At the INCOSAI in 2016 it was decided to replace the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI) Framework with a new framework named INTOSAI Framework of Professional Pronouncements (IFPP). The idea was not to change the substance of the documents, but to create more clarity of the status of different document and make the new framework more user friendly.

Instead of the former four levels the new framework consists of three categories of professional pronouncements. These are briefly described below.

The INTOSAI Principles (INTOSAI-P) consist of Founding Principles and Core Principles. The founding principles have historical significance and specify the role and functions, which Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) should aspire to. These principles may be informative to Governments and Parliaments, as well as SAIs and the wider public, and may be used as reference in establishing national mandates for SAIs.

The core principles support the founding principles for an SAI, clarifying the SAI’s role in society as well as high level prerequisites for its proper functioning and professional conduct.

The International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI) are the authoritative international standards on public sector auditing. The purpose of the ISSAIs is to:

• Ensure the quality of the audits conducted.
• Strengthen the credibility of the audit reports for users.
• Enhance transparency of the audit process.
• Specify the auditor’s responsibility in relation to the other parties involved.
• Define the different types of audit engagements and the related set of concepts that provides a common language for public sector auditing.
• The full set of ISSAIs is based on a basic set of concepts and principles that defines public sector auditing and the different types of engagements supported by the ISSAIs.

The INTOSAI Guidance (GUID) is developed by INTOSAI in order to support the SAI and individual auditors in:

• How to apply the ISSAIs in practice in the financial, performance or compliance audit processes.
• How to apply the ISSAIs in practice in other engagements.
• Understanding a specific subject matter and the application of the relevant ISSAIs.

Information about the pronouncements and the new framework is available at https://www.issai.org/. Note that pronouncements under review are found under a separate section, but are still valid until new versions have been approved. The short videos on the YouTube channel of INTOSAI Professional Standards Committee-PSC (youtube.com/intosaiframework) gives a quick overview of the framework and the migration from the old ISSAI framework to the IFPP. On issai.org you also find information about the PSC.

In this regard, an EUROSAI project on communication of professional standards has been established by the SAI of Sweden (co-leader of the SG2 and EUROSAI´s link in the PSC) with the aim to create a virtual workstream as promoting and facilitate the implementation of IFPP and contribute to its future development by using innovative approaches.

INTOSAI pronouncements are available in the five official languages of INTOSAI (Arabic, English, French, German and Spanish). However,  SAIs are encouraged to translate INTOSAI pronouncements into their national language so they can reach even more auditors. In the EUROSAI operational plan, the Strategic Goal 2 has been tasked with translating the standards into Russian and making them available on the EUROSAI website. They can be found here.