Cost and price auditing: effectiveness in the procurement of defense services in Spain

Abstract Contract auditing, or cost and price auditing, has been applied in Spain as a means of determining prices in non-competitive defense contracts since 1989. Factors such as Spain's participation in international defense organizations, the characteristics of the defense market and the contractual legal framework for the procurement of defense goods and services help underscore the need for the Spanish Ministry of Defense to implement cost and price auditing. With the evolution of cost and price auditing in Spain in mind, this paper analyses the entire process, describes the audit procedures that are most commonly used today and assesses the main results achieved, in terms of financial savings. The results obtained show that cost and price auditing does indeed contribute to a more efficient use of public resources.

摘要：合同审计，或称成本与价格审计，自1989年起便在西班牙被用作确定非竞争性国防合同定价的手段。诸如西班牙参与国际国防组织、国防市场特征以及国防货物与服务采购的合同法律框架等因素，均凸显了西班牙国防部开展成本与价格审计的必要性。结合西班牙成本与价格审计的发展历程，本文对其全流程展开分析，阐述当前最常用的审计程序，并从财政节约维度评估其取得的主要成效。研究结果表明，成本与价格审计确实有助于更高效地利用公共资源。