State Audit Institution
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About us

Competences

Within its scope of competence, the Institution performs following activities:

1) plans and conducts audit, in accordance with this Law;

2) enacts by-Laws and other enactments for purpose of implementation of this Law;

3) submits reports, in accordance with Art 43 and Art 44 of this Law;

4) provides views and opinions and other forms of public announcements regarding application and implementation of specific provisions of this Law;

5) when required and in accordance with its capacities, it provides professional assistance to the Assembly, the Government of the Republic of Serbia (hereinafter referred to as: the Government) and other state bodies, with regard to certain significant measures and important projects, in the manner which does not diminish the independence of the Institution;

6) may provide advice to the beneficiaries of public funds;

7) may comment on working drafts of legal texts and other regulations, and may provide opinions on matters related to public finance;

8) may give recommendations for amendments of effective laws, based on information acquired during audit, which have or may have negative consequences or lead to unforeseen results;

9) adopts and publishes auditing standards, related to public funds under audit competencies of the Institution, auditing manuals and other professional publications relevant for the improvement of the auditing profession;

10) establishes training and examination programme for acquiring titles of State Auditor and Certified State Auditor, organizes the examinations for acquiring auditing titles of State Auditor and Certified State Auditor, and manages the Registry of persons who acquired these titles;

11) establishes the criteria and validates professional titles acquired abroad, within the competence of the Institution;

12) cooperates with international auditing and accounting organizations in the fields related to the public sector accounting and auditing;

13) performs other duties stipulated by the Law.


TYPES OF AUDIT

The Institution performs the following types of audits:

1) Audit of financial statements - review of documents, official papers, reports and other information, with the aim of obtaining sufficient, adequate and reliable evidence for expressing an opinion as to whether financial statements of the auditee present true and fair view of its financial position, performance and cash flows, in accordance with the accepted accounting principles and standards;

2) Compliance audit - review of financial transactions and decisions regarding revenues and expenditures, with the aim to determine whether respective transactions were executed in compliance with law, other regulations, given authorization, and for the planned purposes;

3) Performance audit - review of the budget and other public funds spending, with the aim to obtain sufficient, adequate and reliable evidence for reporting whether the funds of the auditee were used in accordance with principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness, as well as in accordance with the planned objectives;

OVERVIEW OF SUBJECT MATTER AND AUDITEES

The Law determines the subject matter of the audit. Pursuant to the Law, all public funds in the Republic, ie all revenues and expenditures in accordance with the regulations on the budget system, all financial reports, financial transactions, calculations, analyses and other records and information of audit entities, compliance of operations of audited entities in accordance with law, adequacy of disposal public funds, the system of financial management and control of the budget system, the system of internal controls, internal audit, are the subject matter of audit.

The subject matter of audit are enactments and actions of the audited entity that produce or may produce financial effects on income and expenditure of users of public funds, state property, borrowing and guarantees, as well as the adequate use of funds available to audited entities, but also the regularity of management and other responsible persons in charge of planning, conducting and supervising the operations of public funds users.

The auditees are all users of public funds, ie direct and indirect users of budget funds, organizations of mandatory social insurance (Pension and Disability Insurance Fund, Republic Health Insurance Fund, National Employment Service), budget funds established by special law or bylaw, in order to achieve the goal provided by a special national, i.e. local regulation or international agreements, so that the auditees are, practically, all the users who make up the budget system of the Republic.

Public companies, companies and other legal entities established by a direct or indirect user of public funds, legal entities in which direct or indirect users have a share in the capital, i.e. management, and legal entities established by legal entities in which the state has a share in capital, i.e. in management, are also auditees.

The audit may include grants or guarantees, entities engaged in the acceptance, safekeeping, issuance and use of public reserves, political parties, beneficiaries of European Union funds, donations and assistance from international organizations, foreign governments and non-governmental organizations and other entities using funds and property under the control and disposal of the Republic, territorial autonomies, local authorities and organizations of mandatory social insurance.

Since 2015, the Institution has been auditing an appropriate number of parliamentary political parties at the national level, in accordance with the Law on Financing Political Activities ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia", No. 43/11 and 123/14).

The audit is also performed regarding other legal entities that conduct business with audited entities only in respect of their operations with audited entities. There is an obligation for the State Audit Institution to determine in more detail by its act the manner for performing audits in respect of these legal entities.