What does the Court of Auditors do?

 

I have heard that for the control of the state budget in Bulgaria there is a specialized body - the so-called National Audit Office. What is the Office of Accounts doing and what are its powers?

 

The National Audit Office is an independent state body that controls the public sector in Bulgaria through an audit function on the implementation of the state budget. That is to say, the Court of Auditors monitors whether all operations relating to the spending of state funds are lawful.

 

What exactly does the Court of Auditors check?

The Court of Auditors shall:

 

state budget;

the State Social Security (SSS) budget; These are the social security contributions I have to pay when I work to cover certain social risks, such as the Fund for General Disease and Maternity, Unemployment, Pensions and others.

the budget of the National Health Insurance Fund;

the budgets of the municipalities;

other budgets adopted by the National Assembly. These are, for example, chitalishte budgets.

It is interesting to know that the Court of Auditors also audits:

 

budgetary expenditures of the Bulgarian National Bank, and autonomous budgets of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, state higher schools, etc .;

the budgetary resources allocated to persons who carry out economic activities;

funds from EU funds and programs, including their management by the relevant authorities and end-users of the funds. That is, if I have a firm and I receive subsidies under European programs, then the competent authority that has to check me is the Court of Auditors.

 

state-owned enterprises;

commercial companies (companies) with 50 and more than 50 per cent state and / or municipal participation in the capital. That is, in one company, if the state owns more than 50% of the capital, the company will also be audited by the National Audit Office.

legal entities that have obligations guaranteed by the state or obligations guaranteed by state and / or municipal property.

What are the main tasks of the Court of Auditors?

The National Audit Office controls the financial statements of budgetary organizations and the management of public funds (state funds). The financial statement contains information about the financial position and results of my company for a certain period of time.

 

Important! The Court of Auditors must provide information on its activities and report to the National Assembly.

 

What are the principles of the Court of Auditors?

The Court of Auditors carries out its functions on the basis of important principles which are:

 

Independence - The National Audit Office is independent in the performance of its activities and, in the performance of its supervisory functions, is subject only to the law.

Objectivity and impartiality in establishing the facts and circumstances.

Professionalism, integrity and good faith are the principles that support the ideas of the Court of Auditors' credibility and predictability.

Publicity, transparency, consistency and predictability. This means that society has open access to information concerning the work of the Court of Auditors.

Trust, cooperation and constructiveness ensure that the Court of Auditors successfully achieves its objectives and exercises its functions.