Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Accountants also assist in the design and development of accounting systems, and
some accountants verify that the information generated is accurate and that the
systems are functioning properly. In this last role accountants are per forming an
audit function.Auditors evaluate internal control systems so that they can play the
appropriate nature, extent and timing of their audit activities.
Internal control
The audit trail is one of the most important corrective controls in an auditing
system. The audit trail consists of all of the information which makes it possible to
trace a tran saction backwards through the accounting system from a general
ledger posting to the source documents and even the original transaction.
Auditing
Analytic review, test of transactions, and tests of account balances are substantive
tests. Analytic review tests examine relationships between related accounts and
amounts. Fo r example, if sales have increased by 20% over the past year, then
the auditors would assume that cost of goods sold should have increased. If sales
increased by 20% but cost of goods sold decreased over the same period by 15%
then the auditors might conc lude that an error may have occurred in the
accounting records and would perform further tests of the sales and cost of goods
sold accounts. Analytic review tests are used to identify areas that require
additional audit work.
Test of account balances are performed when the auditors can gather high quality
evidence about an account balance from external or third parties. For example, the
auditors For example, auditors can verify the final cash balance with the bank
where the audit client's cash accounts are located. Sometimes it is not possible to
gather competent evidence from third parties. In these cases, the auditor must
perform transaction tests.
For example, in most cases it would be impossible to confirm sales for the year
with all customers of the customer. How would you confirm sales with customers at
a clothing store? It would be almost impossible.
Both the internal and external auditors issue opinions on the financial statements.
Internal auditors, employees of the company that perform audit functions, also
perform operational audits that evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of
operations. External auditors in the United States must have a license as Certified
Public Accountants (CPA) by a state to perform their audit function. In Mexico they
are called public accountants or public accounting graduates. Internal auditors may
be CPA but it is not mandatory that they be in the United States. In any case,
auditors perform an important social function
En este último papel, los contadores están realizando una función de auditoría.
Los auditores evalúan los sistemas de control interno para que puedan jugar la
naturaleza apropiada, la extensión y el momento de sus actividades de auditoría.
Control interno
Para probar las transacciones de venta, un auditor puede examinar las compras o
documentos del cliente, los documentos de envío, las facturas y los pagos
posteriores del cliente.
Una vez que los auditores sienten que han reunido suficiente evidencia
competente, entonces expresan su opinión sobre los estados financieros.
Tanto los auditores internos como externos expiden opiniones sobre los estados
financieros.