The role of internal audit on local revenue management in local governments in Uganda

Abstract

The study looked at the role of internal audit on local revenue mamagement in Local Governments of Uganda with Budaka Town Council being the case study. The study was guided by three objectives which included; the types of audit systems applied in local governments, the importance of internal audit on accountability of local revenue and the procedures used by internal audit to determine the level of local revenue management. On types of audit systems, the study looked at financial Audits, Compliance Audits, Operational Audits, Consulting and Advisory Services, Special Investigations and follow-up Audits. The second objective dwelled on the importance of internal audit on accountability of local revenue in Budaka Town Council. The study also looked at the procedures used by internal audit to determine the level of local revenue management in Budaka Town Council. The study followed a case study researrch design whereby questionnares and interview guide were used during the collection of data.The study showed that there are compliance audits, financial audits, special investgations and othres were carried out in Budaka Town Council.The internal audit applies a number of audit procedures and there was a lot of importance enjoyed from the internal audit on accountability of local revenue in Budaka Town Council. Internal audit procedures were observed in a bid to control the management of local revenue in Budaka Town Council. The conclusions indicated that there is a role played by internal audit on local revenue management in local Governments as this was gathered from the respondents. Budaka Town Council should look at the way of improving on the local revenue base so that more projects can be brought on board. The study also recommends that, there is need to motivate revenue collectors so that their work effort improves as this would lead to increased revenue base.