The roots of operational (value-for-money) auditing in English-speaking nations

Operational auditing, also known as comprehensive auditing, management auditing, performance auditing, and value-for-money auditing, has had a diverse history across countries and professional disciplines. Although operational auditing is primarily a function of the internal and governmental auditor, public accountants and management consultants also perform similar audits. The roots of operational auditing go in multiple directions, as various organisations have played major roles in its development. Influential organisations were the General Accounting Office (GAO), under the leadership of T. Coleman Andrews; the American Institute of Management, led by Jackson Martindell; the Canadian Comprehensive Auditing Foundation, under the leadership of J. J. Macdonell; and the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), under the leadership of many individuals. Although the work of Martindell was carried on simultaneously with that of the IIA and the GAO, there was little influence of one group on another. In other words, two different professions developed operational auditing independently, but simultaneously. The US was the leader in the development of the concept of operational auditing. Surprisingly, despite its leadership in operational auditing development, principles developed in the US have not been adopted by other nations. Instead, Canada developed its own system, which was later partly copied by others in the British Commonwealth. This historical view of operational auditing across English-speaking countries provides evidence that international diffusion and cross-disciplinary diffusion of auditing ideas has been minimal.