One of the components of the financial control system is audit. Thanks to it, the legality and validity of financial and business operations is checked. To this end, auditors carry out control activities. During them, the availability of goods, money, the legality of transactions, etc. is checked. For the persons participating in the monitoring activities, there are rights, obligations and responsibilities of the auditors.
The concept of "audit"
An audit is a whole system of control actions aimed at documentary and actual verification of available assets, the validity and legality of financial transactions, for which a report is then made by an auditor whose responsibilities are to verify the accuracy of financial statements and accounting.
Audit objectives
The purpose of any revision is:
- verification of the activities of employees (rank and file, managers, accountants and other persons who are responsible);
- the presence, movement and preservation of assets and property;
- the correct reflection of financial activities in accounting;
- validity and legality of transactions;
- the use of labor and material resources in accordance with norms and estimates.
At the end of the audit, an act is drawn up. It is signed by the head of the audit team, chief accountant and manager. Familiarization with the act and its signing must be carried out within five days.
Audit features
The auditor is a position whose duties are to control the activities of the enterprise in various fields. Inspections can be carried out according to a pre-compiled schedule and plan, or the surprise method is used. Often in accounting, the same errors are made in the reports. Experienced auditors already know where to look for these "pitfalls."
Thanks to control measures, misappropriation of funds of the enterprise, inflated prices for goods, violation of the calculation of wages to employees, vacation pay, and so on are revealed.
Who is the auditor?
The auditor is the legal representative of the auditing authority. The inspector has certain duties and rights. They are prescribed in the job description. If the audit is carried out by an audit firm, then the duties and rights are defined in the contract.
Auditor Rights
Additional rights and obligations of the auditor are determined in advance. But there is a certain list of rights of verifiers:
- require the presentation of documents that are necessary for verification;
- take oral and written explanations of employees and managers of the audited facilities;
- seize documents and acts that confirm the theft of valuables and money;
- inspect all warehouses and premises in which cash and other valuables are stored;
- conduct an inventory;
- to seal selected documents and premises;
- to require explanations from the employees and management of the audited organization on issues that have arisen;
- check the correct write-off of defective products, materials for costs, including the cost of funds for salaries and other costs;
- consult with specialists if necessary;
- To issue instructions on elimination of revealed violations or deficiencies
- offer the audit client options for disciplinary action, dismissal from work, compensation for damage;
- report to law enforcement authorities about all cases of shortages through the customer of the audit.
Duties
Starting the audit, the controller-auditor, whose responsibilities are clearly defined, cannot go beyond the established framework:
- Before the audit, it is necessary to inform about the beginning of the audit of the head of the audited organization;
- during the event, you need to inform him of the identified violations and deficiencies and take measures to eliminate them;
- to control the legality of financial and business operations, the preservation of property;
- to carry out verification of discipline, setting and reliability of accounting;
- control the quality, correctness and actual availability of primary documents;
- to identify mismanagement, wastefulness, waste, theft, shortages;
- to note cases of illegal spending of inventory items and budgetary funds for personal purposes, etc .;
- the duties of the auditor include objectively and extremely accurately ascertain the revealed facts of violations (and their causes), indicating the perpetrators and the amount of damage caused;
- communicate and discuss the results of the audit with employees of the audited organization;
- check the credentials of employees and the legality of their actions;
- keep information confidentiality;
- fill out the results of the audit in writing, in accordance with established standards;
- Auditors should be correct, but be with employees of the audited organization only in business relations;
- observe self-discipline;
- to improve qualifications;
- verify the timely implementation of orders issued after the results of the previous audit.
Legal framework for the auditor
The official during the inspections is the auditor. His official duties have certain rules when conducting an audit. The main ones include:
- continuity;
- publicity;
- activity;
- validity;
- suddenness.
Subject to all these rules, the final audit result is obtained together.
Continuity. The responsibilities of the auditor include continuous review from the start of the audit until its completion. Immediately after this, the data are brought to the overall result, and violations are recorded. Identified damage is covered from the personal funds of the perpetrators, and acts are drawn up to bring them to justice. That is, the audit should take place continuously until the intended tasks are fully completed.
Publicity. Before starting the audit, the inspector must notify the head and employees of the audited organization about the time and place of arrival of persons interested in the audit. After its completion, the first results obtained are communicated to the management of the audited enterprise, and at the same time the customer is informed of the work. Thanks to the rule of publicity, you can eliminate any errors that the auditor might have made.
Activity. It is the responsibility of the auditor to take the initiative in suitable methods and means of verification. The controller must be highly responsive, comply with deadlines and speed. If the verification process is slow, the guilty parties can take out the values, hide possible violations, post additional documents, etc. But the auditor should not be reckless and draw hasty conclusions.
Validity. The auditor must substantiate all the revealed violations and final conclusions with documents, based on the facts. This involves additional checks. Interested parties are entitled to point to the facts in their defense, and the inspector is obliged to take this information into account, and not to ignore it. If the validity is not observed, time may be spent on additional additional audits and accounting expertise.
The suddenness of inspections is the responsibility of the auditor. He is obliged to periodically audit without warning about the preparation, day and time of the start.
What cannot the auditor do?
The responsibilities of the auditor have some limitations. The person conducting the control and accounting is strictly prohibited:
- to exert any pressure;
- make indictments;
- threaten with any punishment;
- give their own assessment to officials;
- make personal assumptions;
- succumb to possible provocations;
- touch and take material values for personal use;
- involve in the audit employees of the audited enterprise;
- conduct non-business relationships;
- to participate in corporate parties and other entertainment events (birthdays, etc.) of the audited organization.
A responsibility
Auditors may be held criminally liable for the disclosure of confidential information obtained during the audit. And also for concealing data on revealed violations, abuses, facts of theft or mismanagement. A criminal case may be instituted on the auditor if the inspector used his official position for personal mercenary purposes.
