Accountability under pressure: designing resilient audit practices for NGOs in crisis

Purpose External audits play a critical role in ensuring financial accountability and maintaining donor trust in the NGO (non-governmental organization) sector. However, in crisis-affected contexts, marked by political instability, economic collapse, humanitarian emergencies, operational disruptions, limited access, weakened internal systems, and shifting donor–NGO dynamics, traditional audit processes often fail to accommodate these conditions. Lebanon, facing overlapping crises, offers a critical case for examining how audit practices are adapted to maintain both donor assurance and organizational resilience. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study draws on 40 semi-structured interviews with external and internal auditors, NGO finance directors and managers, MEAL officers (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning), and donor compliance specialists across 18 NGOs operating in Lebanon. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis to identify patterns of adaptation, negotiation, and symbolic performance in audit practices under crisis conditions. Findings Findings reveal a shift from compliance-driven auditing toward adaptive, learning-oriented models that incorporate hybrid verification tools, risk-based protocols, MEAL integration, and trust-based relationships. The results show that audit effectiveness depends not solely on technical rigor but also on contextual factors such as organizational culture, relational trust, donor flexibility, and auditors' contextual knowledge. Audit effectiveness is shaped by auditors’ contextual intelligence and knowledge, trust-building, and the ability to collaborate with internal NGO systems. The study highlights that when audits are aligned with local realities and ethical norms, they can simultaneously uphold accountability, enhance programmatic integrity, and strengthen organizational resilience. Originality/value This research introduces a crisis-responsive audit framework that reconceptualizes external auditing as a dynamic, co-produced tool that balances donor assurance with organizational resilience. By integrating Agency Theory, Stewardship Theory, and Institutional Theory with empirical evidence from a high-risk humanitarian setting, the study advances both theoretical and practical understandings of how accountability systems can be designed for environments marked by fragility, uncertainty, and systemic disruption.