For a general N = 1 supersymmetric gauge theory regularized by higher covariant derivatives we prove in all orders that the β-function defined in terms of the bare couplings is given by integrals of double total derivatives with respect to loop momenta. With the help of the technique used for this proof it is possible to construct a method for obtaining these loop integrals, which essentially simplifies the calculations. As an illustration of this method, we find the expression for the three-loop contribution to the β-function containing the Yukawa couplings and compare it with the result of the standard calculations made earlier. Also we briefly discuss, how the structure of the loop integrals for the β-function considered in this paper can be used for the all-loop perturbative derivation of the NSVZ relation in the non-Abelian case.1 In the Landau gauge ξ → 0 a similar statement was known earlier for the usual (non-supersymmetric) Yang-Mills theory [15] and for N = 1 SYM formulated in terms of the component fields [16]. In the former case this statement was explicitly verified by the four-loop calculation in Ref. [17].