The Auditor-General's Office, better known as the Austrian Court of Audit (ACA), is a monitoring instrument of the Austrian Parliament. It is independent of the Federal Government and the Laender (Provincial) Governments and subject only to the provisions of the law. It is not bound by any instructions when it takes action in response to a request or demand. Its official goal is to "attain the most effective use of public funds, that is, the reduction of costs and /or the increase in benefits when spending public monies". The audits focus primarily on financial compliance. The federal constitution states that the president of the ACA is elected by the National Council for a term of twelve years, re-election is not possible. The long term tenure is intended to allow the president and the office in general to maximum independence from parliament as well as government. He can only be removed via a procedure independent of government and authorities.