Proceedings

THE ERA OF INTERNAL AUDIT IN THE PUBLIC
FINANCE SECTOR IN POLAND
Agnieszka SKOCZYLAS 1 & Wojciech A. NOWAK
University of Lodz, Poland
ABSTRACT
The modern internal audit was introduced to the Polish Public Finance Sector in 2002. From
this moment the evolution of internal auditing in Poland is progressing from the
implementation of strict financial functions through the assessment of compliance of public
sector entities, until the assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of the institution. The
aim of this paper is to present the development of internal audit in the Polish Sector of Public
Finance. In this study the following are presented: Polish legislation in the internal audit, the
scope of its operation in the public finance sector, as well as the direction of its changes.
KEYWORDS: internal audit, countries in transition, public finance sector, management
control, internal audit development and evolution, internal audit regulation, EU accession
INTRODUCTION
Statehood in Poland has a thousand-year old tradition, after all, intermittent periods of
its absence. Modern, independent Polish state was reborn in 1918, as a result of
processes of surmounting the First World War. It covered the lands, which for over
120 years were under the rule of Russia, Prussia and Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its
first task was to merge into one state organism the systems of government and local
government which derived from nineteenth-century tradition, respectively: Russian,
Prussian and Austro-Hungarian. This tumultuous process took more than 20 years,
until the outbreak of World War II in September 1939. The already mentioned process
comprised adoption of the Polish Constitution (in 1921) as well as its extensive
change (in 1935), and building (in 1933) the legal foundations of a uniform system of
local government functioning under the supervision of state authorities.
Within the central as well as local government of the reborn state certain control and
inspection functions in the financial and economic affairs were to be fulfilled. On the
national level, their implementation was assigned to the heads of state offices and the
Supreme Chamber of Control while on the level of local government the role was
performed by the management of local government units, revision committees of
representative councils, the inspection union of local government and national
supervisory authorities. Control and inspection functions fulfilled by the heads of state
and local government boards were focused on issues relevant to contemporary internal
audit in financial and operational affairs (aspects). This situation was maintained –
except for the period of World War II - without substantial changes to the early 2000s,
until the beginning of preparations for accession to the European Union, except that in
1 Correspondence address: Agnieszka SKOCZYLAS, Accounting Department, University of Lodz,
Matejki 22/26, 91-360 Lodz, Poland, email: agnieszka.skoczylas@uni.lodz.pl, wanowak@uni.lodz.pl
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