STAGE ONE OF CERTIFICATION
The certification process consists of two stages:
verification of the candidate’s knowledge;
an interview with the candidate conducted by the National Certification Commission for Persons Seeking the Qualification of State Auditor (hereinafter referred to as the “National Commission”) (Clause 4 of the Rules for Certification of Persons Seeking the Qualification of State Auditor, approved by Regulatory Resolution No. 22-NP of the Accounts Committee for Control over Execution of the Republican Budget dated December 15, 2015 (hereinafter referred to as the **“Rules”)).
It is a document issued to a candidate who has successfully passed the qualification examinations in the three certification subjects. This document confirms that the candidate possesses the knowledge required to proceed with the qualification process and serves as the basis for submitting an application for an interview with the National Commission (Clause 28 of the Rules).
The candidate must successfully pass qualification examinations in the following three subjects:
Accounting and Financial Reporting;
State Audit and Financial Control;
Budget, Tax and Other Legislation (Clause 12 of the Rules).
For each subject, the qualification examination includes 30 test questions, including 5 situational tasks presented in the form of test questions (Clause 15-1 of the Rules).
A candidate is deemed to have passed the qualification examination in each subject if they obtain at least 70% of the possible score for the test assignments (Clause 24 of the Rules).
The duration of the qualification examination for each certification subject is no more than 2 hours (120 minutes) (Clause 22 of the Rules).
A candidate who has failed the qualification examination may retake it no earlier than three months and no later than two years from the date of the failed examination in the relevant certification subject (Clause 29 of the Rules).
If a candidate disagrees with the results of the qualification examination, they may submit a written or electronic appeal to the Appeals Commission, stating the grounds for their disagreement. The appeal may concern, among other things, incorrect or inappropriate questions, testing results affected by technical failures, or testing results affected by circumstances that prevented the testing process from proceeding normally.
The appeal must be submitted no later than three working days following the day on which the examination results were communicated to the candidate (Clause 32 of the Rules).
A repeated appeal will not be considered (Clause 36 of the Rules).
A candidate who receives a positive result upon completion of the qualification examination is issued a Knowledge Verification Document for the Qualification of State Auditor by LLP “Center for Research, Analysis and Performance Evaluation” within 10 working days from the date the examination record is signed (Clause 27 of the Rules).
Candidates holding national and/or international professional qualifications in accounting and auditing who work in areas corresponding to their respective certifications are exempt from the examination only in the subject “Accounting and Financial Reporting.”
Candidates holding higher and/or postgraduate education in the specialty “State Audit” are exempt from the examination in the subject “State Audit and Financial Control” (Clause 14 of the Rules).
The Knowledge Verification Document is valid for 2 years from the date of issue (Clause 28 of the Rules).
A candidate in respect of whom an incident report concerning a violation of the qualification examination procedure has been drawn up may retake the examination after six months from the date the violation was identified, in accordance with the approved qualification examination schedule for the relevant calendar year (Clause 19 of the Rules).
The training program comprises 250 academic hours.
Training is available in offline and online formats.
No. Qualification examinations are conducted only in person, at the following address:
8 Mangilik El Avenue, House of Ministries, Entrance 10, Astana, Kazakhstan.
A copy of an identity document is required.
The candidate registers on gosaudit.kz, where they are provided with one-year access to the training materials through the Moodle learning platform.
To participate in the knowledge verification process, the candidate submits the following documents to LLP “Center for Research, Analysis and Performance Evaluation”:
an application specifying the qualification examination the candidate intends to take, in the form set out in Annex 5 to the Rules;
a copy of an identity document (Clause 8 of the Rules).
The digital testing system cifntest.oes.kz automatically displays the test result immediately after the examination is completed.
Knowledge verification is carried out through qualification examinations using computer equipment at LLP “Center for Research, Analysis and Performance Evaluation” (Clause 5 of the Rules).
According to the approved price list:
the first attempt costs KZT 16,000;
the second attempt costs KZT 24,000;
the third and each subsequent attempt costs KZT 32,000.
The annual qualification examination schedule is approved by LLP “Center for Research, Analysis and Performance Evaluation” in coordination with the Supreme Audit Chamber and the Ministry of Finance, and is published on the cifn.kz website.
Candidates are not permitted to bring electronic devices, including mobile phones, into the examination room; communicate with other candidates; exchange materials; remove information from the room in paper or electronic form; or leave the examination room without supervision.
If these requirements are violated, the candidate’s examination process is suspended and the candidate is removed from the examination room. Any interim results obtained are annulled. The proctors draw up an incident report concerning the violation of the qualification examination procedure (Clause 18 of the Rules).
A candidate in respect of whom such an incident report has been drawn up may retake the examination after six months from the date the violation was identified (Clause 19 of the Rules).
Exemption from an examination is granted by decision of the Working Body (Supreme Audit Chamber) based on supporting documents submitted to LLP “Center for Research, Analysis and Performance Evaluation” by the relevant organizations that issued the national and/or international professional certificates, as well as the relevant higher and/or postgraduate education diplomas (Clause 14 of the Rules).
LLP “Center for Research, Analysis and Performance Evaluation” issues the Knowledge Verification Document within 10 working days from the date the examination record is signed (Clause 27 of the Rules).
STAGE TWO OF CERTIFICATION
Certification is conducted at the following levels:
State Auditor;
State Auditor, Highest Category (Clause 3 of the Rules).
A candidate may be admitted to an interview with the National Commission if they have at least three years of work experience in one or more of the following areas:
the system of state audit and financial control bodies, in areas related to auditing, including analytical work, methodology, quality control, and legal support;
and/or the economic or financial sectors involving accounting, budget accounting, tax administration, forecasting, planning and execution of the budget, public finance, public procurement, and auditing activities;
and/or the legal field related to the development and/or legal review of regulatory legal acts;
and/or international organizations in the field of auditing;
and/or at least two years of experience as an internal state auditor or assistant state auditor (Clause 40 of the Rules).
To be admitted to an interview with the National Commission for the qualification of State Auditor, Highest Category, a candidate must have worked as a state auditor in state audit and financial control bodies for the preceding five years (Clause 41 of the Rules).
The candidate must have higher and/or postgraduate education in one of the following fields:
Economics and Business — Economics, World Economy, Finance, Accounting and Auditing, Management, Public and Local Administration, or State Audit;
Law — Jurisprudence or International Law;
and/or Digital Technologies (Clause 38 of the Rules).
To obtain the public service, the candidate submits the following documents through the e-Government web portal, as specified in Clause 9 of the List of Basic Requirements (Annex 1 to the Rules, hereinafter referred to as the “List”):
A copy of the document confirming higher education, together with its supplements.
A document confirming employment history in accordance with Article 35 of the Labour Code.
Where necessary, documents confirming the candidate’s relevant work experience in areas corresponding to the functional duties must also be provided.
A copy of the document confirming the award of a national or international professional qualification in accounting, auditing and finance, if applicable.
A copy of the Knowledge Verification Document for persons seeking the qualification of State Auditor, issued by LLP “Center for Research, Analysis and Performance Evaluation”.
A copy of a document confirming any changes to the candidate’s personal data.
A 3 × 4 cm photograph for the candidate’s personal file.
Persons seeking the qualification of State Auditor, Highest Category must additionally submit:
A copy of the State Auditor certificate.
A copy of a document confirming the award of one of the required international professional qualifications.
A copy of a positive performance evaluation for the civil servant for the preceding two years.
A reference letter signed by an official authorized under the civil service legislation to appoint and dismiss personnel, indicating the date of signing, the candidate’s surname, first name and patronymic (if applicable), and describing the candidate’s professional and personal qualities.
All documents must be certified by the signature and seal (if applicable) and/or stamp of the human resources/personnel management service, or provided in notarized form.
If the applicant meets the established requirements, they are admitted to the interview with the National Commission. Within 10 working days from the date of registration of the application, the service provider sends the applicant a notification of admission via the mobile device registered on the e-Government web portal by means of a short text message (Clause 51 of the Rules).
If there are grounds for refusing the public service, the service provider notifies the applicant of the preliminary decision to refuse the service and provides the applicant with an opportunity to express their position regarding the preliminary decision in accordance with Article 73 of the Administrative Procedural and Process-Related Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Clause 46 of the Rules).
The public service is provided within 6 months (Clause 4 of the List).
The order in which applicants are scheduled is determined based on the date and registration number of their applications (Clause 52 of the Rules).
No later than 10 working days before the interview, the service provider publishes on its website a list of persons admitted to the interview, indicating the venue, date and time of the interview. The applicant is also notified of the invitation to the meeting of the National Commission through their personal account on the e-Government web portal (Clause 53 of the Rules).
The decision of the National Commission is recorded in minutes within 7 working days from the completion of the interview and is published on the website of the Supreme Audit Chamber within 3 working days from the date the minutes of the National Commission meeting are signed (Clause 58 of the Rules).
The certificate is issued by the Working Body of the National Commission within 10 working days from the date the minutes are signed.
The paper certificate is issued personally to the applicant or to their authorized representative acting under a power of attorney (Clauses 61 and 62 of the Rules).
The application remains unconsidered and the applicant is refused the public service (Clause 54 of the Rules).
An applicant who receives a negative result following the interview with the National Commission may resubmit their documents for the public service no earlier than six months from the date of the decision, provided that the Knowledge Verification Document remains valid (Clause 60 of the Rules).
The applicant must submit an application for a duplicate through the office of the Supreme Audit Chamber.
The duplicate is issued to the applicant or their authorized representative acting under a power of attorney within 15 calendar days from the date the application for the duplicate is received. The duplicate bears the stamp “DUPLICATE” (Clauses 64 and 65 of the Rules).