Support to Audit Committees
Audit Committees help organisations function
according to good governance and accounting and auditing standards,
and adopt appropriate risk management arrangements. We regard
well-functioning Audit Committees as key to helping organisations
achieve good corporate governance.
We have developed a range of guidance and
tools to assist public sector Audit Committees
Audit Committee self-assessment checklist
2nd edition, January 2012
The Audit Committee checklist is based on the
Treasury's Audit
Committee Handbook (2007) and on feedback from staff and Audit
Committees. Audit Committees can assess their performance against
best practice using the checklist.
The checklist, which was originally published
in November 2009, was updated in January 2012 to reflect the
requirement for departments, their executive agencies and
arm’s-length bodies to produce a Governance Statement in place of
the Statement on Internal Control in their annual report and
accounts for 2011-12 onwards.
Audit Committees can assess their performance
against best practice using the checklist. We can help Committees
by facilitating a workshop to assess performance. To arrange for a
workshop please contact your client director in the NAO in the
first instance or email Z5-FMGP@nao.gsi.gov.uk and the
team will pass on your enquiry.
Audit Committee Self-Assessment Checklist (PDF - 544 KB)
This checklist is also available as a Word
document to enable Audit Committees to record their responses
electronically.
Audit Committee Self-Assessment Checklist (Word - 632 KB)
Helping your Audit Committee to add
value
2nd edition, January 2012
In addition, we have pulled together practical
top tips for Audit Committees from the good practice shared in
facilitated, syndicated-based workshops in the past and from other
meetings with non-executive directors.
The booklet was updated in January 2012 to
reflect the requirement for departments, their executive agencies
and arm’s-length bodies to produce a Governance Statement in place
of the Statement on Internal Control in their annual report and
accounts for 2011-12 onwards.
Helping your Audit Committee to add value (PDF - 292 KB)
Statement on Internal Control: A guide for Audit
Committees
2009
High quality and proportionate internal
control systems will help organisations achieve their aims. The
Statement on Internal Control (SIC) is a public accountability
document that describes the effectiveness of internal controls in
an organisation and is personally signed by the Accounting
Officer. To help Audit Committees add value to their
organisations in this area, the guide identifies good practice in
corporate governance, risk management and internal controls, as
well as the disclosure of these within the SIC.
The Statement
on Internal Control: A guide for Audit Committees (PDF -
150KB)