Application of technology in auditing activities

Currently, the activities of the State Audit (SA) often focus on assessing the compliance of audited units based on documents provided by investors or enterprises, and at the same time reviewing the implementation process of enterprises and audited units and making recommendations and assessments from a professional perspective. State Auditor General Ngo Van Tuan assessed that current economic cases are not related to the scope and subjects of the Law on Independent Auditing, therefore, many enterprises have hired foreign auditors and independent auditors to conduct audits. This is the factor that makes it difficult for the auditing industry to go deep and closely follow each enterprise.

In addition, the state budget expenditure estimates in many ministries, sectors and localities are often not accurate, leading to regular expenditure disbursements being lower than the proposed estimates. Mr. Tran Quoc Viet, auditor of the General Department, State Audit, said that manual calculation methods give inaccurate results. Previously, manual work with a large amount of records and documents made auditing difficult and took a long time. To address this limitation, the auditing industry urgently needs to apply technology to improve efficiency, increase transparency, reliability and minimize risks in operations.

Currently, the State Audit Office is deploying 27 software and applications serving internal operations and auditing activities, including applications serving the direction, operation, and management of specialized activities; the State Audit Office's communication channel system and integrated service systems...

Since 2019, the State Audit Office has been one of the first agencies to successfully integrate all data exchange applications into the integration axis. In particular, software supporting audit activities has been prioritized for development to support audit work from planning and conducting audits to preparing and issuing audit reports and monitoring the implementation of audit recommendations. The State Audit Office has also completed the implementation of connecting the national document exchange axis with all ministries, branches, central agencies to localities.

The application of information technology in auditing activities brings many outstanding benefits. Ms. Nguyen Thi Thang, Deputy Chief Auditor of State Audit Office Region VI, said that members of the audit team are fully equipped with software to serve and support auditing activities. The application of information technology helps auditors save time when looking up and synthesizing report content, and save costs in printing documents.

In addition, implementing the Development Strategy and overall information technology architecture of the State Audit Office for the period 2019-2025, with a vision to 2030, the State Audit Office has completed and put into operation the project "Building an integrated platform, connecting the State Audit Office's data with information systems and databases of audited units". In addition, the work of preparing a feasibility study report for the project "Building a big data platform and an audit subject information management system" has been completed, receiving comments from experts, ministries, branches and the State Audit Office's appraisal council, and submitting it to the State Audit Office's leadership for approval.

Since 2023, the State Audit Office has applied 4 new software to effectively support professional activities, such as: Audit plan management subsystem to help units propose audit plans for 2024 and medium-term audit plans for 2024-2026; financial management software focuses on supporting and improving the efficiency of financial and accounting work at State Audit Office's budget units... At the same time, 13 software are applied to support internal management and operation.

Currently, the processing and circulation of documents and electronic documents are carried out on the internet environment through document and work file management software. Tasks such as personnel management, training management, financial management, emulation and rewards... are also carried out through application software and integration, deployed on mobile devices, the quick reporting system has helped the management, direction and operation of the State Audit leaders to be carried out quickly and promptly, improving the efficiency of management activities as well as professional work of the industry.

The State Audit Office also connects and exchanges data with the Ministry of Finance , the State Bank and the Vietnam Social Security; builds an information exchange portal, creating a multi-dimensional electronic data exchange channel between the State Audit Office and the audited units.

Preliminary statistics show that the State Audit Office has issued more than 6,000 accounts to more than 2,000 audited units and received more than 10,000 financial reports, budget settlement reports, and cost estimates of audited units.

However, the application of technology in auditing activities also has limitations such as: There is no strong enough legal corridor to regulate audited units, agencies, organizations, and individuals related to auditing activities to provide electronic data and exchange, share, and connect data with the State Audit Office; the specialized team doing information technology work in the industry is still small, and professional capacity in information technology is uneven.

“Currently, technology applications at many audited units are increasingly modern, making processing quite complicated, requiring auditors to improve their qualifications to meet work requirements,” said Mr. Vu Van Cuong, Chief Auditor of the State Audit Office.

Therefore, to meet the requirements set forth in the digital transformation phase, the State Audit Office is strengthening the training and development of human resources in information technology. In particular, nurturing the younger generation is an important step. With flexibility and sensitivity in applying technology, the youth union is actively participating in many activities to improve the quality and efficiency of audit activities in parallel with developing the skills and capacity of youth union members.

To make good use of the benefits of technology to effectively implement the Development Strategy and overall IT architecture of the State Audit Office in the period of 2025-2030, the auditing industry needs to strengthen modernization and digital transformation in state management activities and internal governance of the State Audit Office; strengthen and make breakthroughs in promoting the application of high technology and information technology in auditing work to gradually increase the number of audits at the State Audit Office headquarters and gradually reduce the audit time at the unit.

The leaders of the State Audit Office have directed strongly to raise the awareness of cadres, party members and civil servants in applying information technology in auditing work in a systematic manner. In particular, investment in human resources and technology infrastructure is an urgent issue. At the same time, ensuring compliance with relevant legal regulations. Only then can the auditing industry truly take the lead in auditing work and be trusted by businesses and people.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/ung-dung-cong-nghe-trong-hoat-dong-kiem-toan-post881734.html