| ASOSAI | Asian Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions - an international and independent body, which aims at promoting the exchange of ideas and experience between Asian Supreme Audit Institutions in the sphere of public auditing. |
| ARABOSAI | Arabian Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions |
| Audit evidence | Information that forms the foundation, which supports the auditor’s, or SAI’s opinions, conclusions or reports. |
| Auditee or audited entity | Refers to an organisation, which is subjected to audit |
| Audit methodology | Methodology is how SAI codifies its standards and practices that are to followed by auditors in carrying out their work. |
| Audit objective | A precise statement of what the audit intends to accomplish and/or the question the audit will answer. The question may include financial, regularity or performance issues. |
| Audit planning | Defining the objectives, setting policies and determining the nature, scope, extent and timing of the procedures and tests needed to achieve the audit objectives. |
| Audit procedures | Tests, instructions and details included in the audit programme to be carried out systematically and reasonably. |
| Audit programme | Audit requirements and procedures necessary to implement the audit objective and to make assessments against audit criteria. |
| Audit sampling | Statistics based techniques that extrapolate from specific cases to make assertions about the population as a whole and are used when it is not feasible to analyse entire population e.g., invoices/ vouchers, and elements of internal control systems, entity units, etc. |
| Audit scope | The boundary of audit in terms of the segment of programme and the time period of operations over which the audit tests are to be carried out. |
| Auditing standards | Auditing standards provide minimum guidance for the auditor that helps determine the extent of audit steps and procedures that should be applied to fulfil the audit objective. They are the criteria or yardsticks against which the quality of the audit results is evaluated. |
| CAATTs | Computer Assisted Audit Techniques and Tools (CAATTs) are computer-based tools and techniques which permit auditors to increase their productivity as well as that of the audit function in gathering audit evidence by exploiting the power and speed of computer. |
| Economy | Minimising the cost of resources used for an activity, having regard to the appropriate quality. |
| Effectiveness | The extent to which objectives are achieved and the relationship between the intended impact and the actual impact of an activity. |
| Efficiency | The relationship between the outputs, in terms of goods, services or other results, and the resources used to produce them. |
| Findings and conclusions | Findings are the specific issues identified by the auditor to satisfy the audit objectives; and conclusions are statements deduced by the auditor from those findings. |
| INTOSAI | International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions-an international and independent body, which aims at promoting the exchange of ideas and experience between Supreme Audit Institutions in the sphere of public auditing. |
| Performance audit |
An audit of the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which the entity uses its resources in carrying out its responsibilities. |
| Quality assurance | Policies, systems and procedures established by SAIs to maintain a high standard of audit activity. Quality assurance is process-centric and the quality assurance system deals with all steps and techniques that the auditors must follow to assure good quality audit. |
| Quality Management | Quality management is concerned with all activities of the overall management function that determine the quality policy, objectives and responsibilities and implement them by means such as quality planning, quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement within the quality system of the SAI. |
| Quality control | The requirements applicable to the day-to-day management of audit assignments. Quality control is product-centric and the quality control system attempts to make sure that the results of audit are what was expected. |
| Recommendations | Recommendations are actions suggested by the auditor that will address the cause of audit findings. |
| Regularity audit | Attestation of financial accountability of accountable entities, involving examination and evaluation of financial records and expression of opinions on financial statements; attestation of financial accountability of the government administration as a whole; audit of financial systems and transactions, including an evaluation of compliance with applicable statutes, regulations and rules; audit of internal control and internal audit functions; audit of the probity and propriety of administrative decisions taken within the audited entity |
| Report | Written findings, opinion, recommendations and other remarks on completion of a performance audit. |
| Reporting standards | The framework for the auditor to report the results of the audit, including guidance on the form and content of the auditor’s report. |
| SAI | Supreme Audit Institution - the public body of a State which, however designated, constituted or organised, exercises the highest public auditing function of that State by virtue of law. |
| Supervision | Supervision refers to guidance and control of the audit work by middle and senior management. |