Audit kewangan: Perbezaan antara semakan

 

== History ==

 

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 Imprest were established under [[Elizabeth I of England|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 issue of funds to the government.

Auditing of UK government expenditure is now carried out by the [[National Audit Office]] and [[Audit Commission]].

 

 

Prior to the [[1930s]], corporations were required neither to submit annual reports to government agencies or shareholders nor to have such reports audited. In the [[United States]], the [[Securities Exchange Act of 1934]] required all publicly traded companies to disclose certain financial information, and that financial information be audited. The establishment of the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] (SEC) created a body to enforce the audit requirements.

A recent trend in audits (spurred on by such accounting scandals as Enron and [[MCI Worldcom|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 of 2002|Sarbanes-Oxley Act]].

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* where internal controls are strong, auditors typically rely more on '''Substantive Analytical Procedures''' (the comparison of sets of financial information, and financial with non-financial information, to see if the numbers 'make sense' and that unexpected movements can be explained)

* where internal controls are weak, auditors typically rely more on '''Substantive Tests of Detail''' (selecting a sample of items from the major account balances, and finding hard evidence (e.g. invoices, bank statements) for those items)

 

Some audits involve a 'hard close' or 'fast close' whereby certain substantive procedures can be performed before year-end. For example, if the year-end is 31st December, the hard close may provide the auditors with figures as at 30th November. The auditors would audit income/expense movements between 1st January and 30th November, so that after year end, it is only necessary for them to audit the December income/expense movements and the 31st December balance sheet.

 

* [http://www.accountancyage.com/resource/top50 Top 50 accountancy firms in the UK]

 

 

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.

 

*[[List of accounting topics]]

*[[Comparison of accounting software]]