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Within the audit mandate, the Comptroller and Auditor General is the sole authority to decide the scope and extent of audit to be conducted by him or on his behalf. Such authority is not limited by any considerations other than ensuring that the objectives of audit are achieved. The Comptroller and Auditor General undertakes audits which are broadly categorised as financial audit, compliance audit and performance audit.
Transaction/Compliance Audit
Scope of test audit by the C&AG
The CAG may conduct test audits during the year. This audit shall cover transactions entered into by the company with a view to examining their regularity, propriety, probity, economy, efficiency and effectiveness and report on cases of failure of compliance with laws, rules and regulations, waste, mismanagement, other irregularities and frauds and corruption. The scope of test audit may extend to more than one financial year.
Scope of Supplementary Audit
It is the statutory auditor who is primarily responsible for expressing an opinion on the accounts of the company. Supplementary audit of the accounts by the CAG is, by its very definition, mainly an instrument of quality control of financial audit of accounts that begins with careful selection of the statutory auditor and continues with the ongoing oversight of his work including review of the conclusions drawn in his audit report. The scope of supplementary audit of annual accounts of a Government company and a deemed Government company by the CAG shall include an examination of selected accounting records and a review of the audit report of the statutory auditor including the opinion expressed by him on the annual accounts of the company.
Scope of Performance audit
In pursuance of the constitutional responsibility, the C&AG is empowered to decide the nature, scope, extent and quantum of audit to be conducted by it or on its behalf. Further it is to mention that “Performance audit is an independent assessment or examination of the extent to which an organisation, programme or scheme operates economically, efficiently and effectively.”