[toggle title="Example%20from%20the%20audit%20on%20Early%20School%20Leaving" no-divider="true"] The important concerns in the main audit question were the efficiency and effectiveness of the co-financed actions. This was assessed by looking at input, processes and outputs: Are there adequate procedures to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of European social fund actions aimed at addressing the issue of early school leaving?

• Have resources been applied for the needs of beneficiaries in a cost-efficient manner? (input)
• Have the actions been managed in a coherent and efficient manner? (process)
• Have appropriate monitoring, research and evaluation activities been carried out to ensure that actions are effectively addressing the objectives set? (assessing output)

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[toggle title="Example%20from%20the%20audit%20on%20Devolution" no-divider="true"] When analysing the process of granting powers by the Commission in Brussels to the Delegations in non-member states in order to improve the effectiveness of policy implementation, the key notion was successful management. It would be possible to apply the time perspective, to see if the process was managed successfully in different time periods. However, successful management in this instance involved a lot of people and processes to be managed in a big and complex organisational environment. It therefore seemed somewhat more relevant to look at how this process has been managed at the different organisational levels: Is the Commission managing the devolution process successfully?

• Have delegations been well prepared for devolved management?
• Have central services been well prepared for devolved management?
• Does the Commission have effective procedures for monitoring performance of devolved management?

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[toggle title="Example%20from%20the%20audit%20on%20Devolution" no-divider="true"] The concept of proper management of costs was central to one of the sub questions. To assess this, one option is to look at different types of costs and to break the question down accordingly (e.g. administrative costs, personnel costs) to see if they were all properly managed. However, what might be most useful here is to assess what the term 'properly managed' means, i.e. what factors have to be in place for the costs to be properly managed: Were the costs of devolution properly managed?

• Was there a clear and accurate estimate of the costs?
• Do estimates compare with actual costs?
• Were costs properly monitored and reported?

For these sub-questions, it is possible to perform specific audit procedures in order to answer them, e.g. documentary review of the estimates and cost monitoring reports, analytical comparison between estimates and actual costs and interviews with managers using the costs monitoring reports. [/toggle]