Principles
Supervision and review involve overseeing and checking work done, and documents prepared throughout the planning, examination and reporting phases of tasks. Those responsible for supervision and review of the task are designated by the director, after consultation with the reporting member.
A sound system of supervision and review is of benefit to the chamber and the Court, by providing assurance on the quality of work done and documents presented for approval.
Supervision involves overseeing the work of staff assigned to the task, in order to ensure that the work is performed as intended and the objectives of the task are achieved. It includes helping ensure the team has suitable capabilities and competencies, guiding staff members in their work and being available to provide advice, monitoring progress of the task, keeping informed about significant problems encountered, and ensuring that the team has sufficient time to carry out the work. Effective supervision allows timely corrective action to be taken when the audit or review work is not of the required quality, or risks not being completed within the timetable set and with the resources allocated.
Review consists of consideration of whether the work has been performed in accordance with ECA guidance and procedures and any other requirements, whether the work is sufficient, supports the conclusions reached, is appropriately documented, and whether the objectives of the task have been achieved.
The processes of supervision and review are documented in a way that allows any other reviewer to follow how they have operated and to understand any differences of opinion and significant matters, and how these were resolved or brought to the attention of a higher hierarchical level.
Instructions
Reporting member
The reporting member is accountable to the chamber and ultimately to the Court for all actions undertaken and all the decisions taken in connection with the task assigned to him/her. The member supervises the work of the team from the time a task is allocated until the final report is published and, if applicable, presented to the discharge-authority
. They present the draft , draft and final report or opinion to the chamber and, where appropriate, to the Court, and the results outside the ECA.
It is a good practice for reporting members to:
- have regular contacts with the director, principal manager and head of task throughout the implementation of the task to ensure consistency and coherence;
- be present, or represented, at issue analysis and drawing conclusions meetings; and
- be represented at adversarial meetings.
When presenting draft task plans, reports and opinions to the chamber, reporting members confirm their responsibility by signing the statement:
I am satisfied with the document for presentation to the chamber.
Director
The director is responsible for establishing and overseeing the arrangements for supervision and review in the chamber to allow them to obtain assurance concerning the work carried out and the key documents produced for each task. The director gains assurance from the supervision and review work performed by the principal manager or other experienced staff. The time needed for these processes is included in the task plan.
The director, in agreement with the reporting member and depending on the situation, decides their level of engagement at key stages of the task (e.g. attendance at issue analysis and drawing conclusions meetings).
The director confirms the quality of draft task plans, reports and opinions by signing the statement:
I am satisfied with the quality of the document, and confirm that the supervision and review of the task operated as intended.
The director leads the discussions at adversarial meetings and final consultation meetings.
Principal manager
The principal manager is actively involved at all key stages of the task. In particular, to:
- ensure good cooperation of the audit team with the reporting member;
- help to identify and solve any issues in conducting the task (e.g. audit methods or criteria, plan of audit visits, structure of the clearing documents, report outline);
- participate in issue analysis and drawing conclusions meetings, chamber readings, adversarial meetings and external presentation;
- take responsibility for the quality of key documents (e.g. task plans, audit/review programmes, key work papers, , draft reports and draft opinions) by approving them.
The principal manager completes a review checklist, which sets out the minimum steps necessary to support the review. Chambers may add points to these checklists. The checklist includes the statement:
I have supervised the team and reviewed all key documents and am satisfied with the quality of the work done and the way it is documented.
Completed checklists are kept in Assyst and attached to the record of quality review.
Head of task
The head of task is responsible for implementing the audit work in line with the task plan and ECA guidance. This includes planning the task, participating in the audit work, managing and reporting on the work of the team, drafting the report, completing the adversarial procedure, and consulting and cooperating with support services (the DQC, communication, translation, legal service).
The head of task is also responsible for ensuring that the documentation of the task is complete and prepared in accordance with ECA guidance. This includes making a clear link between what is included in a report or opinion and the underlying work (for example, by providing a referenced version of the draft report, or preparing ‘links to underlying work’ table.)
The head of task completes a planning completion and reporting checklist, which helps them confirm that all potentially relevant issues have been dealt with. The chambers may add points to these checklists. Completed checklists are kept in Assyst and attached to the record of quality review.
Significant matters, including differences of opinion
Significant matters, including differences of opinion between team members, the head of task, the principal manager, the director or the reporting member are brought to the attention of a higher hierarchical level for consideration. Where appropriate, they are referred to the chamber or the Court.
If the director or reporting member have any issues concerning the way supervision or review operated, or the quality of the document, they can explain this in the comment box next to their signature on the cover page. It is also possible to add text to qualify the statement accompanying the signature. Based on this information the chamber decides how to proceed.
The differences of opinion and significant matters, and how they were resolved are documented in the checklists and the record of quality review.
Resources
The following tools and activities help ensure effective planning, monitoring and implementation:
- issue analysis;
- showing the assignment of the audit team members and the timing of key milestones;
- audit management system (AMS), which the head of task and the reporting member can use to monitor at a detailed level that the task is on track and the chamber can use for monitoring performance at an aggregate level;
- audit documentation system Assyst, including approval workflow;
- underlying work tables and ECAref to facilitate cross-referencing;
- progress report;
- report outline and drawing conclusions process;
- ;
- record of quality review in Assyst (RQR).
