Scrutinizing the Scrutiny: How Do Professional Auditors Approach Digital Ventures in Municipal Value for Money Audits?

Abstract

The emphasis on digitalization has significantly affected public sector organizations, including municipalities, as they strive to improve operational efficiency, transparency, and public value. Nevertheless, historical examples reveal high failure rates in digitalization projects, often resulting in delays, financial losses, and political repercussions. These failures underscore the importance of conducting value for money (VFM) audits to ensure digitalization projects are accountable and beneficial to the taxpaying citizens. This study critically examines the work of professional auditors in VFM audits related to digitalization projects within Swedish municipalities during the 2016–2023 period. The findings suggest that these audits primarily address organizational aspects, rather than improved economy, efficiency, and effectiveness. In this context, VFM audits appear to function as standardized and time-efficient procedures aimed at providing comfort to various stakeholders, without assessing the actual efficiency gains from digitalization initiatives. A possible reason for this is that the auditors seek to make digitalization initiatives auditable, given the acknowledged challenges of evaluating such projects. Future research is therefore encouraged to further explore this pattern in VFM audits of digitalization projects, ideally incorporating the perspectives of different actors.