On 4 December, the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation and the Commission on Audit of the Republic of the Philippines held an online meeting on compliance audit issues.

During the event, representatives of SAI Philippines shared their experience in conducting public compliance audits based on the SAI Philippines Compliance Audit Manual developed by SAI Philippines together with the World Bank in 2018.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Timur Makhmutov, Director of the Department for International and Regional Cooperation of SAI Russia, noted that compliance audit is in many respects a new type of activity for the SAI, so development of a practice-oriented audit methodology is a topical issue for now.

The meeting focused on the following topics:

• the experience of SAI Philippines in planning and conducting compliance audits;
• specifics of applying the concept of materiality and risk identification;
• current challenges and prospects in the development of compliance audits.

Ms. Olympia P. Balugay and Ms. Fidela M. Tan of the Commission on Audit discussed how the Compliance Audit Manual was developed and how planning for compliance audits is done at the strategic level. Ms. Josephine B. Manalo, Director of the Quality Assurance Office of the Commission on Audit of the Republic of the Philippines, spoke about the audit methodology and practical application of the SAI Philippines Compliance Audit Manual. Particular attention was given to the assessment of audit risk and quantitative materiality, and the development of criteria and conclusions in a compliance audit. The speaker elaborated on the forthcoming revisions of the Manual, addressing different aspects of conducting compliance audits, based on the experience of SAI Philippines.

After the presentation of SAI Philippines, Mr. Sergey Lagoshin, Acting Director of the Research and Methodology Department, Ms. Ekaterina Lashchinina, Head of the External Public Audit Methodology Division, and Ms. Ekaterina Malyarova, Leading Advisor of the Audit Quality Methodology Division, took part in the discussion.

The participants of the seminar stressed the importance of the meeting and expressed their hope to continue sharing best practices on a regular basis.