THE ‘I’ INITIATIVE Ensuring the clarity of ISSAIs

Ambition and output

The ambition of this ‘I’ initiative is to achieve a clear and understandable set of ISSAIs that can support SAIs in delivering high-quality audits regardless of the approach the SAI is using when applying the ISSAIs.

The output of this ‘I’ initiative will be an updated set of ISSAIs.

The ISSAIs are the international standards on public sector auditing. They define the audit types, the principles and requirements for these audit types, and a set of organisational requirements. The standards assist public sector auditors in providing high-quality audits. When SAIs refer to the ISSAIs, external stakeholders are assured that the audit reports are of high quality and that they can rely on the conclusions of the audit work.

The purpose of the ‘I’ initiative is to revise the ISSAIs to implement the terminology and language conventions resulting from the ‘T’ initiative (Developing clear and consistent terminology for the IFPP). This includes activities to:

identify text that could be used across the full set of ISSAIs to ensure clarity for users of the ISSAIs;
identify unnecessary repetition throughout the framework and ensure consistency by describing the same matters in the same way, while emphasising the key differences between the audit types; and
define and distinguish appropriately between auditing principles, requirements and application materials.

The Core Group, consisting of the Goal Chairs, PFAC, CBC, KSC and PSC, the INTOSAI General Secretariat and FIPP have developed a concept paper describing the scope, approach and outcome of the ‘I’ initiative.