About us
The National Audit Office of Norway is the government’s auditing and monitoring body, contributing to the monitoring of democracy to ensure sound and effective management of the state’s resources in accordance with the Storting’s decisions and prerequisites.
Role and activities
Through auditing, monitoring and guidance, the NAO Norway shall ensure that
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the central government's revenues are paid as intended
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the central government's resources and assets are used and managed according to sound financial principles and in compliance with parliamentary decisions
Our duties are to
- audit the central government accounts
- carry out systematic performance audits of the finances, productivity, achievement of goals and effects based on parliamentary decisions
- monitor the management of the state's proprietary interests in companies
- contribute to the prevention and detection of irregularities and errors
- advise the government administration in order to prevent future errors and omissions
The Storting can instruct NAO Norway to initiate special audits.
Frameworks
«It devolves upon the Storting (...) to appoint five auditors, who shall annually examine the State Accounts and publish extracts of the same in print, for which purpose the Accounts shall be submitted to the auditors within six months of the end of the year for which the appropriations of the Storting have been made, and to adopt provisions concerning the procedure for authorising the accounts of government accounting officials.»
§ 75 k in The Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway
The general framework conditions are set out in the Act and Instructions relating to the activities of the Office of the Auditor General.
NAO Norway has chosen to use INTOSAI's international framework and standards for public auditing as the foundation for its activities.
Vision and strategy
«Auditing to benefit the society of tomorrow»
Organisation and leadership
A five-member board leads NAO Norway. Each member has the title of Auditor General and is selected by the Storting. The Storting selects the members of the Board every four years.
The Board is the NAO Norway board of directors. The members determine which audits we will perform and process the audit reports before they are presented to the Storting. Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen is the Chairman of the Board and is the Managing Director of NAO Norway.
For the period 1 January 2022 – 31 December 2025, the Board members are:
- Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen, Chairman
- Tom-Christer Nilsen, Vice-chairman
- Helga Pedersen
- Anne Tingelstad Wøien
- Arve Lønnum
NAO Norway is organised into seven departments, each of which is led by a Director General. Type of auditing and the ministries that they audit divide the auditing departments.
NAO Norway's quality assurance system
NAO Norway's quality assurance system builds on the international standards for quality control. The quality assurance system includes leadership, ethics, skills, performance of tasks and monitoring of the organisation.
With this system, management information for the NAO Norway's organisation will be easily accessible, and emphasis is placed on NAO Norway having:
This includes guidelines for auditing and control work, values documents, strategies and plans, and policies and procedures that will ensure that we follow laws, regulations and good praxis in the central government.
This includes skills, infrastructure, auditing and support systems, systems and processes for management, prioritisation, organisation and interaction, responsibility and authority structures and organisational culture.
This includes systematic processes for planning, execution, quality control and reporting of all auditing and controls.
This includes a knowledge base of how the organisation performs and functions, performance assessments, organisational monitoring, risk analysis, risk management, evaluation and venues in which to share teachable moments and good praxis.
At NAO Norway, we are continually working to develop in line with these international standards. We strive to meet the standards through plans and through the management of the organisation.