Changing public financial management and economic efficiency: Internal audit

The rapid developments in globalization and technology have significantly increased the impact of countries on the changes and transformations in the world. The developments in the public sector are the result of this change and transformation. In this study, the process of change in public administration and public financial management and the effect of this process on the audit were examined. Then, the concept of economic activity, which gained importance in public financial management, was discussed and its role in internal audit and the contribution of internal audit to economic efficiency were examined. For this purpose, studies conducted both Turkey and other countries were examined. As a result of the research, it is observed that system audit is performed predominantly in Turkey; performance and IT controls are relatively small in number; the ratio of the occupied internal auditor positions in total internal auditor positions allocated to public institutions is 43%; the number of internal auditors with international certificates is low; awareness of internal audit within the institution is not at the desired levels and ownership of it by the high level managers is not adequate. According to our findings, recommendations have been developed, in particular for the fact that performance audits should be increased in order to determine the effectiveness and economic efficiency of public activities, programs, projects and processes. In this study, it has been concluded that an effective internal audit can help the public sector to manage public resources more economically and effectively.