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SoAQM – System of Audit Quality Management

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How can IDI support SAI?

How can IDI support SAIs?

The very first step taken by IDI to support SAIs in the implementation of the revised ISSAI 140 is the development of the SoAQM Playbook. The Playbook focuses on capacitating SAIs to conduct key processes in quality management, rather than on defining what should be on specific components of the system for the SAI. This will help SAIs determine fit-for-purpose policies and procedures to address the organisational requirements in the standards and the quality objectives that they will establish. IDI also provides pilot support that covers integrated professional education and blended online and onsite support to participating SAIs.

The SoAQM Playbook

The Playbook offers different options to SAIs in establishing fit-for-purpose System of Audit Quality Management depending on the specific SAI circumstances. Additional resources are provided within the respective sections that include technical implementation guidance (i.e., how to develop quality objectives, how to identify, assess and respond to quality risk, how to plan the monitoring, how to analyse monitoring findings, etc.) and the suggested tools/templates (i.e., quality risk management templates, monitoring tools, evaluation tools, etc.).To facilitate understanding of the concepts, SAI-specific examples are provided on each of the key quality management processes. The Playbook covers the SAI decisions involving: a) setting-up of the system; b) implementation of risk-based approach to quality management; c) establishment of monitoring and remediation process; d) evaluation of the system; e) managing quality at the audit practice level; and f) engagement quality review.

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The SoAQM Global Pilot

The objective of the pilot is to support participating SAIs in setting up SoAQM. It includes integrated professional education that will capacitate SAIs in different aspects of quality management. In the pilot initiative, IDI envisions that participating SAIs will have a fit-for-purpose SoAQM that promotes continuous improvement in the long run through its embedded self-correcting mechanism.

Participating SAIs will be developing policies on SoAQM after analysing their current status, which will build foundation for the initial setup of the system. IDI will be providing both online coaching and onsite visits throughout the process. All the pilot activities are managed within IDI’s Learning Management System (LMS).

Since the pilot requires time and resources from the SAIs, IDI assessed the readiness of those SAIs who expressed interest in participating in the global SoAQM pilot.

Selected SAIs are requested to nominate team with multi-disciplinary team members with collective experiences and knowledge in auditing standards, different audit practices, audit methodology, quality assurance, strategic planning, and research and policy development. The pilot will address SAI needs at the systemic level, so the team needs to be headed by a team leader coming from senior management.

The first round of global pilot involved 12 SAIs from the English-speaking regions (i.e., EUROSAI, CAROSAI, ASOSAI and AFROSAI-E). In addition, the IDI-ADB project on Sustainable Audit Practices includes envelopes where interested SAIs have the opportunity to establish SoAQM.

The PASAI SoAQM Pilot

During the launch of the global pilot, IDI also received applications from the PASAI region. To maximise the benefits that can be derived from the IDI and PASAI secretariat coordination, and with the aim to have a customised support for the region, IDI and the PASAI secretariat decided to have a separate SoAQM initiative for the region. The pilot is participated by six SAIs who have attended the in-person SoAQM professional education workshop in Nadi, Fiji. This follows similar approach in the global pilot where participating SAIs will proceed with the needs analysis to map existing system, policies and procedures to the SoAQM requirements, which will become the basis of the policy development and initial set-up actions.

SoAQM: Integrated Professional Education

The professional education combines different synchronous and asynchronous learning activities covering key audit quality management processes. The exercises and case studies are designed to provide opportunity to the SAI teams to establish quality objectives, identify and assess quality risks, respond to the risks, conduct monitoring and remediation, evaluate the system, and perform some aspects of engagement quality reviews. The contents reflect the conditions, key issues and challenges in the public sector setting to help in the simulation of actual implementation of quality management processes.

The six session-course can be delivered online or face to face, both with blended delivery approach. The synchronous activities range from more than 20 hours to more than 30 hours in education depending on the delivery mode. In addition, participants are expected to spend around 15 hours to complete the asynchronous activities. All the sessions including the 15 exercises and case studies were designed based on the IDI’s learning methodologies.