Influence of Auditing on Financial Performance of Secondary Schools: A Case Study of Goromonzi District; Zimbabwe

Abstract

Auditing, an internal financial control with high adoption in private sector has of late received great attention of the community in Zimbabwe calling for its adoption in public institutions. This is due to poor Corporate Governance practises not only parastatals, but in public schools as misappropriation of school funds scandals rock the nation since 2008. With the wake of 2015 government schools audit exercise, the research seeks an explanation of the relationship between auditing and financial performance of Goromonzi district secondary schools. With the absence of theory to explain the relationship in Zimbabwean education sector, the research aimed to establish the frequency schools need to be audited. Quantitatively, primary data were collected using questionnaires and personal interviews directed to government appointed and parent-elected School Development Committees (SDC) members, respectively. Secondary data from existing literature complemented primary data. Chi-square tests were used to analyse data to establish relationships existing between diverse variables. Carried tests indeed validated the existence of positive positive relationship between education attained by SDC members and their comprehension of auditing. Similar results were observed between audit frequency and performance of schools measured by standards improvement. Finally the research recommended how auditing can be implemented in schools as well as various strategies which can be adopted to ensure positive financial performance of schools.