A long-range audit plan is prepared for all departments, multidepartmental programs, and a number of functions that are common across government, such as internal audit and program evaluation. 4.5 The plan lays out a proposed cycle for audit work for each entity. These proposed cycles vary according to the nature of the entity, its level of expenditure and importance in government operations, and the resources available to carry out the audit. The Office's approach does not call for all operations of an entity to be audited within a fixed audit cycle. The principles of audit worthiness and auditability are fundamental in deciding what to audit.
Some issues are such that they are included in all entity audits.
For example, in every audit, the Office considers the quality of reporting by a department or agency on its stewardship of the resources voted by Parliament, and on the results achieved with those resources. There are other issues on which the Office exercises its judgment as to what it believes is important to Canadians at a given time. An example is the Office's concern that Canadians receive better information about the deficit and accumulated debt. In assessing whether something is worth auditing, the Office looks at the significance of an entity or activity, including both its impact on government spending and revenue and the social, economic, environmental, safety or equity issues involved. The risk factor is another important consideration in assessing audit worthiness.