The broad reform program realized by public administrations resulted in the Administration's new attitude towards the citizen, which is known as New Public Management, Public Managers are now vested with greater responsibility and must manage public resources efficiently and effectively. This new framework requires a specialized control from the State, which is able to verify the responsible persons' correct performance. The former supervision procedures reveal to be insufficient and new control mechanisms have to be installed. In order to evaluate the correct application of public resources, regular auditing practices in the public sector, which acquire a broader range, are increasingly occurring, although there is still a long way to go. While increasing advances are made in this area, the process is not generalized, which may be a bigger and bigger challenge for governments. Public and private entities work according to different aims and use different techniques, which, in auditing terms, requires the development and adaptation of appropriate methods for public institutions, to attend to their needs. In view of these facts, this paper deals with the auditing functions and outlines this framework in the context of the public sector, explaining what is done in Portugal in this sphere.
Control; Auditing; Management; Efficiency
