Key facts
In 2015, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) conducted a peer review of the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO). This peer review, requested by the SFAO itself, aimed to assess its strengths and weaknesses in order to guarantee the quality of the services provided. The review covered three main areas: the SFAO’s strategy, audit programme planning and quality control.
The ECA’s conclusions are positive. They confirm that the SFAO produces high-quality work with competent, productive and committed staff. The management is considered to be highly professional and committed to modernizing the institution. The Peer Review takes into account that since 2014 the SFAO has initiated significant changes, particularly with regard to strengthening performance audits, improving risk analyses, enhancing communication about its activities and reports, and expanding the publication of reports.
In order to continue these improvements, the ECA made a number of recommendations, including updating and communicating the strategy, aligning audit types more closely with international standards, making planning more flexible and allowing auditors to tackle more complex issues.
The SFAO accepted these recommendations and undertook to implement them in order to further increase its effectiveness and relevance.