Value for Money Auditing and Audit Evidence from a Procurement Perspective -A Conceptual Paper

Abstract

In a bid to drive effective and efficient public sector procurement management there is increased demand for government entities to focus on VfM and how it can be enhanced. This follows public observation that traditional performance audits (accounting and financial audits, procurement audits, systems audits) that seek to assess system or organisational performance in terms of compliance or conformity to particulars rules of the game or call them principles, is now highly insufficient. Contemporary practices require that such audits should be comprehensive enough to include an examination of the ability of government organisations to discharge their responsibilities and control of their costs by ensuring that resources are managed at the lowest and that activities are organised efficiently. Consequently auditors must always seek for more appropriate evidence to support the audit opinion. New approaches to public sector auditing that take into consideration of these issues are thus being sought, although with lots of limitations faced when putting them to use. Empirical research grounded ideas are highly desirable.
Keywords: Audit evidence, Value for Money, Value for Money auditing.