Administrative audit is a complete and constructive examination of the organizational structure of the company, institution or government department; or any other entity and its control methods, means of operation and employment that gives its human and material resources. ”
Summary
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- 1 Background
- 2 Needs of the administrative audit
- 3 Objectives of the administrative audit
- 4 Principles of administrative audit
- 5 Scope
- 6 Field of Application
- 1 Public Sector
- 2 Private Sector
- 7 Sources
- 8 External links
Background
With the purpose of locating how it has been enriched over time, it is convenient to review the contributions of the authors who have had a more significant impact throughout the administration’s history. In 1935 , James O. McKinsey, within the American Economic Association, laid the foundations for what he called “administrative auditing”, which, in his words, consisted of “an evaluation of a company in all its aspects, in light of their present and probable future environment. ”
Later, in 1953 , George R. Terry, in Principles of Administration, points out that “The periodic confrontation of the planning, organization, execution and administrative control of a company, with what could be called the prototype of a successful operation, is the essential meaning of administrative audit. ”
Two years later, in 1955 , Harold Koontz and Ciryl O´Donnell, also in their Management Principles, propose self-audit, as a technique of total performance control, which would be aimed at “evaluating the position of the company to determine where you are, where you are going with the current programs, what your goals should be and whether revised plans are needed to achieve these goals. ”
After one year, in 1959, two relevant events occur that contribute to the evolution of administrative auditing: 1) Víctor Lazzaro publishes his book on Systems and Procedures, in which he presents the contribution of William P. Leonard under the name of administrative audit and, 2) The American Institute of Management, in the Manual of Excellence Managements integrates a method to audit for-profit and non-profit companies, taking into account their function, structure, growth, financial policies, operational efficiency and administrative evaluation.
For 1962 , Roberto Macías Pineda , from the Higher School of Commerce and Administration of the National Polytechnic Institute, within the doctorate program in administrative sciences, in the subject Theory of Administration, allocates a space to present an administrative audit work.
At the end of 1965, Edward F. Norbeck released his book Administrative Audit, where he defined the concept, content and instruments to apply the audit. Likewise, it specifies the differences between the administrative audit and the financial audit, and develops the criteria for the integration of the team of auditors in their different modalities.
Later, in 1971 , two new contributions were generated: Agustín Reyes Ponce , in Personnel Administration, dedicated a section to deal with the subject, offering an overview of administrative auditing, while William P. Leonard published Administrative Auditing: Evaluation Administrative Methods and Efficiency, where it incorporates the fundamental concepts and programs for the execution of the administrative audit.
Shortly thereafter, in 1984, Robert J. Thierauf presents Administrative Audit with Job Questionnaires, a work that introduces administrative auditing and how to apply it on a question base to evaluate functional areas, work environment and information systems.
In 1988 , the Office of the Comptroller General of the United States of America prepared the Government Auditing Standards, which are reviewed by the Comptroller General of Finance (entity of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit), which contain general guidelines for the execution of audits in public offices. At the beginning of the nineties, the Secretariat of the General Comptroller of the Federation took on the task of preparing and disseminating norms, guidelines, programs and frameworks for institutions, work that, in its current situation, as Secretary of Comptroller and Administrative Development, continues to expand and enrich.
Administrative audit needs
With the development of information systems technology, the need to examine and evaluate the adequacy of administrative information, as well as its accuracy, has grown. Currently, there is an increasing need for officials to have someone who is capable of carrying out the examination and evaluation of:
- The quality, both individual and collective, of managers (functional administrative audit)
- The quality of the processes by which an organism operates (analytical audit)
Objectives of the administrative audit
Among the priority objectives to implement it consistently we have the following:
- – Intended to guide efforts in its application and to evaluate organizational behavior in relation to pre-established standards.
- – They channel actions to optimize the use of resources in accordance with the administrative dynamics instituted by the organization.
- – They determine that their course supports the definition of the structure, competence, functions and processes through the effective management of the delegation of authority and teamwork.
- – They represent the way in which it can be verified that the organization is immersed in a process that links it quantitatively and qualitatively with the expectations and satisfaction of its customers.
- – They provide that it tends to raise the performance levels of the organization in all its contents and areas, so that it produces highly competitive goods and services.
- Of change.- They transform it into an instrument that makes the organization more permeable and receptive.
- – They allow it to become an institutional learning mechanism so that the organization can assimilate its experiences and capitalize on them to turn them into opportunities for improvement.
- Decision-making.- They translate their implementation and results into a solid instrument to support the organization’s management process.
Principles of administrative audit
The basic principles in administrative audits become part of its theoretical structure, therefore we must emphasize three fundamental principles that are as follows:
- Sense of evaluation
The administrative audit does not attempt to evaluate the technical capacity of engineers, accountants, lawyers or other specialists, in the execution of their respective work. Rather, it is in charge of carrying out an examination and evaluation of the quality, both individual and collective, of the managers, that is, people responsible for the administration of operational functions and to see if they have taken pertinent models that ensure the implementation of adequate administrative controls, that you ensure: that the quality of work is in accordance with established standards, that plans and objectives are met, and that resources are applied economically.
- Importance of the verification process
One responsibility of the administrative audit is to determine what it is I am really doing at the managerial, administrative and operational levels; Practice indicates that this is not always in accordance with what he or the area manager or supervisor thinks is happening. The administrative audit procedures technically support the verification in direct observation, the verification of land information, and the analysis and confirmation of data, which are necessary and essential.
- Ability to think administratively
The administrative auditor should be in the position of an administrator who is responsible for an operational function and think how he / she does it (or should do it). In itself, it is about thinking administratively, which is a very important attribute for the administrative auditor.
Scope
Regarding its area of influence, it includes its structure, levels, relationships and forms of action. This connotation includes aspects such as:
- Legal nature
- Performance criteria
- Management style
- Administrative process
- Activity sector
- Scope of operation
- Number of employees
- Coordination relationships
- Technological development
- Communication and information systems
- Performance level
- Treatment of clients (internal and external)
- Environment
- Products and / or services
- Quality systems
Scope
Regarding its field, the administrative audit can be implemented in all types of organization, be it public, private or social.
Public sector
It is used depending on the legal figure, powers, scope of operation, level of authority, coordination relationship, work system and general lines of strategy. Based on these criteria, the sector institutions are classified into:
- Federal Executive Office (Secretary of State)
- Entity Para state
- Autonomous Organizations
- State Governments (Federal Entities)
- Intersecretary Commissions
- Special Mechanisms
Private sector
It is used taking into account the legal figure, object, type of structure, elements of coordination and commercial relationship of the companies, based on the following characteristics:
- Size of the company
- Activity sector
- Nature of its operations
