An analysis of findings and proposals for improvements of audits concerning state budget implementation

Nadzor javne porabe določa 150. člen Ustave Republike Slovenije, ki kot najvišji neodvisni organ kontrole državnih računov, državnega proračuna in celotne javne porabe zadolžuje Računsko sodišče Republike Slovenije. Namen magistrskega dela je predstaviti revizijsko pristojnost slovenske vrhovne revizijske institucije, to je Računskega sodišča Republike Slovenije, ki je v 25 letih delovanja izdalo več kot 2000 revizijskih poročil, zlasti pa se osredotočiti na vsakoletno in največjo revizijo predloga zaključnega računa državnega proračuna, ki zajema največjo blagajno izmed štirih blagajn javnega financiranja v državi. Zunanje revidiranje je namreč pomembno tako na državni ravni, kjer širša javnost želi poročanje o javni porabi (t. i. davkoplačevalskem denarju), kot na mednarodni ravni, zlasti v kontekstu zavez Evropske unije. Analizirali smo najpogostejše ugotovitve v revizijskih poročilih o vsakoletnih revizijah izvrševanja državnega proračuna za obdobje od leta 2014 do 2018 za Republiko Slovenijo, ki so bile v splošnem delu v največjem številu ugotovljene pri računu finančnih terjatev in naložb, pri pravilnostnem delu revizije glede na revizijski program pri tekočih investicijskih transferih, po področjih pa pri javnih naročilih in transferih. Vsakoletne revizije predloga zaključnega računa proračuna imajo kljub številnim nepravilnostim preventivni učinek na poslovanje proračunskih uporabnikov oz. revidirancev, kar smo ugotovili na podlagi intervjuja revizorjev in trenda zmanjševanja števila nepravilnosti. Mednarodna primerjava, v kateri smo primerjali revizijsko poročilo zaključnega računa državnega proračuna Republike Slovenije za leto 2018 ter zaključni račun proračuna Republike Hrvaške, je pokazala, da sta v obeh državah vrhovni revizijski instituciji izdali revizijsko poročilo in izrekli mnenje s pridržkom.The control over the use of public funds is defined by Article 150 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia, whereby the Court of Audit of the Republic of Slovenia is identified as the highest, independent body supervising the state accounts, state budget and public use as a whole. The purpose of this paper is to present the audit authority of the Slovenian Supreme Audit Institution, namely the Court of Audit of the Republic of Slovenia that in 25 years of its operation issued more than 2,000 audit reports. Furthermore, the paper shall focus on the annual and most complex audit – the audit of the financial statement of the budget that includes the national treasury, i.e. the largest budget unit among the four budget units of the public expenditure in the State. External auditing is therefore important not only at the national level, where the citizens demands reporting on the public funds use (i.e. taxpayers money), but also at the international level, mainly in the relation to the European Union. The most common findings related to audit reports on implementation of the financial statement of the State budget for the period from 2014 to 2018 were analysed. In the common part of the State budget the findings related to the irregularities occurring in the accounts payable and accounts receivable. The regularity audit showed that errors pertained to investment transfers and according to areas of review to public procurement and transfers. Annual audits of the proposal of the annual financial statement of the budget of the Republic of Slovenia provide preventive effect on the operations of the auditees or budget users, despite the fact that many irregularities in their operations were disclosed, as concluded on the basis of the interviews with the auditors and a clear downward trend in the number of irregularities. The international comparison that benchmarked the audit report on the proposal of the annual financial statement of the budget of the Republic of Slovenia for the year 2018 and the report on the financial statement of the budget of the Republic of Croatia showed that both supreme audit institutions issued an audit report and expressed a qualified opinion