.20 0.87 11
exceed the allocations for each item of approved items.
14 Internal Auditor government departments is keen on having 3.55 0.92 4
the cooperation between him and the administration erected
in the interest of work
15 Internal Auditor in government departments develop 2.88 0.72 21
themselves to cope with latest developments
16 Internal Auditor government departments doing the audit 2.86 0.70 22
procedure for the records and documents.
17 Internal Auditor in the government departments is doing the 3.08 0.96 16
audit procedure for the records and documents
18 Internal Auditor in government departments performs the 3.18 0.61 12
previous revision of the exchange process correctly to avoid
errors.
19 Internal Auditor in government departments dealing 2.92 0.96 20
transparently with the external auditor (Bureau Surveillance).
20 Internal Auditor in government departments does final 3.15 0.75 14
closing of the accounts correctly and on time.
21 The government departments hold training courses to raise 2.98 0.93 19
the efficiency of auditors.
22 there is a direct relation between Internal Auditor in the 3.00 0.77 17
government departments and reviewers
23 Internal Auditor government departments believe offense 3.38 0.80 7
daring to public money
Total 3.19 0.33 ---
Published by Basic Research Journal of Business Management and Accounts
Thaer Abu Tabar. 10
Clarify Table Data (5) averages and standard deviations views of auditors and their comments and meeting with
of the answers the study sample on the paragraphs of the them to discuss the problems and obstacles facing them.
role of the internal auditor in government institutions They have to increase the number of auditors in
scale in the maintenance of public money, is noticed that departments and its affiliates as needed. It must be
there is the consent of above average in general, represented by the Department of Civil Service
reaching the overall average of responses (3.19) which is government departments to establish a mechanism for
higher than average default (3), which refers to neutral. human resources development and training of staff in
At the level of the paragraphs of the scale notes that accredited institutes at home and abroad; especially
most were on the approval of paragraph (5) answers an auditors and periodically; and benefit from the
average (3.71), and in the second class came paragraph experiences of developed countries in this field, as well
(4) answers an average (3.63). In terms of paragraphs as The auditor should develop itself and cope with the
least approval was the paragraph (3) answers an latest developments through courses and attend
average (2.54). seminars and workshops and look at what is new in the
field of auditing and knowledge of weakness, treatment
and strengths and development points
Test the hypotheses of the study
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the internal audit units in government institutions in Saudi Arabia, of Gaza.
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Salem IH (2012). "The fact of the internal audit in the municipalities of http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTFINANCIALMGMT/Resources/3
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