The control of financial and tangible resources using is one of the key tasks of management. Financial control has significant matter in the public sector, because clear standards maintenance in the budget sector contributes to the achievement of social stability, economic security and a high level of social welfare. The society’s faith to the government and state authorities vastly depends on efficiency of the financial control. This highlights the topicality of the financial control role in providing economic stability of the state. The paper deals with research of economic essence of state financial control, and role of public audit in the financial sector of the state. The ways of public financial audit development are considered. Ukraine has not introduced single methodological background for building an effective audit system in the public administration sector yet, so the necessity of new theoretical and practical approaches to the public sector audit development is indubitable. The authors’ approach to public audit classification is based on distinguishing of external and internal audits, as well as the main types of public audit, namely financial audit, audit of efficiency and operational audit. This classification could be useful for different state authorities’ activity, which are in charge of public financial control. The business entities, budgetary institutions and entities of state and communal ownership have to be the objects of financial audit; audit of efficiency should be oriented towards the assessment of the implementation of local budgets and development programs: and operational audit has to be directed onto verification of individual business transactions. The author have developed methodical approach to the general assessment of the effectiveness of public financial control and audit, which involves the application of appropriate ratios of effectiveness of control and effectiveness of public audit.

The presence of an organized system of control over the production, distribution and redistribution of gross domestic product is an important prerequisite for the functioning of the state. Therefore the issue of rational management and use of public financial resources becomes particularly relevant in the conditions of economic instability and the growth of the public budget deficit. The assessment of world experience in the development of public finance management systems illustrates their focus on improving the efficiency of public funds using, as well as on providing quality services to society, and increasing the role of state control and audit in this area. The essence of state financial control and state audit are considered in the article. The public audit is interpreted by the authors as an in-depth and improved form of public financial control, which provides a comprehensive target assessment of the controlling entity’s activity results, simultaneously forms a generalized conclusion, and guarantees publicity of the results. Ukraine nowadays is in the first stage of the public audit implementation. The prerequisites for the formation of complete public audit system in Ukraine are: the formation of the necessary legislative and regulatory framework; ensuring the quality of the budget process organization; the conformity of the organizational forms of public audit to its objectives; training of professionals; meeting the needs and expectations of consumers and users. The authors emphasize the necessity of national standards of public audit introducing, where the main methodological approaches to their implementation should be described. Such approaches should be applied by all the entities in the public sector of the economy, as well as by entities that are users of public funds, including public-private partnership institutions. The key directions of development and reform of state financial control system in Ukraine are connected with the maximum adaptation of international standards of audit and the introduction of audit’s advanced technologies into the practice.