Supreme Audit Chamber of Kazakhstan: 30 Years Guarding Budgetary Discipline
In 2026, the Supreme Audit Chamber of Kazakhstan marks the 30th anniversary of its establishment. This milestone is significant not only for the state audit system, but for the country as a whole, as sustainable national development is impossible without effective control over budgetary resources.
Over these years, the Supreme Audit Chamber has gone through a long path of development. Kazakhstan had to build its own budgetary architecture and, accordingly, establish a robust national audit system.
This article traces the evolution of the national state audit system from its inception to the present day. It examines how state audit has developed over the past 30 years, how the system functions today, and the direction it is heading.
Institutional Aspect
On April 19, 1996, by a Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Accounts Committee for Control over the Execution of the Republican Budget was established. This important step became an integral part of building an independent state and forming a national system of state accountability.
Over the decades, the national state audit system has undergone several major stages of development. One of the most significant milestones was the adoption of the Concept for the Introduction of State Audit.
The Law “On State Audit and Financial Control,” adopted in 2015, laid the modern legal foundation for the sector and granted the Accounts Committee the status of the Supreme Audit Institution. Following its adoption, a unified state audit system was effectively established in Kazakhstan, based on INTOSAI principles and standards, focused on independence, objectivity, and public value of audit.
In addition, the Coordination Council of State Audit Bodies was established, and a national system for certifying state auditors was introduced, enabling the creation of a sustainable institutional framework.
Particular attention should be given to the certification system for state auditors, which serves as one of the key mechanisms for ensuring audit quality and public trust. In 2023, certification was granted the status of a public service, making the process transparent, regulated, and less susceptible to subjective factors. At the same time, the majority of state auditors of the Supreme Audit Chamber today hold internationally recognized professional certificates in auditing and accounting, such as CIPFA and ACCA.
To accumulate and disseminate professional knowledge, a departmental Knowledge Library has been operating since 2025, consolidating standards, methodological materials, analytical resources, and best practices.
The constitutional reform of 2022 transformed the Accounts Committee into the Supreme Audit Chamber, significantly expanding its powers.
In 2023, the Supreme Audit Chamber was granted the authority to audit the execution of local budgets and to review the results of audits conducted by other government bodies, enabling the establishment of a comprehensive external audit system across the entire budget hierarchy.
The new Budget Code, adopted in spring 2025, granted the SAC the authority to audit extra-budgetary funds, participate in approving personnel decisions of regional audit commissions, and provided the online access to the state planning system.
At the same time, a new procedure for implementing the SAC’s recommendations was introduced: conclusions based on the evaluation of the republican budget are now formalized into a unified Roadmap with clearly defined measures, responsible authorities, and deadlines, monitored on a quarterly basis.
Thus, over the past decades, the Supreme Audit Chamber has evolved from building a legislative foundation to developing a digital infrastructure for state audit, consistently strengthening both its methodological base and professional capacity.
Expert and Analytical Activities
In addition to conducting audits, the Supreme Audit Chamber performs preliminary, current, and subsequent evaluations of the republican budget, ensuring comprehensive coverage of the budget process through external audit.
Preliminary evaluation focuses on analyzing the quality of budget planning and alignment of expenditures with national socio-economic priorities. In particular, between 2020 and 2025, more than 35 trillion tenge was covered, with 5.7 trillion tenge proposed for optimization.
Current evaluation is conducted on an ongoing basis to provide timely information to the Head of State, Parliament, and the Government.
Subsequent evaluation enables assessment of the legality of budget execution, the reliability of accounting and reporting, and the efficiency of the use of public funds and assets.
Each year, the Supreme Audit Chamber submits to Parliament its Conclusion on the Government’s Report on the Execution of the Republican Budget.
Just between 2018 and 2025, to improve the quality of budget planning and the efficiency of public spending a total of 243 systemic recommendations were issued to the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, over 70% of which have already been implemented.
Since 2020, the Supreme Audit Chamber has also monitored the use of National Fund resources. In 2025, a large-scale audit of the National Fund was conducted for the first time, covering more than 7 trillion tenge. Based on its results, the SAC recommended recovering 64 billion tenge used improperly; ensuring full traceability of National Fund’s resources to the final recipient; exploring early repayment of bond obligations by quasi-public entities; and eliminating the allocation of targeted transfers to projects that have not completed the full cycle of preliminary evaluation and alignment with Kazakhstan’s strategic priorities.
Consistent Growth in Results
In its work, the Supreme Audit Chamber applies a risk-based approach, selecting audit entities based on large-scale data analysis, prioritizing areas and organizations with higher risks of violations or inefficient use of funds.
In recent years, this model has demonstrated particularly strong results due to automation and the use of new digital solutions in the field of auditing. This is better illustrated by figures.
For example, in 2023, the Supreme Audit Chamber conducted 20 state audits covering 19.5 trillion tenge with violations totaling 522 billion tenge, including 69.8 billion tenge in financial violations, of which 28.9 billion tenge have currently been recovered (reimbursed).
By 2025, the number of audits increased to 32, while coverage reached 74 trillion tenge. Violations totaling 2.9 trillion tenge were identified, including 672 billion tenge in financial violations, of which approximately 368 billion tenge has already been recovered (reimbursed).
In 2025 alone, 404 officials were held disciplinarily liable, while 293 individuals and legal entities were brought to administrative responsibility. Materials on 44 cases were referred to law enforcement agencies. A total of 1,400 instructions were issued to authorized government bodies, and 132 targeted recommendations were submitted to the Government.
Overall, due to auditors’ work nearly 1 trillion tenge has been recovered (reimbursed) to the state budget over the past five years. Materials on 152 cases of violations were also submitted to law enforcement agencies.
These figures clearly demonstrate substantial qualitative growth achieved by the Supreme Audit Chamber in recent years. Over time, this trend toward strengthening comprehensive control over budgetary funds expected to continue, driven primarily by further digitalization, enabling more precise audits and broader coverage.
Digital Development Framework
Large-scale digital transformation within the Supreme Audit Chamber began with the modernization of its IT infrastructure, including the introduction of specialized software, enhanced cybersecurity, remote access to internal resources for employees, and migration of information systems to in-house servers.
The core element of this transformation is the Integrated Information System of the Supreme Audit Chamber (IIS SAC), which includes 13 modules covering the full audit cycle – from risk analysis to monitoring the implementation of recommendations.
Today, this system is integrated with 14 government and quasi-public sector information systems, covering over 18,000 audit entities and serving more than 1 000 users.
Since 2024, an analytical module of the IIS SAC has enabled real-time monitoring of data on public and quasi-public procurement, tax revenues, and budget execution, with automated profiling of each audit entity. The resulting data is then integrated into the Risk Management System, enabling SAC leadership to determine the most priority audit activities.
In 2025, SAC introduced the digital “State Audit Entity Cabinet”, digitizing interaction between auditors and audited entities and reducing in-person contact. After successful piloting in the North Kazakhstan Region and the city of Astana, the module was scaled nationwide across all regional audit commissions and central government bodies of the country.
In the area of artificial intelligence, since 2025 the SAC has also introduced two AI-based tools, including “Gosauditor” for training and certification of auditors, and “Audit Assistant KZ” for regulatory guidance.
Currently, the SAC is developing internal AI agents for preliminary assessment of the republican budget and preparation of the annual report for Parliament.
Another significant milestone is digitalization of the certification process of state auditors. Until 2025, the process was conducted in paper format with the use of email. Today, this service has been fully transitioned to an electronic format through integration with the eGov portal, including the issuance of electronic certificates. As a result, the certification process has become significantly faster and more transparent.
The Development Strategy of the Supreme Audit Chamber for 2026–2030 outlines further digitalization, advancement of IT audit, and ensuring absolute protection and confidentiality of processed data.
International Level
Since 2000, Kazakhstan’s Supreme Audit Institution has been a full member of INTOSAI, which unites 195 countries, as well as its regional groups – ASOSAI and EUROSAI. Over 30 agreements and memorandums have been signed with foreign partners.
Within these organizations, the Supreme Audit Chamber actively participates in working groups on IT audit, environmental audit, auditing of Sustainable Development Goals, follow-up audit, and others.
A significant milestone in 2025 was the signing in Istanbul of the Declaration establishing the Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions of Turkic States (TURKSAI), with the participation of the Supreme Audit Chamber of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
In September 2026, Astana will host, for the first time, the ASOSAI Governing Board meeting, once again highlighting the high standing not only of the Supreme Audit Chamber but of the country as a whole.
Since 2015, the SAC together with the Supreme Audit Institutions of Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia, also conducts annual external audits of EAEU bodies – one of the largest economic associations in Eurasia.
At the same time, peer reviews of the Supreme Audit Chamber’s activities, conducted in accordance with INTOSAI international standards with the participation of the Supreme Audit Institutions of Russia (2012), Estonia (2019), and an international group from Portugal, Lithuania, and Türkiye (2024-2025), have confirmed that Kazakhstan’s audit system complies with all international requirements.
In 2026, the Supreme Audit Chamber signed another important agreement – on partnership with the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI). Between 2026 and 2029, the SAC as IDI’s partner SAI will share its experience with Supreme Audit Institutions of Central Asian countries. This represents not only a high level of trust in the SAC but also another opportunity for Kazakhstan to strengthen regional cooperation.
At the same time, throughout these years, the Supreme Audit Chamber has also been successfully developing cooperation with the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, and UNDP.
A New Strategic Horizon
The 30-year journey of the Supreme Audit Chamber of the Republic of Kazakhstan is a story of institutional development, professional growth, and consistent integration into the global audit community. It is a path from a small agency of 23 employees to a large-scale structure ensuring financial discipline. Today, the Supreme Audit Chamber not only oversees the efficient use of public resources but also serves as a promoter of the principles of transparency and accountability that underpin sustainable governance.
To date, Kazakhstan has implemented 77 ISSAI standards and developed over 55 national methodological documents. They cover all key types of audit – financial audit, compliance audit, and performance audit – and ensure consistency in audit approaches.
Every five years, the Supreme Audit Chamber adopts a Development Strategy that defines long-term objectives, goals, and key performance indicators. Traditionally, this document is developed in line with ISSAI international standards and best practices in external audit. The same approach was applied in adopting the Development Strategy for 2026-2030, which outlines the SAC’s key priorities for the coming years, including improving audit quality and effectiveness, full digitalization of processes with due regard to cybersecurity requirements, development of new audit areas such as IT audit, and further strengthening institutional independence and the international standing of the Supreme Audit Chamber.
In the face of growing global challenges, the role of Supreme Audit Institutions continues to grow. SAC’s experience demonstrates that a strong, independent, and professional audit institution is an integral component of a modern state.
Marking its 30th anniversary, the Supreme Audit Chamber is not only reflecting on its achievements but entering a new horizon of professional growth, directed toward the digital era.