Financial audit

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A financial audit is conducted to provide an opinion whether "financial statements" (the information is verified to the extent of reasonable assurance granted) are stated in accordance with specified criteria. Normally, the criteria are international accounting standards, although auditors may conduct audits of financial statements prepared using the cash basis or some other basis of accounting appropriate for the organization. In providing an opinion whether financial statements are fairly stated in accordance with accounting standards, the auditor gathers evidence to determine whether the statements contain material errors or other misstatements. [1]

Contents

Overview

The audit opinion is intended to provide reasonable assurance, but not absolute assurance, that the financial statements are presented fairly, in all material respects, and/or give a true and fair view in accordance with the financial reporting framework. The purpose of an audit is to provide an objective independent examination of the financial statements, which increases the value and credibility of the financial statements produced by management, thus increase user confidence in the financial statement, reduce investor risk and consequently reduce the cost of capital of the preparer of the financial statements. [2]

In accordance with the US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP), auditors must release an opinion of the overall financial statements in the auditor's report. Auditors can release three types of statements other than an unqualified/unmodified opinion:

Financial audits are typically performed by firms of practicing accountants who are experts in financial reporting. The financial audit is one of many assurance functions provided by accounting firms. Many organizations separately employ or hire internal auditors, who do not attest to financial reports but focus mainly on the internal controls of the organization. External auditors may choose to place limited reliance on the work of internal auditors. Auditing promotes transparency and accuracy in the financial disclosures made by an organization, therefore would likely reduce such corporations concealment of unscrupulous dealings. [4]

Internationally, the International Standards on Auditing (ISA) issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) is considered as the benchmark for audit process. Almost all jurisdictions require auditors to follow the ISA or a local variation of the ISA.

Financial audits exist to add credibility to the implied assertion by an organization's management that its financial statements fairly represent the organization's position and performance to the firm's stakeholders. The principal stakeholders of a company are typically its shareholders, but other parties such as tax authorities, banks, regulators, suppliers, customers and employees may also have an interest in knowing that the financial statements are presented fairly, in all material aspects. An audit is not designed to provide absolute assurance, being based on sampling and not the testing of all transactions and balances; rather it is designed to reduce the risk of a material financial statement misstatement whether caused by fraud or error. A misstatement is defined in ISA 450 as an error, omitted disclosure or inappropriate accounting policy. "Material" is an error or omission that would affect the users decision. Audits exist because they add value through easing the cost of information asymmetry and reducing information risk, not because they are required by law (note: audits are obligatory in many EU-member states and in many jurisdictions are obligatory for companies listed on public stock exchanges). For collection and accumulation of audit evidence, certain methods and means generally adopted by auditors are: [5]

  1. Posting checking
  2. Testing the existence and effectiveness of management controls that prevent financial statement misstatement
  3. Casting checking
  4. Physical examination and count
  5. Confirmation
  6. Inquiry
  7. Observation
  8. Inspection
  9. Year-end scrutiny
  10. Re-computation
  11. Tracing in subsequent period
  12. Bank reconciliation
  13. Vouching
  14. Verification of existence, ownership, title and value of assets and determination of the extent and nature of liabilities

Financial audit is a profession known for its male dominance. According to the latest survey, it found that 70–80% of financial auditors are male, with 2% being female and the rest being a mixture of both (Bader, 2018).

The Big Four

Greenwood et al. (1990) [6] defined the audit firm as, "a professional partnership that has a decentralized organization relationship between the national head office and local offices". Local offices can make most of the managerial decisions except for the drawing up of professional standards and maintaining them.

The Big Four are the four largest international professional services networks, offering audit, assurance, tax, consulting, advisory, actuarial, corporate finance, and legal services. They handle the vast majority of audits for publicly traded companies as well as many private companies, creating an oligopoly in auditing large companies. It is reported that the Big Four audit 99% of the companies in the FTSE 100, and 96% of the companies in the FTSE 250 Index, an index of the leading mid-cap listing companies. [7] The Big Four firms are shown below, with their latest publicly available data. None of the Big Four firms is a single firm; rather, they are professional services networks. Each is a network of firms, owned and managed independently, which have entered into agreements with other member firms in the network to share a common name, brand and quality standards. Each network has established an entity to co-ordinate the activities of the network. In one case (KPMG), the co-ordinating entity is Swiss, and in three cases (Deloitte Touché Tohmatsu, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young) the co-ordinating entity is a UK limited company. Those entities do not themselves perform external professional services, and do not own or control the member firms. They are similar to law firm networks found in the legal profession. In many cases each member firm practices in a single country, and is structured to comply with the regulatory environment in that country. In 2007 KPMG announced a merger of four member firms (in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein) to form a single firm. Ernst & Young also includes separate legal entities which manage three of its four areas: Americas, EMEIA (Europe, The Middle East, India and Africa), and Asia-Pacific. (The Japan area does not have a separate area management entity). These firms coordinate services performed by local firms within their respective areas but do not perform services or hold ownership in the local entities. [8] This group was once known as the "Big Eight", and was reduced to the "Big Six" and then "Big Five" by a series of mergers. The Big Five became the Big Four after the demise of Arthur Andersen in 2002, following its involvement in the Enron scandal.

Costs

Costs of audit services can vary greatly dependent upon the nature of the entity, its transactions, industry, the condition of the financial records and financial statements, and the fee rates of the CPA firm. [9] [10] A commercial decision such as the setting of audit fees is handled by companies and their auditors. Directors are responsible for setting the overall fee as well as the audit committee. The fees are set at a level that could not lead to audit quality being compromised. [11] The scarcity of staffs and the lower audit fee lead to very low billing realization rates. [12] As a result, accounting firms, such as KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte who used to have very low technical inefficiency, have started to use AI tools. [13]

History

Audit of government expenditure

The earliest surviving mention of a public official charged with auditing government expenditure is a reference to the Auditor of the Exchequer in England in 1314. The Auditors of the Impresa were established under Queen Elizabeth I in 1559 with formal responsibility for auditing Exchequer payments. This system gradually lapsed and in 1780, Commissioners for Auditing the Public Accounts were appointed by statute. From 1834, the Commissioners worked in tandem with the Comptroller of the Exchequer, who was charged with controlling the issuance of funds to the government.

As Chancellor of the Exchequer, William Ewart Gladstone initiated major reforms of public finance and Parliamentary accountability. His 1866 Exchequer and Audit Departments Act required all departments, for the first time, to produce annual accounts, known as appropriation accounts. The Act also established the position of Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) and an Exchequer and Audit Department (E&AD) to provide supporting staff from within the civil service. The C&AG was given two main functions – to authorize the issue of public money to government from the Bank of England, having satisfied himself that this was within the limits Parliament had voted – and to audit the accounts of all Government departments and report to Parliament accordingly.

Auditing of UK government expenditure is now carried out by the National Audit Office. The Australian National Audit Office conducts all financial statement audits for entities controlled by the Australian Government. [14]

Origins of Financial Audit

The origins of financial audit begin in the 1800s in England, where the need for accountability first arose. As people began to recognize the benefits of financial audits, the need for standardization became more apparent and the use of financial audits spread into the United States. In the early 1900s financial audits began to take on a form more resembling what is see in the twenty-first century. [15] [16]

The first laws surrounding audit formed in England in the beginning of the nineteenth century and helped the financial sector in England prosper. To fully gain the trust of the public, the auditor profession would need to grow and standardize itself and establish organizations, becoming equally accountable across the country and the world. [17]

In 1845 England, accompanied by new law, the first corporation was formed. The law required auditors who owned a share of the company but who did not directly manage the company's operations. Audit financial documents had been presented to shareholders, but at this point anyone could be an auditor. In these early days there was little accountability or standardization. [18]

Financial auditing, and various other English accounting practices, first came to the United States in the late nineteenth century. These practices came by way of British and Scottish investors who wanted to stay more informed on their American investments. Around this same time, an American accounting system was taking root. [19]

Within the next 10 years (1896), professionals had the opportunity to become accredited by obtaining a license to become a Certified Public Accountant. Copious amounts of the auditing work done at the end of the 19th century were by chartered accountants from England and Scotland. This included the work of Arthur Young, Edwin Guthrie, and James T. Anyon. [20]

In the 1910s financial audits came under scrutiny for their unstandardized practices of accounting for various items, including tangible and intangible assets. Notably was the article "The Abuse of the Audit in Selling Securities" written by Alexander Smith in 1912, the article detailed the flaws of the auditing system. While others in the industry agreed with Smith's comments, many believed standardization was impossible. [21]

As the reputation of accounting firms grew, federal agencies began to seek out their advice. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Reserve Board inquired about auditing procedures by requesting a technical memorandum in 1917. The Institute provided this guidance, which was to be published by the Federal Reserve Board as a bulletin. The Board and FTC each had their own agenda by requesting this memorandum. The former wanted to inform bankers on how important it was to obtain audited financial statements from borrowers, whilst the latter was to encourage uniform accounting. This bulletin included information about recommended auditing procedures in addition to the format for the profit and loss statement and the balance sheet. The memorandum was revised and published making it the first authoritative guidance published in the United States in regard to auditing procedures. [20]

It was not until 1932, when the New York Stock Exchange began requiring financial audits, that the practice started to standardize. [22] It did not become a requirement for newly listed companies until 1933 when the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 were enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The latter created the Securities and Exchange Commission, which required all current and new registrants to have audited financial statements. In doing so, the services that CPAs could provide became more valued and requested. [20]

In the United States, the accounting and auditing profession reached its peak from the 1940s to the 1960s. The SEC was reliant on the Institute for the auditing procedures used by accounting firms during engagements. Additionally, in 1947 a committee from the Institute advocated for "generally accepted auditing standards", which were approved in the following year. These standards governed the terms of the auditor's performance relating to professional conduct and the execution of the auditor's judgment during engagements. [20]

Governance and oversight

Seal of the United States Government Accountability Office Seal of the United States Government Accountability Office.svg
Seal of the United States Government Accountability Office

In the United States, the SEC has generally deferred to the accounting industry (acting through various organizations throughout the years) as to the accounting standards for financial reporting, and the U.S. Congress has deferred to the SEC.

This is also typically the case in other developed economies. In the UK, auditing guidelines are set by the institutes (including ACCA, ICAEW, ICAS and ICAI) of which auditing firms and individual auditors are members. While in Australia, the rules and professional code of ethics are set by The Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia (ICAA), CPA Australia (CPA) and The National Institute of Accountants (NIA). [24]

Accordingly, financial auditing standards and methods have tended to change significantly only after auditing failures. The most recent and familiar case is that of Enron. The company succeeded in hiding some important facts, such as off-book liabilities, from banks and shareholders. [25] Eventually, Enron filed for bankruptcy, and (as of 2006) is in the process of being dissolved. One result of this scandal was that Arthur Andersen, then one of the five largest accountancy firms worldwide, lost their ability to audit public companies, essentially killing off the firm.

A recent trend in audits (spurred on by such accounting scandals as Enron and Worldcom) has been an increased focus on internal control procedures, which aim to ensure the completeness, accuracy and validity of items in the accounts, and restricted access to financial systems. This emphasis on the internal control environment is now a mandatory part of the audit of SEC-listed companies, under the auditing standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) set up by the Sarbanes–Oxley Act.

Many countries have government sponsored or mandated organizations who develop and maintain auditing standards, commonly referred to generally accepted auditing standards or GAAS. These standards prescribe different aspects of auditing such as the opinion, stages of an audit, and controls over work product (i.e., working papers).

Some oversight organizations require auditors and audit firms to undergo a third-party quality review periodically to ensure the applicable GAAS is followed.

Stages of an audit

The following are the stages of a typical audit: [1]

Phase I: planning of audit and design an audit approach

Phase II: perform test of controls and substantive test of transactions

Notes:

Phase III: perform analytical procedures and tests of details of balances

Notes:

Phase IV: complete the audit and issue an audit report

After the auditor has completed all procedures for each audit objective and for each financial statement account and related disclosures, it is necessary to combine the information obtained to reach an overall conclusion as to whether the financial statements are fairly presented. This highly subjective process relies heavily on the auditor's professional judgment. When the audit is completed, the CPA must issue an audit report to accompany the client's published financial statements.

Responsibilities of an auditor

Corporations Act 2001 requires the auditor to:

Commercial relationships versus objectivity

One of the major issues faced by private auditing firms is the need to provide independent auditing services while maintaining a business relationship with the audited company.

The auditing firm's responsibility to check and confirm the reliability of financial statements may be limited by pressure from the audited company, who pays the auditing firm for the service. The auditing firm's need to maintain a viable business through auditing revenue may be weighed against its duty to examine and verify the accuracy, relevancy, and completeness of the company's financial statements. This is done by auditor.

Numerous proposals are made to revise the current system to provide better economic incentives to auditors to perform the auditing function without having their commercial interests compromised by client relationships. Examples are more direct incentive compensation awards and financial statement insurance approaches. See, respectively, Incentive Systems to Promote Capital Market Gatekeeper Effectiveness [28] and Financial Statement Insurance. [29]

Auditors and technology

Currently, many entities being audited are using information systems, which generate information electronically. For the audit evidences, auditors get dynamic information generated from the information systems in real time. There are less paper documents and pre-numbered audit evidences available, which leads a revolution to audit mythology. [30]

Impact of information technology on the audit process

Over the past couple of years, technology is becoming a bigger emphasis for the audit profession, professional bodies, and regulators. From operational efficiency to financial inclusion and increased insights, technology has a lot to offer. The way businesses are performed and data is analyzed is changing as a result of technological advancements. Data management is becoming increasingly important. Artificial intelligence, blockchain, and data analytics are major changers in the accounting and auditing industries, altering auditors' roles. The introduction of cloud computing and cloud storage has opened up previously unimaginable possibilities for data collection and analysis. Auditors can now acquire and analyze broader industry data sets that were previously unreachable by going beyond the constraints of business data. As a result, auditors are better equipped to spot data anomalies, create business insights, and focus on business and financial reporting risk. [31]

Impacts of technology on the accounting profession

Artificial intelligence

This refers to machines that do tasks that need some kind of 'intelligence,' which can include learning, sensing, thinking, creating, attaining goals, and generating and interpreting language. Recent advances in AI have relied on approaches like machine learning and deep learning, in which algorithms learn how to do tasks like classify objects or predict values through statistical analysis of enormous amounts of data rather than explicit programming. [31]

Machine learning uses data analytics to simultaneously and continuously learn and identify data patterns allowing it to make predictions based on the data. Currently, Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) are both using machine learning tools within their companies to aid in financial auditing. Deloitte uses a software called Argus, which reads and scans documents to identify key contract terms and other outliers within the documents. PWC uses Halo, which is another machine learning technology that analyzes journal entries in the accounting books to identify areas of concern. [32]

Blockchain

Blockchain is a fundamental shift in the way records are created, maintained, and updated. Blockchain records are distributed among all users rather than having a single owner. The blockchain approach's success is based on the employment of a complicated system of agreement and verification to ensure that, despite the lack of a central owner and time gaps between all users, a single, agreed-upon version of the truth is propagated to all users as part of a permanent record. This results in a type of 'universal entry bookkeeping,' in which each participant receives an identical and permanent copy of a single entry. [31]

Blockchain technology has seen its growth within the financial auditing sector. Blockchain is a decentralized, distributed ledger, which makes it reliable and nearly impossible to be breached. Blockchain is also able to verify the authenticity of transactions in real time, giving it the ability to alert necessary parties for fraud. This helps improve the audit process and the accuracy of the audit. Before, auditors had to manually go through thousands of entries in a sample and now with blockchain technology, every single transaction is verified as soon as it is entered. [33]

Cyber security

Cyber security protects networks, systems, devices, and data from attack, unauthorized access, and harm. Cyber security best practices also include a broader range of operations such as monitoring IT infrastructures, detecting attacks or breaches, and responding to security failures. The spread of cyber risk across all organizational activities, the external nature of many of the risks, and the rate of change in the risk are just a few of the issues that organizations face in developing effective risk management around cyber security. [31]

Numerous banks and financial organizations are studying blockchain security solutions as a means of mitigating risk, cyber risks, and fraud. While these latter systems are less susceptible to cyberattacks that may bring the entire network down, security concerns remain, as a successful hack would allow access to not just the data saved at a particular point, but to all data in the digital ledger. [34]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Accounting</span> Measurement, processing and communication of financial information about economic entities

Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the processing of information about economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activities and conveys this information to a variety of stakeholders, including investors, creditors, management, and regulators. Practitioners of accounting are known as accountants. The terms "accounting" and "financial reporting" are often used interchangeably.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audit</span> Systematic and independent examination of books, accounts, documents and vouchers of an organization

An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon." Auditing also attempts to ensure that the books of accounts are properly maintained by the concern as required by law. Auditors consider the propositions before them, obtain evidence, roll forward prior year working papers, and evaluate the propositions in their auditing report.

An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit. To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting and auditing or possess certain specified qualifications. Generally, to act as an external auditor of the company, a person should have a certificate of practice from the regulatory authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auditor's report</span> Type of written document

An auditor's report is a formal opinion, or disclaimer thereof, issued by either an internal auditor or an independent external auditor as a result of an internal or external audit, as an assurance service in order for the user to make decisions based on the results of the audit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assurance services</span> Profession giving information to reduce risk

Assurance service is an independent professional service, typically provided by Chartered or Certified Public Accountants or Chartered Certified Accountants, with the goal of improving information or the context of information so that decision makers can make more informed, and presumably better, decisions. Assurance services provide independent and professional opinions that reduce information risk.

An information technology audit, or information systems audit, is an examination of the management controls within an Information technology (IT) infrastructure and business applications. The evaluation of evidence obtained determines if the information systems are safeguarding assets, maintaining data integrity, and operating effectively to achieve the organization's goals or objectives. These reviews may be performed in conjunction with a financial statement audit, internal audit, or other form of attestation engagement.

Statement on Auditing Standards No. 99: Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit, commonly abbreviated as SAS 99, is an auditing statement issued by the Auditing Standards Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) in October 2002. The original exposure draft was distributed in February 2002. Please see PCAOB AS 2401.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">External auditor</span> Person who audits an entitys financial statements and is independent of that entity

An external auditor performs an audit, in accordance with specific laws or rules, of the financial statements of a company, government entity, other legal entity, or organization, and is independent of the entity being audited. Users of these entities' financial information, such as investors, government agencies, and the general public, rely on the external auditor to present an unbiased and independent audit report.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Generally Accepted Auditing Standards</span>

Generally Accepted Auditing Standards, or GAAS are sets of standards against which the quality of audits are performed and may be judged. Several organizations have developed such sets of principles, which vary by territory. In the United States, the standards are promulgated by the Auditing Standards Board, a division of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

Audit risk as per ISA 200 refers to the risk that the auditor expresses an inappropriate opinion when the financial statements are materiality misstated. This risk is composed of:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internal audit</span> Independent, objective assurance and consulting activity

Internal auditing is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization's operations. It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control and governance processes. Internal auditing might achieve this goal by providing insight and recommendations based on analyses and assessments of data and business processes. With commitment to integrity and accountability, internal auditing provides value to governing bodies and senior management as an objective source of independent advice. Professionals called internal auditors are employed by organizations to perform the internal auditing activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Materiality (auditing)</span> Concept in auditing and accounting

Materiality is a concept or convention within auditing and accounting relating to the importance/significance of an amount, transaction, or discrepancy. The objective of an audit of financial statements is to enable the auditor to express an opinion on whether the financial statements are prepared, in all material respects, in conformity with an identified financial reporting framework, such as the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) which is the accounting standard adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Audit evidence is evidence obtained by auditors during a financial audit and recorded in the audit working papers.

Internal control, as defined by accounting and auditing, is a process for assuring of an organization's objectives in operational effectiveness and efficiency, reliable financial reporting, and compliance with laws, regulations and policies. A broad concept, internal control involves everything that controls risks to an organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SOX 404 top–down risk assessment</span>

In financial auditing of public companies in the United States, SOX 404 top–down risk assessment (TDRA) is a financial risk assessment performed to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Under SOX 404, management must test its internal controls; a TDRA is used to determine the scope of such testing. It is also used by the external auditor to issue a formal opinion on the company's internal controls. However, as a result of the passage of Auditing Standard No. 5, which the SEC has since approved, external auditors are no longer required to provide an opinion on management's assessment of its own internal controls.

Management assertions or financial statement assertions are the implicit or explicit assertions that the preparer of financial statements (management) is making to its users. These assertions are relevant to auditors performing a financial statement audit in two ways. First, the objective of a financial statement audit is to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to conclude on whether the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of a company and the results of its operations and cash flows. In developing that conclusion, the auditor evaluates whether audit evidence corroborates or contradicts financial statement assertions. Second, auditors are required to consider the risk of material misstatement through understanding the entity and its environment, including the entity's internal control. Financial statement assertions provide a framework to assess the risk of material misstatement in each significant account balance or class of transactions.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to accounting:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Entity-level controls</span>

Entity-level controls are controls that help to ensure that management directives pertaining to the entire entity are carried out. They are the second level of a to understanding the risks of an organization. Generally, entity refers to the entire company.

Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements no. 18 is a Generally Accepted Auditing Standard produced and published by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Auditing Standards Board. Though it states that it could be applied to almost any subject matter, its focus is reporting on the quality of financial reporting. It pays particular attention to internal control, extending into the controls over information systems involved in financial reporting. It is intended for use by Certified Public Accountants performing attestation engagements, the preparation of a written opinion about a subject, and the client organizations preparing the reports that are the subject of the attestation engagement. It prescribes three levels of service: examination, review, and agreed-upon procedures. It also prescribes two types of reports: Type 1, which includes an assessment of internal control design, and Type 2, which additionally includes an assessment of the operating effectiveness of controls. Published April 2016, SSAE 18 and all previous standards it supersedes are represented in section AT-C of the AICPA Professional Standards, with most sections becoming effective on May 1, 2017.

Audit technology is the use of computer technology to improve an audit. Audit technology is used by accounting firms to improve the efficiency of the external audit procedures they perform.

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