The Commission on Audit (COA) has moved toward digital transformation of its audit approaches, techniques and processes during the next seven years under the term of its chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba.
Cordoba’s ten-point agenda audit came out during a planning conference conducted by the Commission recently upon the initiative of around 140 senior COA officials led by the COA chairperson and Commissioners Roland Pondoc and Mario Lipana.
“These strategic thrusts focus on developing an easy to implement and technology driven government accounting system compliant with international standards; introducing e-audit as the manner of conducting audit through digitizing government transactions including collections in partnership with all government agencies; and leveraging technology to improve audit techniques and procedures including the development of an automated audit system for e-collections and e-payments and use of artificial intelligence to crunch big data to determine patterns and detect fraud,” Cordoba said in a statement.
He said the strategic thrusts are in line with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s call to embrace digitalization and adopt technological innovations to make the country more competitive.
Also included in the COA’s ten point agenda are:
- aligning existing rules and regulations with the changing times and conditions, prescribing new rules to cover gaps and emerging issues
and updating audit guidelines for e-payment to cover contracts entered into with social media platforms; capacitating and training both the
auditors and agency personnel involved in financial transactions on the updated accounting and auditing rules and regulations
-filling-up around 5,000 plus vacant positions in the Commission; adopting a merit-based succession planning program; adopting a
pro-active system to address backlog in the disposition of appealed cases brought about by the pandemic; developing guidelines for the
audit of PPP projects and public utilities and train personnel for the conduct of such audit; and -enhancing the communication line with the auditees and bodies with oversight over COA audit reports, especially Congress.