Audits of accounts
Article 7
1. The audits of accounts referred to in Article 49(1) of Regulation (EU) No 223/2014 shall be carried out by the audit authority in respect of each accounting year. 2. The audit of the accounts shall provide reasonable assurance on the completeness, accuracy and veracity of the amounts declared in the accounts. 3. For the purposes of paragraphs 1 and 2, the audit authority shall take into account, in particular, the results of the system audits carried out on the certifying authority and of the audits on operations. 4. The system audit shall include verification of the reliability of the accounting system of the certifying authority and, on a sample basis, of the accuracy of expenditure of amounts withdrawn and amounts recovered recorded in the certifying authority's accounting system. 5. For the purpose of the audit opinion, in order to conclude that the accounts give a true and fair view, the audit authority shall verify that all elements required by Article 49 of Regulation (EU) No 223/2014 are correctly included in the accounts and correspond to the supporting accounting records maintained by all relevant authorities or bodies and beneficiaries during the audit work performed by the audit authority. The audit authority shall in particular, on the basis of the accounts to be provided to it by the certifying authority, verify that: (a) the total amount of eligible public expenditure declared in accordance with Article 49(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 223/2014 agrees with the expenditure and the corresponding public contribution included in payment applications submitted to the Commission for the relevant accounting year and, if there are differences, that adequate explanations have been provided in the accounts for the reconciling amounts; (b) the amounts withdrawn and recovered during the accounting year, the amounts to be recovered as at the end of the accounting year and the irrecoverable amounts presented in the accounts correspond to the amounts entered in the accounting systems of the certifying authority and are based on decisions by the responsible managing authority or certifying authority; (c) expenditure has been excluded from the accounts in accordance with Article 49(2) of Regulation (EU) No 223/2014, where applicable, and that all the required corrections are reflected in the accounts for the accounting year concerned. Verifications referred to in points (b) and (c) may be carried out on a sample basis.