Highly qualified: our Competence Centres

How do we perform our tasks?

• Teamwork is important to us. We carry out our auditing activities with proven specialists in interdisciplinary teams. We are in constant dialogue with our audit domains (internal clients).
• We apply recognised professional standards. These include, in particular, the ISSAI standards of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), the standards of the IFAC (International Federation of Accountants, ISA) and the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA Global), the Swiss Standards on Auditing of EXPERTsuisse (SA-CH) and the SEVAL (Swiss Evaluation Society) standards, as well as the relevant IT auditing standards.
• We keep our knowledge up to date through internal and external training, and draw on the support of external experts when necessary.

The Competence Centre carries out mandates as auditors in the central and decentralised Federal Administration and in international organisations. In addition, we examine whether recipients of subsidies (financial assistance and compensation) use the funds received in an economical and targeted manner.

The financial audits or mandates to act as auditors are carried out in accordance with recognised auditing standards. They verify compliance with international (IPSAS, IFRS) and national accounting standards (Swiss GAAP FER, Swiss Code of Obligations). The audit topics include the federal financial statements, the ETH Domain, different units of the decentralised Federal Administration, various funds and foundations, as well as international organisations.

The Competence Centre also audits the internal audits of the Federal Administration with regard to compliance with international auditing standards (IIA) and periodically assesses their effectiveness.

The Competence Centre’s audit teams are made up of proven specialists from various disciplines (auditors, certified internal auditors, business economists, etc.).

The aim of our auditing activities is to verify the economical use of funds by the administrative units of the centralised and decentralised Federal Administration. The Competence Centre also performs mandates as auditors. In addition, we examine whether recipients of subsidies (financial assistance and compensation) use the funds received in an economical and targeted manner.

Audits within the scope of financial supervision are carried out according to the criteria of regularity, legality and economic efficiency. We assess whether resources are used economically, whether there is an appropriate balance between costs and benefits, and whether outlays have the expected impact.

The financial audits and mandates as auditors are carried out in accordance with recognised auditing standards as well as international (IPSAS, IFRS) and national accounting standards (Swiss GAAP FER, Swiss Code of Obligations). The audit topics include the federal financial statements, the ETH Domain, various units of the decentralised Federal Administration, various funds and foundations, as well as international organisations.

In the Competence Centre, we also carry out audits of cost allocation based on cost and performance accounting, as well as price audits if contracts were awarded without competition. In doing so, we primarily check whether the Confederation is not paying too high a price due to the monopoly situation. We also carry out audits of the effectiveness of risk and compliance management, and forensic investigations into whistleblowing reports or indications of fraud.

The Competence Centre’s audit teams are made up of proven specialists from various disciplines (auditors, certified internal auditors, tax experts, qualified accountants and controllers, business economists, political economists, etc.).

We apply recognised professional standards. For compliance audits, these are primarily ISSAI 400 (Compliance Audit Principles) of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) and the corresponding ISO standards.

The aim of our auditing activities is to verify the economical use of funds by the administrative units of the centralised and decentralised Federal Administration. We examine whether recipients of subsidies (financial assistance and compensation) use the funds received in an economical and targeted manner. We also audit the supervisory activities of federal offices. The Competence Centre also performs mandates as auditors.

Audits within the scope of financial supervision are carried out according to the criteria of regularity, legality and economic efficiency. We assess whether resources are used economically, whether there is an appropriate balance between costs and benefits, and whether outlays have the expected impact.

We apply recognised professional standards. The financial audits and mandates as auditors are carried out in accordance with recognised auditing standards and verify compliance with international (IPSAS, IFRS) and national accounting standards (Swiss GAAP FER, Swiss Code of Obligations). The audit topics include the federal financial statements, the ETH Domain, different units of the decentralised Federal Administration, various funds and foundations, as well as international organisations.

The Competence Centre’s audit teams are made up of proven specialists from various disciplines (auditors, certified internal auditors, tax experts, qualified accountants and controllers, business economists, political economists, etc.).

Performance audits are objective and independent investigations with the aim of promoting the efficient use of funds in the administrative units of the centralised and decentralised Federal Administration.

We use performance audits to assess whether resources are used economically, whether there is an appropriate balance between costs and benefits (efficiency), and whether outlays have the expected impact.

Digital transformation refers to an ongoing process of change in organisations, administrative units or businesses triggered by digital technologies or by client expectations based on them, which is supported by digitalisation projects. With such audits, we assess digital transformation projects using our holistic “DigiTrans” model with a focus on the end-to-end perspective.

The Competence Centre’s audit teams are made up of proven specialists from various disciplines (auditors, certified internal auditors, tax experts, qualified accountants and controllers, business economists, political economists, etc.).

We apply recognised professional standards. For performance audits, these are primarily ISSAI 300 (Performance Audit Principles) of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI).

The Competence Centre audits the efficient use of funds and the financial conduct of the administrative units of the central and decentralised Federal Administration. Our focus is on the risk-oriented evaluation of construction investments and federal procurements.

Construction audits cover the entire real estate and infrastructure portfolio, such as the Confederation’s own research, administrative and military buildings, civil engineering structures in the transport and energy domains, as well as subsidised buildings. Our focus is on the economic efficiency of investments over their life cycle, taking into account social and ecological sustainability. Construction audits are carried out by interdisciplinary teams with engineers, architects and financial specialists.

Procurements are a second important area for our audit activities. The audits can cover all aspects of procurement, from requirements to disposal. This also includes issues such as contract management and supplier management. Procurements are assessed by experienced procurement and contract specialists.

The Competence Centre evaluates the design, implementation and impact of federal measures of particular financial importance and, if necessary, proposes solutions to increase the effectiveness of these measures. This mandate is derived from Article 5 of the Federal Audit Office Act, which provides for a clarification of the cost-benefit ratio and an examination of the impact of financial expenditure. The Competence Centre’s work is also based on Article 170 of the Federal Constitution. This stipulates that the effectiveness of federal measures must be evaluated. As our methods are very similar to performance audits, we also carry out these types of audits, as do the other Competence Centres.

Our team consists of qualified assessors from various scientific disciplines, including administration, economics, politics, statistics, history and law. If necessary, we supplement this interdisciplinary approach with specific external expertise.

In our analyses, we follow the standards of the Swiss Evaluation Society (SEVAL) and the ISSAI 300 (Performance Audit Principles) of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI).

The analyses usually involve five phases:

• Topic identification
• Topic clarification (5%)
• Preparation (25%)
• Evaluation (70%)
• Follow-up.

In order to avoid duplications, we check during the topic clarification and evaluation whether similar studies have recently been carried out, or are currently being carried out, by the Parliamentary Control of the Administration and/or the offices.

Our current projects (pdf)

The Competence Centre audits the efficient use of funds and the financial conduct of the administrative units of the central and decentralised Federal Administration, as well as the recipients of subsidies (financial aid and compensation). Our focus is on the correctness and economic efficiency of organisation, processes and projects. We audit the steering and management processes in the centralised and decentralised Federal Administration, the DTI key projects and other federal projects, as well as the financial management of the administrative units.

The Competence Centre’s audit teams are made up of proven specialists from all areas of project, IT and financial auditing. We attach great importance to close cooperation with the other Competence Centres.

As part of our audits, we apply national and international standards and methods in the area of project audits and information systems audits (HERMES, ISO, TOGAF, etc.).

The Competence Centre audits the efficient use of funds and the financial conduct of the administrative units of the central and decentralised Federal Administration. Our focus is on the risk-oriented evaluation of IT management and the ICT resources used.

We audit IT applications and systems that are in use or under development. We support financial auditing in order to confirm that the data processed by electronic means is correct and traceable. We review the integrity, confidentiality and availability of electronically stored and processed data, and verify the effectiveness of measures implemented to comply with the requirements in these areas. We also check the effectiveness, efficiency and reliability of data processing.

The Competence Centre’s audit teams are made up of proven specialists from all areas of IT (technology, architecture, data protection, security, IT governance, organisation, project management, etc.).

As part of our audits, we apply national and international standards and methods in the area of information systems audits (ISACA, CobiT, ITIL, HERMES, ISO 27000, TOGAF, etc.).