Examining Auditing as an Essential Element of Financial Management and Good Governance in Local Government

The purpose of the article is to address issues of auditing in the context of financial management as a contribution to good governance. Generally, not all local governments have effective and operational audit units and committees. As a result, auditing is not used as an essential element of good g...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Sindisile Maclean
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AOSIS 2014-06-01
Series:Africa’s Public Service Delivery & Performance Review
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.apsdpr.org/index.php/apsdpr/article/view/53
Description
Summary:The purpose of the article is to address issues of auditing in the context of financial management as a contribution to good governance. Generally, not all local governments have effective and operational audit units and committees. As a result, auditing is not used as an essential element of good governance and this leads to bad audit outcomes like disclaimers and adverse opinions. The bad audit outcomes in local government have motivated the researcher to conduct the study on auditing. There are internal factors within the municipalities as well as external factors that are of interest and directed the researcher to have desire and commitment to make a contribution in this particular field of research. The key issues, amongst others, are principles of financial management, financial strategy, auditing functions such as forensic auditing, fraud auditing, forensic accounting and detection of fraud, including accounting systems and auditor’s role. This article will also attempt to reinforce existing theories and add value to local government financial discourse and good governance.
ISSN:2310-2195
2310-2152