What Are Audit Objectives?
If you’ve ever struggled to write a clear audit objective, you’re not alone. “Audit objectives” may be mentioned over a hundred times in audit standards like the GAO Yellow Book, but many auditors still find them confusing or overly vague. In this article, we’ll break down what audit objectives are, why they matter, and how to write better ones.
Definition of Audit Objectives
What is your audit looking at?
According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in the 2024 Yellow Book:
“All GAGAS engagements begin with objectives, and those objectives determine the type of engagement to be conducted. Performance audit objectives vary widely and include assessments of program effectiveness, economy, and efficiency; internal control; compliance; and prospective analyses. Audit objectives may also pertain to the current status or condition of a program.”
In simpler terms, audit objectives are the key questions your audit seeks to answer. They set the direction for your entire audit and help ensure that the evidence you collect is relevant, sufficient, and useful.
Three Key Elements of an Audit Objective
Subject Matter: What exactly are you auditing? A program, a control, a department?
Performance Aspect: What characteristic are you examining? Accuracy, timeliness, efficiency?
Criteria: What standards are you using to judge performance?
What Audit Objectives Are NOT
Let’s look at a common mistake: writing objectives that are overly broad or undefined.
Example of a bad audit objective: “Examine internal controls at the entity.”
That sounds ambitious but what does it really mean? Are we applying the COSO framework to every process? Looking at IT systems? Financial reporting? Compliance with procurement policies?
Without clarity, this kind of objective leads to scope creep, wasted time, and inconsistent results.
A Better Audit Objective
Now let’s revise that vague objective into something actionable:
“Are the seven performance measures reported by the Court of Criminal Appeals accurate as required by the Comptroller’s Guidance for Performance Measures issued January 15, 2012?”
This objective has:
A specific subject matter (seven performance measures),
A performance aspect (accuracy), and
Clear criteria (the Comptroller’s Guidance).
That’s something an audit team can work with. It tells you what to look at, what to look for, and how to judge what you find.
What is a Performance Aspect?
A performance aspect is the characteristic or quality you’re evaluating in the audit subject.
Common performance aspects include: economy, efficiency, effectiveness, compliance, accuracy, completeness, timeliness
Think of performance aspects as the lens through which you’re assessing your subject matter.
How to Tighten Up a Loose Audit Objective
If your audit objective still feels vague or unmanageable, here are two tips to fix it:
Narrow the subject matter. Choose something finite like a specific policy, process, or department.
Identify your criteria. An audit is an evaluation of a subject matter against criteria. No criteria? It’s not an audit!
Final Thoughts
A strong audit objective is the foundation of any successful audit. It keeps your team focused, ensures your findings are defensible, and helps you communicate your results clearly.