The State Audit Office (SAO) is the independent supreme audit institution of the Republic of North Macedonia, which transparently, timely and objectively informs the competent authorities and the public about audit findings identified with performed audits
Background
From 1991 until 1998, state audit in the Republic of Macedonia was carried out by the Directorate for economic and financial audit within the Social Accounting Office (transformed into Payment Operations Office in 1994). During this period, the employees were also involved in evaluation of enterprises with social capital for the purpose of and within the frames of privatization of social capital. On 01 February 1999, nine employees from the Directorate were transferred to the newly established State Audit Office.
The first State Audit Law was adopted in 1997 (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia no. 65/97). The Law provided for the scope of state audit, regulated the conditions and manner of conducting state audit on public expenditures, financial statements and financial transactions, and other matters related to the audit of state bodies, local self-government units, legal entities fully or partially financed by the Budget of the Republic of Macedonia, the budgets of local self-government units and the budgets of national funds, legal entities where the state is dominant shareholder, public enterprises, National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia, the Payment Operations Office, the agencies and other institutions established by law.
The first audits were performed during 1998 and 1999, and the first Annual Report on performed audits and operation of the State Audit Office was submitted to the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia in 2000.
In the following years the State Audit Law was amended several times to incorporate the fundamental principles of the Lima Declaration and to comply with the standards and practice of the European Union. In addition, the competences of the State Audit Office were extended with new subject matter and auditees (EU funds and political parties), and the potential risk within auditees was introduced as an important criterion for selection of audits in the annual work program.
In addition to the regularity audit (financial and compliance audit), in 2005 the State Audit Office started conducting performance audit, and recently SAO introduced follow up audits on the implementation of recommendations, as well as theme audits.
In addition to the regularity audit (financial and compliance audit), in 2005 the State Audit Office started conducting performance audit, and in 2016, SAO introduced follow up audits, as well as theme audits.
The amendments to the State Audit Law in May 2010 ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia" no. 66/2010 and 145/2010) ensured strengthening SAO operational and financial independence and achieving greater effectiveness and efficiency in the execution of state audit. Moreover, this Law, provided for compliance with the Lima Declaration and the Mexico Declaration on independence of supreme audit institutions and strengthened the position and the role of the State Audit Office as the supreme audit institution of the Republic of North Macedonia.