Qualified audit opinions in Maltese local councils reporting : an analysis

Abstract

Public sector audits have a key part to play in safeguarding public money. They aim to ensure accountability, uphold proper standard of conduct, and help public services to achieve value for money (Public Audit Forum 2002). In Malta, public sector audits are also carried out in Local Councils, where local government auditors have to express an opinion on the financial statements prepared by Councils. The aim of this study was to identify and analyse the types of qualified opinions found in the Maltese Local Councils for the two year period 2007-2008. The key research objectives were tackled through a mixed research approach. The first part of the research consisted of analysing the auditors' opinion as expressed in the audit reports, putting significant emphasis to qualified audit opinions. To consolidate the findings further, semi-structured interviews were conducted amongst five local government auditors, a representative from the National Audit Office and a representative from the Department for Local Government. Questionnaires were also carried out amongst the executive secretaries. The study concluded that Maltese Local Councils had a high number of audit qualifications. The most prominent were disagreement with management followed by limitation on scope. However, it was also concluded that a number of these qualifications were outside the Councils' control. In these instances, the Local Councils could do little to improve the situation, despite the actions taken by the executive secretaries to reduce the cause of AAbbssttrraacctt such qualified opinions. Moreover, this study established that there were a number of inconsistencies on the basis of the auditors' opinion, where different auditors were expressing different opinions f