Comptroller and Auditor General

Comptroller and auditor-general (C&AG) is the title of a government official in jurisdictions including the UK, Bangladesh, Ireland and India. A comptroller is responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. Similar roles in other countries include the Comptroller General of the United States and the Auditor General of China.

These are titles of high level government officials, see the list in International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI).

Historically, the Comptroller of the Household was a position in the English royal household, the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department. The C&AG role was first created in the United Kingdom by the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act 1866 which combined the functions of the Comptroller General of the Exchequer, (who had authorised the issue of public monies to departments since 1834) with those of the commissioners of audit, (who had traditionally presented the government accounts to the treasury). Under the terms of the act the comptroller and auditor-general continued to authorise the issue of money to departments (the comptroller function) and was given the new task of examining departmental accounts and reporting the results to Parliament. The role has since been replicated in former commonwealth states, and separately adopted by China in the 1960s.

Currently the C&AG is an officer of the House of Commons who is the head of the National Audit Office, the body that scrutinises central government expenditure. The current C&AG is Sir Amyas Morse, who was formerly the Commercial Director at the Ministry of Defence. The unabbreviated title in the United Kingdom is Comptroller General of the Receipt and Issue of Her Majesty's Exchequer and Auditor General of Public Accounts.

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