KUALA LUMPUR – All types of Auditor-General’s (A-G) certificates on Federal Agencies’ Financial Statements will be displayed through the Auditor-General’s Dashboard (AGD) online platform starting this year for monitoring purposes.
A-G Datuk Wan Suraya Wan Mohd Radzi said this is to ensure that audited federal agencies can take appropriate actions to improve their financial statement preparations in the future.
“The display via AGD demonstrates the importance of good governance through principles of transparency, accountability, efficiency, and effectiveness in addressing audit findings,” she said through the Auditor-General’s Report on Federal Agencies’ Financial Statements for the Year 2022 presented in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Wan Suraya said as of January 11, a total of 140 out of 144 Federal Agencies’ Financial Statements for 2022 have been submitted for the A-G’s verification, with 130 statements having completed auditing and certification.
A total of 116 Federal Agencies’ Financial Statements for 2022 have been issued A-G’s certificates without reprimand, while 14 Federal Agencies’ Financial Statements have been issued A-G’s certificates with modified opinions, comprising 13 adverse opinions and one disclaimer of opinion.
She said financial statement analysis to assess the financial performance of federal agencies has been made on five aspects, namely current excesses and deficiencies, assets and liabilities, federal government grants, loans, and investments in subsidiary companies.
For the first time, Wan Suraya said analysis of subsidiary companies experiencing losses for a three-year period starting from 2020 is also reported in this year’s report.
“The introduction of Key Audit Area Reporting in 2023 for auditing Federal Agencies’ Financial Statements for 2022 emphasises on material and significant matters affecting the financial position performance of federal agencies.
“The Key Audit Areas for the 2022 financial statements are related to issues of going concern, valuation of investments, and dividend payments to contributors. This is in line with the strengthening of governance in the federal agency administration management system, including addressing issues of inefficiency, wastage, and extravagance,” she said.
Wan Suraya said all federal agencies must comply with the laws, regulations, and financial policies that have been established and enforced, besides maintaining complete and up-to-date accounting records.
The officials involved need to enhance their knowledge and financial management skills as well as understanding accounting standards, while federal agency heads are responsible for ensuring the overall financial management of their agencies is in order.
“Improvement and preventive actions must be taken to avoid the same weaknesses being raised in the future so that federal agencies can fulfil their functions well, achieve their objectives, progress, and provide the best returns to stakeholders,” she said. – March 6, 2024