NAO UK and the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine discussed opportunities for cooperation in joint audits and institutional development

The cooperation between the National Audit Office of the United Kingdom and the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine, in particular the areas that will require special attention in case the draft law No. 10044-d comes into force, and challenges in the work of the institution were discussed during the meeting of the Accounting Chamber representatives with the Head of the National Audit Office (NAO), Comptroller and Auditor General Gareth Davies. The meeting took place within the framework of the working visit of the leadership team of the Accounting Chamber to the United Kingdom.

For reference: The National Audit Office of the United Kingdom leads a special EUROSAI project group to support the activities of the Accounting Chamber in the conditions caused by the war. The project group includes SAIs from 29 countries. The overall goal of the project group is to contribute to the achievement of EUROSAI Strategic Goal 2: Helping SAIs deal with new opportunities and challenges by supporting and facilitating theirinstitutional capacity development.

The meeting was attended, in particular, by the Chairwoman of the Accounting Chamber Olha Pishchanska, Member of the Accounting Chamber Kyrylo Klymenko and Acting Secretary of the Accounting Chamber - Chief of Staff Vasyl Nevidomyi.

Olha Pishchanska expressed her gratitude to the partners for their support, in particular in the development of the financial audit methodology and the organisation of online trainings for auditors on the practice of focus audits. She also informed the Head of the UK NAO about possible amendments to the Law on the Accounting Chamber and their expected impact on the further development of the institution. According to Olha Pishchanska, the areas that currently pose the greatest challenges for the Accounting Chamber are:

– transition to international standards and expansion of powers;

– institutional transformation and changes in requirements for auditors;

– changes in the legal regulation at the state level, in particular, the requirements for the preparation of consolidated financial statements of the state.

In response, the Head of the UK NAO informed about the readiness of his institution to continue coordinating the work of the project group to support the Accounting Chamber. Gareth Davies stressed that the NAO is ready to contribute to the improvement of the methodological framework of the Accounting Chamber, assist in the development of the Strategy of the Accounting Chamber, develop the system of staff competencies and join the peer review of the SAI of Ukraine.

'The peer review of the work of the Accounting Chamber is envisaged by the forthcoming changes in the relevant legislation. Therefore, we highly appreciate the willingness of our British colleagues to participate in this process. A special role is played by the fact that in 2018 the NAO conducted a functional assessment of the Accounting Chamber. Thus, the peer review will provide an opportunity to evaluate the steps on institutional development taken over the past time,' said the Chairwoman of the Accounting Chamber Olha Pishchanska.

The parties also discussed the possibility of planning joint audits of the assistance provided to Ukraine in the post-war reconstruction and joining the international coordinated audit of the ensuring the right to education of Ukrainian children in schools of European countries. The SAI leaders also outlined the practices of the NAO that could be used by the Accounting Chamber, in particular, the experience of digitalisation of the public revenue control system.

As part of the working visit to London, the representatives of the Accounting Chamber also took part in the Annual International Summit Bookkeepers, held a number of meetings with members of the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers and the Institute of Certified Financial Managers of the United Kingdom (ICB Global & ICFM Global) and signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with ICFM Global.

The day before, the Accounting Chamber was awarded the Annual LUCA AWARDS 2024 in the nomination ‘Professional dignity and resilience in times of crisis’ by ICB Global & ICFM Global.