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ACCA Strategic Professional · Advanced Audit and Assurance (International) · The audit of performance information (pre-determined objectives) in the public sector

An audit team is auditing a public sector health agency's reported performance information against its pre-determined objective of 'reducing average outpatient waiting time to 30 days'. Which source of evidence would be the MOST reliable for confirming the reported average waiting time?

Recomputing the average from the underlying appointment system records, after testing the system's data integrity, is the most reliable evidence. It is obtained directly by the auditor from source data, whereas statements by management, ministers or internally prepared summaries are less independent and less reliable.

  1. AA narrative explanation from the agency's chief executive on how waiting times improved
  2. BRecomputation by the auditor from the underlying patient appointment system records, after testing the system's data integrityCorrect
  3. CA press release from the health minister describing the improvement
  4. DA summary schedule prepared by the agency's performance unit for the annual report

Explanation

Evidence obtained directly by the auditor from underlying records, after testing the reliability of the system that produces them, is more reliable than evidence generated internally or by management. Management representations, press releases and internally prepared summaries are weaker because they originate from the entity or are not independently verifiable.

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