Annual report 2023
Keeping an eye on the bigger picture
In addition to numerous audit findings, the annual report of the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) contains two summary reports on the overarching topics of subsidies and digital transformation. The findings from numerous audits on such topics are important for the strained federal budget as it looks to the future. During the reporting year, the SFAO also successfully performed its new tasks relating to political funding for the first time.
Source: Parliamentary Services
The SFAO audited the federal accounts and found them to be correct. Despite a lower deficit and fewer extraordinary expenses than in previous years, the federal budget continues to face challenges. One-off effects are becoming everyday occurrences. As a result, the economic efficiency of subsidies and the efficiency of digital transformation projects not only remain the order of the day, but were also recognised as overarching topics in two summary reports and addressed with forward-looking conclusions.
Other focal points of the annual report include the numerous audits of selected key projects of the Federal Administration and IT projects with major implications for internal and external stakeholders. Audit findings concerning sustainability – such as the effectiveness of support measures for decarbonisation – also form a focus area. At a time characterised by uncertainty and unpredictability, it is important to “keep an eye on the bigger picture”, as SFAO Director Pascal Stirnimann writes in the foreword.