Exchange of Information and Views with the External Bodies
The Board is also engaged in the following activities to make its audits more effective.
(1) Publicity to the public
The most important factor for the appropriate State budget execution is that each member of the public is interested in the State budget execution and keeps paying attention to it. The Audit Report helps the public to find out how tax payers’ money is used.
The Board publishes summary version of the Audit Reports which describe the audit results briefly, and sets up the Board's own website (see the back cover to URL) where all contents of the Audit Reports after FY1947 are searchable and accessible.
The website also provides the latest organization and audit activities of the Board, and an "Opinion Box" which accepts opinions, proposals and audit-related information from the public.
(2) Exchanges of opinions with private sector experts
To make audit activities more effective and appropriate, the Board has established the “Government Auditing Consultative Committee,” the membership of which includes experts in the private sector. The Board listens to the views and opinions of these members concerning various issues related to audits from diverse viewpoints.
(3) Information exchange with other audit and inspection institutions
The Board strives to raise its audit efficiency through exchanging information with other public audit and inspection institutions, while it recognizes the importance of conducting audits from an independent standpoint.
For example, the Board holds regular or irregular meetings to exchange information with the Administrative Evaluation Bureau of Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which evaluates and monitors Government agencies’ operations and activities, and with audit offices of local governments. Since some of the auditees of the Board may also be subject to the audits by certified public accountants, the Board also holds meetings with the Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants to exchange professional opinions and information. The Board also hosts the Audit Forum in which people from organizations involved in public sector auditing gather and discuss public audit issues in order to improve public audit.
(4) Research and Study
In response to administrative and fiscal operations of the State which have been becoming diversified and specialized, the Board conducts studies, both in-house and outsourced, on the domestic and foreign audit systems, auditing methodologies and so on to examine how audit activities can be more efficient and effective from a theoretical viewpoint.
The Board invitest the outside researchers as Visiting Research Fellow to research and review recent trends and/or more practical audit methodologies in specific fields of auditing. They make presentations of their study results to and exchange opinions with Board's staff.
The Board issues biannually a research journal called Government Auditing Review including articles contributed by outside researchers and by the Board's own staff to promote the academic interaction with outside researchers and study of auditing in both theory and practice.
These activities will lead to the expansion of the field of auditing and the development of new auditing methodologies, as well as the future improvements in audit activities.
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