Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 26th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview V. Public Finance and Management Author(s) Octavian Moldovan Babes-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca Romania Macarie Cornelia Felicia, Title Internal Public Auditing in Romania between 2006 and 2015 File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Octavian Moldovan Abstract The aim of this research is to analyze the evolution of internal public auditing (IPA from here on) in Romania between 2006 and 2015, in order to provide answers for the following research questions: (a) To what degree did central and local public institutions organized their IPA activities as a specialized department or in an associative structure?; (b) How did the human resources allocated to IPA activities transformed in this period (focusing on employment, their ability to cover organizational needs and the professional background of internal auditors); and (c) What was the type and nature of IPA missions conducted in this period? The document analyses conducted in order to provide answers to the aforementioned research questions are based on annual official reports published by the (Romanian) Central Unit for Public Internal Audit Harmonization, thus ensuring the reliability of this analysis. Our main results indicate the existence of multiple differences between central and local public organizations, regarding their degree/level of IPA activities organization (especially before 2013) and the number of organizations each internal public auditor was tasked to audit (ranging from 1 at the central level to almost 8 at the local level). Unfortunately, the understaffing of IPA departments/bureaus is not conducive to an accurate identification and assessment of potential organizational weaknesses and risks, thus potentially hindering the performance of both central and local public institutions. Furthermore, most IPA missions between 2006 and 2015 were focused on compliance activities, while less than 20% consisted of consulting/performance activities (which are supposed to assist management in ensuring sustainable organizational development). The disproportionate focus on compliance missions (especially regarding financial processes), although IPA at the international level also includes a series of other organizational aspects, can be explained by taking into account the professional background of internal public auditors, as over 85% of them are economists or have a related specialization. Diversifying IPA staff by broadening the recruitment and selection base to other professions could lead to a reorientation of these activities, improving the overall performance of public institutions.
