Etymology
The word “audit” derives from the Latin word audire which means “to hear”.5
History
Auditing has been a safeguard measure since ancient times.6 During medieval times, when manual bookkeeping was prevalent, auditors in Britain used to hear the accounts read out for them and checked that the organization's personnel were not negligent or fraudulent.7 In 1951, Moyer identified that the most important duty of the auditor was to detect fraud.8 Chatfield documented that early United States auditing was viewed mainly as verification of bookkeeping detail.9
Accounting
See also: Financial audit and Internal control
Due to strong incentives (including taxation, misselling and other forms of fraud) to misstate financial information, auditing has become a legal requirement for many entities that have the power to exploit financial information for personal gain. Traditionally, audits were mainly associated with gaining information about financial systems and the financial records of a company or a business. Financial audits also assess whether a business or corporation adheres to legal duties as well as other applicable statutory customs and regulations.1011
Financial audits are performed to ascertain the validity and reliability of information, as well as to provide an assessment of a system's internal control. The third-party auditor will express an opinion of the person, organization, or system in question. The opinion given on financial statements will depend on the audit evidence obtained.
A statutory audit is a legally required review of the accuracy of a company's or government's financial statements and records. The purpose of a statutory audit is to determine whether an organization provides a fair and accurate representation of its financial position by examining information such as bank balances, bookkeeping records, and financial transactions.
Due to constraints, an audit seeks to provide only reasonable assurance that the statements are free from material error. Hence, statistical sampling is often adopted in audits. In the case of , a set of are said to be true and fair when they are free of material misstatements—a concept influenced by both (numerical) and factors. Recently, the argument that auditing should go beyond just true and fair is gaining momentum, and the US has come out with a concept release on the same.
Quality audits
Main article: Quality audit
Quality audits are performed to verify conformance to standards through reviewing objective evidence. A system of quality audits may verify the effectiveness of a quality management system. This is part of certifications such as ISO 9001. Quality audits are essential to verify the existence of objective evidence showing conformance to required processes, to assess how successfully processes have been implemented, and to judge the effectiveness of achieving any defined target levels. Quality audits are also necessary to provide evidence concerning the reduction and elimination of problem areas, and they are a hands-on management tool for achieving continual improvement in an organization.
To benefit the organization, quality auditing should not only report non-conformance and corrective actions but also highlight areas of good practice and provide evidence of conformance. In this way, other departments may share information and amend their working practices as a result, also enhancing continual improvement.
Project audit
A project audit provides an opportunity to uncover issues, concerns, and challenges encountered during the project lifecycle.22 Conducted midway through the project, a project audit provides the project manager, project sponsor, and project team an interim view of what has gone well, as well as what needs to be improved to successfully complete the project. If done at the close of a project, the audit can be used to develop success criteria for future projects by providing a forensic review. This review identifies which elements of the project were successfully managed and which ones presented challenges. As a result, the review will help the organization identify what it needs to do to avoid repeating the same mistakes on future projects.
Projects can undergo two types of project audits:21
- Regular Health Check Audits: The aim of a regular health check audit is to understand the current state of a project to increase project success.
- Regulatory Audits: The aim of a regulatory audit is to verify that a project is compliant with regulations and standards. The best practices of the NEMEA Compliance Centre state that the regulatory audit must be accurate, objective, and independent while providing oversight and assurance to the organization.
Other forms of project audits:
Formal: Applies when the project is in trouble, and the sponsor agrees that the audit is needed, sensitivities are high, and conclusions must be proved via sustainable evidence.
Informal: Applies when a new project manager is provided, there is no indication the project is in trouble, and there is a need to report whether the project is proceeding as planned. Informal audits can apply the same criteria as formal audits, but it is not necessary for the report to be so formal or in-depth.23
Energy audits
Main article: Energy audit
An energy audit is an inspection, survey, and analysis of energy flows for energy conservation in a building, process, or system to reduce the amount of energy input into the system without negatively affecting the output.
Operations audit
Further information: Operational audit
An operations audit is an examination of the operations of the client's business. In this audit, the auditor thoroughly examines the efficiency, effectiveness, and economy of the operations with which the management of the client is achieving its objectives. The operational audit goes beyond internal control issues since management does not achieve its objectives merely by compliance with a satisfactory system of internal controls. Operational audits cover any matters that may be commercially unsound. The objective of an operational audit is to examine three E's, namely: Effectiveness—doing the right things with the least wastage of resources, Efficiency—performing work in the least possible time, and Economy—balance between benefits and costs to run the operation.
A control self-assessment is a commonly used tool for completing an operations audit.24
Further reading
- Amat, O. (2008). "Earnings management and audit adjustments: An empirical study of IBEX 35 constituents". SSRN 1374232.