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Office of Chuuk State Public Auditor Performance Report

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Office of Chuuk State Public Auditor Performance Report OFFICE OF CHUUK STATE PUBLIC AUDITOR PERFORMANCE REPORT 1 March 2021 0 Contents Abbreviations and Acronyms .................................................................................................................. 2 Foreword ................................................................................................................................................. 3 a) Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................... 4 b) Quality Assurance Statement ..................................................................................................... 5 c) Observation on the SAI’s Performance and impact .................................................................... 6 (i) Integrated assessment of SAI performance ............................................................................ 6 (ii) The Value and Benefits of Supreme Audit Institutions – making a difference to the lives of citizens. ....................................................................................................................................... 8 (iii) Analysis of the SAI’s capacity development efforts and prospects for further improvement ................................................................................................................................ 11 d) SAI Management Use of Assessment Results ........................................................................... 11 Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 11 Chapter 2: Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 3: Country and SAI Background Information .......................................................................... 14 3.1 State Chuuk Country Context and Governance Arrangements .................................................. 14 3.2 State Chuuk’s Public Sector Budgetary Environment and Impact on SAI performance ............. 20 3.3 State Chuuk Office of the Public Auditor’s Legal and Institutional Framework, Organisational Structure and Resources ................................................................................................................... 21 Chapter 4: Assessment of the SAI’s Capability and Performance ......................................................... 25 4.1 Domain A: Independence and Legal Framework ........................................................................ 25 4.2 Domain B: Internal Governance and Ethics ................................................................................ 32 4.3 Domain C: Audit Quality and Reporting ...................................................................................... 42 4.4 Domain D: Financial Management, Assets and Support Services............................................... 68 4.5 Domain E: Human Resources and Training ................................................................................. 71 4.6 Domain F: Communication and Stakeholder Management ....................................................... 77 Chapter 5: SAI Capacity Development Process ..................................................................................... 81 5.1 Recent and On-going Reforms .................................................................................................... 81 5.2 Use of SAI results by External Providers of Financial Support .................................................... 82 Annex 1: Performance Indicator Summary ........................................................................................... 82 Annex 2: Sources of Information & Evidence to Support Indicator Scoring ......................................... 83 1 Abbreviations and Acronyms AG Auditor General CGAP Certified Government Auditing Professional CPA Certified Public Accountants EU European Union GAGAS Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards IDI INTOSAI Development Initiative INTOSAI International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions ISSAIs International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions OCPA Office of the Chuuk State Public Auditor PASAI Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions UNDP United Nations Development Programmes 2 Foreword The Office of the Chuuk State Public Auditor (OCPA) is the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) of Chuuk State of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). This performance report describes the assessment results of OCPA’s performance against the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAIs). The assessment follows the methodology prescribed by the Supreme Audit Institutions’ Performance Measurement Framework (SAI-PMF) issued by the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions’ (INTOSAI) Working Group on the Values and Benefits of SAIs. The assessment measures the current performance of the OCPA across six domains against a set of pre-determined indicators within those domains. The domains covered are as follows: A. Independence and Legal Framework B. Internal Governance and Ethics C. Audit Quality and Reporting D. Financial Management, Assets and Support Services E. Human Resources and Training F. Communication and Stakeholder Management The assessment was conducted in September 2019 as part of a regional initiative implemented as part of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Strengthening of Public Finance Management and Governance in the Pacific Project funded by the European Union (EU). The assessment was conducted by an independent team comprised of two members: Mrs Sinaroseta Palamo-Iosefo, PASAI’s Director of Practice Development (Team Leader) and Ms Alice Etse from the FSM State of Pohnpei Office of the Public Auditor (POPA). The assessment team expressed its gratitude to the Public Auditor, Mr Manny San Jose Jr. and his staff for their cooperation and assistance throughout the assessment. We would also like to acknowledge the invaluable and ongoing support of PASAI’s development partners. 3 a) Executive Summary The Office of the Chuuk State Public Auditor (OCPA) is the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) of the State Chuuk of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The OCPA expressed its interest in assessing its performance against international standards and best practices to identify areas for improvement to enable the SAI to deliver its mandate and respond to the needs of its stakeholders as well as provide guidance on strengthening OCPA’s independence and legal framework. The report will be used mainly by the OCPA as well as the development partners who have supported the OCPA in conducting this assessment. OCPA is established as an independent institution through the Chuuk State Constitution as well as the independence of the Public Auditor. However, the Public Auditor does not have the authority to make decisions on most human resource matters nor the financial independence to submit his budget proposal directly to the legislature to avoid any undue influence by the Executive to reduce or limit the financial assistance requested by the SAI. The limited resources made available to the OCPA is exacerbated by the limited funding the State has and the less economic activities to generate local revenue. The resourcing of the OCPA is significantly affected by the economic development of the Chuuk State and therefore affects the OCPA’s ability to fulfil its mandated responsibilities to a wider extent. With only two staff, there is very limited impact that can be achieved. OCPA is required to adopt GAGAS and these standards also refer to compliance with guidance on financial audits issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). OCPA’s audit manual 2014 provides guidance on general standards applicable to all types of audit and services it performs, including financial audit, performance audit, attestation engagement, special reviews, and follow-up audits. Chuuk State is highly dependent on funding from the Compact agreement between the US and the FSM governments. Chuuk State Financial Regulations require that the public financial systems should be managed and maintained in accordance with GAAP as promulgated by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB). The Compact funding agreement stipulates audit requirements for government entities receiving funding above a certain threshold. As such, the financial statements of government ministries and SOEs which receive funding from the Compact agreement and are above the stated threshold, are audited annually by an external auditor, although the SAI has the mandate to audit all government financial activities. The outsourcing process for the external auditors is administered and managed by the FSM Office of the National Public Auditor. OCPA’s leadership has played a significant role in developing the SAI’s capacity as an organisation as well as staff capacity. Having a qualified Head of SAI also contributed to the development of the SAI and alleviates the effect of having insufficient resources and less qualified staff. OCPA has performed reasonably well given the number of staff and the external factors beyond its control, which impacts its performance. OCPA through the handful of audits it managed to complete in the past three years, highlighted critical weaknesses such as lack of proper documentation, lack of compliance
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