Since 2012, the Supreme Audit Institution of Georgia was re-established as the State Audit Office (SAO). The mandate was defined as a public sector audit, after which recommendations are issued and promotion of public financial management is improved.
From the very beginning, Georgia has chosen a parliamentary model of the Supreme Audit Institution - the Westminster Model. In accordance with the above model, the SAO is governed by one person elected by the Parliament and accountable to solely to it.
The SAO is a member of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), the European Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI), and the Asian Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI).
It is worth mentioning that the history of the SAO began with the restoration of the Independence of Georgia.
In 1918, the State Controller`s Office was established. In the following years 1918-1921, the Parliament adopted a number of legal acts that served as the basis for establishment of the state financial control system. The Constitution of Georgia of 1921, defined the status of the State Controller`s Office as a Supreme Audit Institution of the country. Its mandate involved audit of proper state budget execution, state revenues and expenditures, examination of reports and accounts of the Government and other institutions, as well as examination of finances of local self-governments.
In the years from 1921 to 1991, the State Controller`s Office stopped functioning due to the Soviet occupation. Under the communist government, supreme audit institution was replaced by the Soviet public control system, titles and functions of which would change over time.
In 2019 under the auspices of SAO a group of distinguished historians thoroughly studies relevant archival materials and produced the book ''The State Controller's Office of the Democratic Republic of Georgia''.
