An audit may be carried out. Auditing. Persons who may be subject to the interpretation of a will

Internal audit is used in most large companies. It is needed to prevent the occurrence of significant shortcomings. It is carried out in accordance with a given algorithm.

What is an internal audit

Internal audit is an audit of the company's activities, which is carried out in the interests of the owner. The procedure is carried out on the basis of the regulations drawn up by the company itself. In the process, documents are checked, a survey of employees is conducted.

Main goals

Consider the tasks of the internal audit of the company:

  • Organization of effective financial and economic activity.
  • Establishing productive interaction with contractors.
  • Prevention of occurrence of significant violations.
  • Reducing the number of losses.
  • Ensuring compliance of activities with the law.
  • Checking the accuracy of the information contained in the documents.

Internal audit is needed, first of all, by the head of the company. The test results will help optimize production.

The legislative framework

The work of specialists performing internal audit must comply with international (MSVA) and domestic standards. It is regulated by Federal Law No. 307 “On the activities of the auditor”. In addition, the check should not contradict these norms:

  • Federal Law No. 115 "On combating money laundering" dated August 7, 2001.
  • Federal Law No. 273 "On Combating Corruption" dated December 25, 2008.

Internal audit standards should also be contained in the company's internal documents.

What is checked during the internal audit process

Conducting an internal audit involves an integrated approach. That is, all aspects of the company's activities are checked. In particular, these are:

  • Keeping records of fixed assets, intangible assets, cash transactions, financial results, capital and other things.
  • Operations on currency, current and other accounts, settlements with counterparties, insurance companies.
  • The condition of the fixed assets, documenting the funds, the correctness of depreciation, the implementation of the repair plan.

The auditor must also be satisfied with the information security. The processing of information in the company, the current information system, the presence of trade secrets are checked. The specialist conducts an audit of the information security system.

Varieties of internal audit

There are different types of internal audit. The audit is divided into types depending on the tasks assigned to the auditor. There are the following varieties:

  • Checking the control system.
  • Organizational and technical control.
  • Control audit of the main activities.
  • Checking for compliance with internal and legal regulations.
  • Establishing the expediency of the activities of officials.

All considered types of audit are not mandatory. They are carried out at the initiative of the leader.

Documentary support of the audit

As part of the audit, it is necessary to draw up a number of documents. Otherwise, the audit will not be legitimate.

Issuance of an audit order

The inspection is carried out on the basis of the order of the head. This document establishes the following aspects of work:

  • Dates of the inspection.
  • Employees who will be involved in the audit.
  • Conditions for conducting internal audit.
  • Control over the work of the auditor.

The order must contain clear instructions regarding the commencement of the audit.

Check list

As part of the audit, control of many areas is carried out. There are many operations that need to be followed in sequence. To comply with the algorithm, it is recommended to draw up a checklist. It includes a list of security questions. There are no laws governing the compilation of this document. The checklist is filled in in accordance with the wishes of the head. It allows you to solve these problems:

  • Proper planning of control measures in accordance with the law.
  • Execution of intermediate and selective control of the auditor's activity.
  • Implementation of all the main stages of the procedure.
  • Facilitate the work of the auditor.
  • Possibility of carrying out a complex and holistic procedure.

You can draw up a checklist on the basis of the provisions of the Federal Law No. 307 "On Auditing" dated December 30, 2008.

Stages of internal audit

Internal audit can be divided into three stages:

  1. Preparation. Includes issuing an order, compiling a checklist.
  2. Worker. As part of it, documentation is checked for compliance with the norms of the law, interviews of employees and management.
  3. Final. A conclusion is drawn up in which the results of the procedure are prescribed.

Each of these stages has its own significance. For example, if adequate preparation is not carried out, the procedure will not be as effective in the future.

Internal audit tools

The components of an internal audit depend on the needs of the company. For example, these can be the following tools:

  • Checking the correctness of budgeting, projects and plans.
  • Analysis of existing orders for the supply of raw materials.
  • Checking the fulfillment of supply contracts.
  • Establishing the actual write-off of materials into production.
  • Establishing the correctness of calculations, checking the reflection of their results in accounting for the cost of goods.
  • Checking invoices.
  • Checking the validity of depreciation.
  • Execution of control over the movement of funds.
  • Timely reflection in accounting of all business transactions.
  • Establishing the correctness of settlements with counterparties.

This list may be supplemented. The nature of the additions is determined by the specifics of the companies' activities.

Auditors use a variety of tools in their work. For example, if invoices are checked, the following control procedure is relevant:

  • Establishing the fidelity of keeping a book of sales and purchases.
  • Analysis of invoices for missing numbers.
  • Control over the entry of all transactions in the General Ledger.
  • Checking the correctness of customer accounts.
  • Reconciliation of information from analytical and synthetic accounting.
  • Reconciliation of the dates of the performed operations with the dates indicated in the invoices.

Checking the movement of material assets is carried out through an inventory. You need to prepare for this procedure. Preparation includes these steps:

  • Drawing up a list of materials that are subject to inventory.
  • Formation of the inventory commission.
  • Obtaining a receipt that all documents related to the MPZ are in the accounting department.

Analysis of the accuracy of depreciation is performed on the basis of documents. The list of securities subject to audit includes inventory cards. The auditor may also carry out a recalculation.

Results of the internal audit

The results of the audit are recorded in the report. It contains this information:

  • List of verified documents and areas of activity.
  • Identified shortcomings.
  • Recommendations for correcting defects.
  • The person who performed the audit.

Audit reports must be kept. They can be compared with each other in order to analyze the dynamics of the company. Based on the reports, work is carried out to correct the identified shortcomings.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION! Not every employee can participate in an audit. It is desirable that the specialist had the appropriate education. You can get all the necessary knowledge in specialized courses.

In continuation of our article

strictly according to the description

Then better

audit report about financial statements

through no fault of their own, but through the fault of the audit customer.

confidential,

8 million rubles 620 thousand rubles

Second example

limitation period 15 million rubles 120 thousand rubles.

And the third example: the auditor, when checking the costs of writing off materials in a construction company, revealed discrepancies with the list of written-off materials and the list of materials specified in the acts of KS-2, signed by the customer.

Auditing: why is it needed and how is it carried out

This violation with examples was described in our report. Based on the results of its consideration and investigation of the reasons for such a discrepancy, it turned out that the chief engineer in the company with the estimator for several years wrote off non-existent materials in this way, they were received and written off in accounting, and the money received for them was the company owned by the acquaintances of the chief engineer, minus its percent was transferred back to him.

500 thousand per month 580 thousand rubles.

the cost of an audit is usuallymuch lower than the sums probable financial losses did not.


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Auditing activity implies the conduct of an audit and the provision of audit-related services.

On January 1, 2009, the new Federal Law No. 307-FZ of December 30, 2008 “On Auditing Activities” (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 307-FZ) came into force, regulating the activities of audit organizations and auditors - individual entrepreneurs.

Auditing activity implies the conduct of an audit and the provision of audit-related services, as well as services related to audit activities.

In accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 1 of Law No. 307-FZ, an audit is an independent verification of the accounting (financial) statements of an audited entity in order to express an opinion on the reliability of such statements.

The accounting (financial) statements of an audited entity are understood to be the statements provided for by Federal Law No. 129-FZ of November 21, 1996 “On Accounting” (hereinafter Law No. 129-FZ), as well as statements of a similar composition provided for by other federal laws.

Article 13 of Law No. 129-FZ defines the composition of the financial statements of organizations, which consists of:

    balance sheet;

    income statement;

    annexes to them provided for by regulatory enactments;

    an audit opinion or an opinion of the auditing union of agricultural cooperatives, confirming the reliability of the organization's financial statements, if it is subject to mandatory audit or mandatory audit in accordance with federal laws;

    explanatory note.

Organizations whose proceeds from the sale of goods (works, services) exceed 50 million rubles, and assets - 20 million rubles are subject to mandatory audit.

In order to compare revenue with the marginal value, you need to take the indicator reflected in the line "Revenue (net) from the sale of goods, products, works, services (minus value added tax, excises and similar payments)" form number 2"Gains and losses report".

Forms No. 1 and 2 were approved by the Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 22, 2003 No. 67n.

At the same time, the previous Law referred the criteria for the amount of revenue and assets established for a mandatory audit to the reporting year for which the audit was to be carried out, and Law No. 307-FZ refers these criteria to the year preceding the reporting year.

Therefore, organizations are subject to mandatory audit for 2009, whose revenue or assets exceeded the threshold values ​​at the end of 2008, regardless of the amount of revenue or assets in 2009 (even if revenue or assets fell below the established values). In case of exceeding the established criteria in 2009, the organization will have to undergo a mandatory audit only at the end of 2010.

In addition to organizations that are subject to statutory audit due to the cost criteria listed above, an annual statutory audit, regardless of these criteria, is required to conduct:

    organizations that have the organizational and legal form of an open joint stock company;

    organizations that are credit institutions, credit history bureaus, insurance companies, mutual insurance companies, commodity or stock exchanges, investment funds, state non-budgetary funds, funds whose source of funds is voluntary contributions of individuals and legal entities.

The audit can be carried out by both audit organizations and auditors - individual entrepreneurs, but organizations that plan to conduct an audit based on the results of 2009 should take into account the following restrictions that exist when choosing a potential auditor.

Mandatory audit of the accounting (financial) statements of organizations whose securities are admitted to trading on stock exchanges and (or) other organizers of trading on the securities market, other credit and insurance organizations, non-state pension funds, as well as consolidated statements, is carried out only by audit organizations. Individual auditors are not authorized to audit such organizations.

Law No. 307-FZ provides for the abolition of licensing of audit activities, but at the same time, mandatory membership of auditors and audit organizations in self-regulatory organizations (SROs) is introduced. Thus, from 01.01.2010, licenses for audit activities become invalid, and audit organizations and individual auditors who have not joined SROs are not entitled to conduct audits and provide audit-related services. A commercial organization acquires the right to carry out audit activities from the date of entering information about it in the register of auditors and audit organizations of the SRO, of which such an organization is a member. Therefore, if the organization entered into an agreement for the provision of audit services in 2009, but the audit report will be issued by the audit organization in 2010, the audited organization has the right to demand from it information about membership in the SRO, otherwise the audit report will be invalidated.

When selecting a potential auditor, the organization should take into account the principle of independence of the auditor from the entity being audited, i.e. audit cannot be carried out:

    audit organizations, the heads and other officials of which are founders (participants) of the audited entities, their officials, accountants and other persons responsible for the organization and maintenance of accounting and preparation of accounting (financial) statements;

    audit organizations, the heads and other officials of which are closely related (parents, spouses, brothers, sisters, children, as well as brothers, sisters, parents and children of spouses) with the founders (participants) of the audited entities, their officials, accountants and other persons responsible for the organization and maintenance of accounting and preparation of accounting (financial) statements;

    audit firms in relation to audited entities that are their founders (participants), in relation to audited entities for which these audit firms are founders (participants), in relation to subsidiaries, branches and representative offices of the said audited entities, as well as in relation to organizations having common with this audit organization of the founders (participants);

    audit firms, individual auditors who, during the three years immediately preceding the audit, provided services for the restoration and maintenance of accounting, as well as for the preparation of accounting (financial) statements to individuals and legal entities, in relation to these persons;

    auditors who are founders (participants) of audited entities, their managers, accountants and other persons responsible for the organization and maintenance of accounting and preparation of accounting (financial) statements;

    auditors who are close relatives of the founders (participants) of the audited entities, their officials, accountants and other persons responsible for the organization and maintenance of accounting and preparation of accounting (financial) statements (parents, spouses, brothers, sisters, children, as well as brothers, sisters, parents and children of spouses).

In addition to auditing financial statements directly, audit organizations can provide services related to audit activities, in particular (clause 7, article 1 of Law No. 307-FZ):

  1. setting, restoring and maintaining accounting records, drawing up accounting (financial) statements, accounting consulting;

    tax consulting, setting, restoration and maintenance of tax records, preparation of tax calculations and declarations;

    analysis of financial and economic activities of organizations and individual entrepreneurs, economic and financial consulting;

    management consulting, including those related to the reorganization of organizations or their privatization;

    legal assistance in areas related to auditing, including advice on legal issues, representation of the interests of the principal in civil and administrative proceedings, in tax and customs legal relations, in public authorities and local governments;

    automation of accounting and introduction of information technologies;

    appraisal activity;

    development and analysis of investment projects, preparation of business plans.

In addition to a mandatory audit, which involves an independent audit of all areas of accounting and accounting (financial) statements, an audit organization can perform, on a special assignment, an audit of the audited person's calculations for taxes and fees, or a tax audit. This type of service is compatible with a statutory audit. When conducting an audit of financial statements, the correctness of the calculation and payment of taxes is checked selectively in connection with the specifics of the audit, the purpose of which is to confirm accounting, and not tax reporting.

Tax audit - this is a check of the correctness of the preparation of declarations and calculations for all (or individual) taxes paid by the audited entity for the tax period. The amount of information that the auditor analyzes with this type of audit is disproportionately larger.

The main purpose of a tax audit is to obtain the necessary evidence and form an opinion on the completeness and reliability of information on settlements with the budget for taxes and fees paid by the organization, reflected in the financial (accounting) statements.

As part of the tax audit, the following is checked:

    the correctness of determining the object of taxation and the formation of the tax base;

    legitimacy of tax exemption for certain transactions and types of property; application of tax rates and tax benefits;

    the legitimacy of reflecting tax deductions for taxes;

    correctness of calculation and timeliness of tax payment;

    completeness and timeliness of submission of the tax declaration.

Carrying out a tax audit is relevant both for small organizations and for large organizations with an extensive network of separate divisions, because this procedure minimizes tax risks that may arise due to errors in the calculation and payment of taxes.

Expenses for the provision of audit services are recognized both in accounting (clause 5 PBU 10/99 "Expenses of organizations") and tax accounting (Article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) as of the date of signing the document on the provision of audit services. The Tax Code of the Russian Federation does not contain restrictions on the type of audit services. Letter No. 03-11-04/3/282 of June 6, 2006 of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation establishes only the requirement to provide audit services in accordance with the Law on Auditing.

How in practice?

In continuation of our article Conduct an audit- what does it mean? On mandatory and initiative audit and on some practical aspects of choosing an audit company, we will consider two more important topics: “How an audit usually works” and “What you can get from an audit”. This will help you understand what you can expect from the audit and whether it is worth doing.

1. As usual, an audit check is carried out.

So, everything is determined, the audit company is selected, the contract is signed with it. How will the audit now take place?

At a pre-agreed time, auditors will come to your office. Also, if there are few documents, the audit can also be carried out in the office of an audit firm. In this case, do not forget to transfer the documents to the auditors strictly according to the description. The accounting database can be provided in the form of an archive.

Before starting the audit, ask the auditors to send list of documents required for verification so that your accountants can have time to prepare everything on time, request from the archive. Also, your employees involved in the maintenance of information systems should arrange for the provision of auditors with either an archive of the accounting database for its subsequent installation on laptops of auditors, or access to your accounting database (its copy). At the same time, it should be established for auditors restrictions in the form of the inability to change the data of the accounting database.

Then better appoint an employee responsible for providing auditors with information and documents, and inform the auditors of his contact details, e-mail address for sending requests.

An audit usually takes from a week (for small audited firms) to a month. At the same time, auditors request the documents they need - acts, invoices, personnel documents, invoices, contracts, accounting policies, tax reporting, reconciliation acts with counterparties, tax and customs authorities, various explanations from your employees, both written and oral.

All sections of accounting are checked, auditors participate in the inventory of the company's property, if its value is significant, they check the correctness of the calculation of taxes, contributions, the compliance of your data on the state of settlements with the budget and the data of your personal account with the tax office, the data of your accounting of settlements with suppliers and buyers and data on the status of settlements received from your counterparties, the correctness of the preparation of accounting and tax reporting, compliance with tax, currency, cash, partly labor and civil legislation is checked.

As a result of the audit, the auditors in their office write report on detected violations, errors and tax risks. It describes all these things in detail and gives recommendations for their correction/reduction.

Also, when the financial statements of your company are drawn up and signed, audit report: this is a small document (3-4 pages) with official language prescribed by auditing standards, which provides an opinion of the audit organization on the financial statements of the client. Opinion precisely about financial statements- about how it accurately reflects the property status of the enterprise as of December 31 of the audited year, its financial results, the movement of its cash for the audited year.

The audit report may indicate both a positive opinion of the auditors: the financial statements are reliable, and a negative opinion or an opinion with a reservation - that the statements are unreliable for such and such a reason, or are reliable with the exception of such and such indicators. Also, auditors, after conducting an audit, may refuse to express their opinion. This happens in very rare cases when the auditors were not provided with all the documents, accounting registers, explanations they needed, so that the auditors are not able to assess the reliability of the financial statements. through no fault of their own, but through the fault of the audit customer.

The auditors bind the signed audit report with your financial statements, and in the event of a mandatory audit, you must submit this set by the end of March following the reporting year to the state statistical authorities. Also, an audit report can be provided, if necessary, to the bank, your partners, etc. The audit report is confidential, should not be provided to any third party.

2. How beneficial is it for the company to conduct an audit? What does the company get as a result?

As mentioned above, in addition to the official audit report, which you can provide to the state statistics bodies in accordance with the requirements of the law, to the bank for obtaining a loan, to investors and partners, you also receive an auditors' report.

In their report, the auditors, like doctors after examining a patient, describe identified diseases of the enterprise and give recommendations for their treatment.

An example from a recent audit– the company applied benefits on insurance premiums as an IT company. The law on social insurance contributions contains precise wording - it describes the services in the provision of which this benefit can be applied. During the audit, it turned out that in the contracts between the enterprise and its clients, acts of services rendered, the name of the services is indicated very generally, their description does not exactly correspond to the type of services specified in the law and necessary for the application of benefits. Of course, the inspectors from the funds during the audit will most likely pay attention to this, recalculate the contributions at full rates, the enterprise will have to pay additional fees, fines and penalties or litigate for a long time, while wasting time, money and nerves.

It was much easier to slightly change the wording in contracts with customers, bringing them as close as possible to the description of privileged services in the law.

In our report, we have indicated all of the above. Management decided to amend the contracts with customers, indicating in additional agreements that their terms apply to the relationship of the parties from the beginning of the contract. Acts of the rendered services began to be drawn up more informatively, and the rendered services were also described there close to the text of the law on contributions. The probability of nit-picking by fund inspectors has dropped sharply, as has the risk of additional charges. During the audit, we estimated the amount of such additional accruals of insurance premiums at 8 million rubles. The cost of the audit was 620 thousand rubles. At the same time, in addition to this risk, we found many more errors in accounting and especially shortcomings in the preparation of documents for expenses, which could result in additional accrual of income tax, penalties and interest on it. Also, partly on our recommendations, some documents on expenses were reissued.

Second example: when checking a building construction company that does not conduct any other activity, we saw that VAT received from suppliers of building materials, contractors constructing a building is accumulating and not being claimed for reimbursement. As it turned out, the accountant tried to show this VAT in the declaration, while in the absence of implementation, all this VAT turned out to be reimbursed from the budget. After that, she received a call from the tax office and was told to submit an updated declaration, removing these deductions and threatening with a tax audit.

Audit check: what to look for and where to expect a dirty trick

The firm, having decided not to get involved, submitted an updated declaration. And in the future, these deductions were not declared. Thus, VAT accumulated and accumulated, was not presented for reimbursement, and as a result amounted to about 15 million rubles.

In our report, we described this situation and recommended deducting VAT by submitting updated VAT returns for the entire period, carefully checking all invoices for which this deduction could be made and indicating the shortcomings in them. The point is that, according to the current legislation, there is limitation period, during which VAT can be presented for reimbursement from the budget. And after the expiration of this period, if the taxpayer has not declared a refund, VAT cannot be returned even through the court. Based on the results of the audit, the management of the company decided to submit revised declarations, indicating in them the VAT to be reimbursed. The tax inspectorate, of course, immediately requested all invoices for a desk audit. They, fortunately, were also put in order according to our comments. For a long time, tax inspectors did not want to return VAT to the company, they even went to inspect the building under construction, interrogated representatives of contractors, and threatened by phone. But in the end everything 15 million rubles They had to return the company. The cost of our audit was 120 thousand rubles.

And the third example

As a result, the chief engineer was fired. We do not know whether they were able to keep anything from him from the kidnapped person and whether they filed a lawsuit against him to the police or to the court. But at least further theft was prevented. And the cost of such overwritten materials amounted to 500 thousand per month, the construction firm being audited was quite large. The cost of the audit was 580 thousand rubles.

Thus, it can be seen from the above examples that the cost of an audit is usuallymuch lower than the sums probable financial losses audited enterprise that would have arisen if the audit did not.

Karpova Margarita Vladimirovna,
CEO of AuditHelp LLC, auditor

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Speaking of methods and techniques, we mean the methods or system of actions used to perform an audit. Auditing firms (individual auditors) independently choose the techniques and methods of their work. Such a right is stipulated in the law of the Russian Federation "On Auditing".

The most widely used audit methods are sampling and testing. Specific methods and techniques used in the audit process should be reflected in the working papers of the auditor.

Auditing- this is an event consisting in the collection, evaluation and analysis of audit evidence relating to the financial position of the economic entity subject to audit.

According to the method of conducting an audit, it can be: continuous; selective; combined; documentary; actual.

Solid check involves a detailed study of the entire set of primary accounting documentation, registers of analytical and synthetic accounting, the content of financial statements.

In the course of an audit by a continuous method, the data of primary documents are compared with the content of analytical accounting registers (personal accounts). Then, the correspondence of the analytical accounting data to the turnovers and balances of the synthetic accounting accounts is established.

How to work with auditors as part of the audit of annual accounts

The correctness of the reflection of balances on synthetic accounts as of reporting dates in the corresponding balance sheet items is checked.

For example, in credit institutions, when conducting a complete check of the correctness of reflecting the data of primary documents for the corresponding personal accounts, the following should be taken into account:

§ continuous verification is not always carried out due to its high labor intensity (there are thousands of personal accounts of clients in banks - settlement, loan, deposit and others);

§ reconciliation of analytical and synthetic accounting data, establishing the correspondence between synthetic accounting data and financial statements is carried out automatically.

Custom scan allows you to get fairly accurate data about the population being checked for its relatively small part. During a selective audit, the auditor checks the accounting documentation of the organization not in a continuous manner, but selectively, following the requirements of the relevant rule (standard) of audit activity.

The sample must be representative, i.e. representative. To do this, you can use one of the following methods:

§ random selection - carried out according to a table of random numbers;

§ systematic selection - is that the elements are selected at a constant interval, starting with a randomly selected number. The interval is based on a certain number of elements of the population (for example, the study of every 20th document from all documents in this category); or on their valuation (for example, that element is selected that makes up the balance or turnover, which accounts for each next million rubles in the total value of the element);

§ combined selection - is a combination of various methods of random and systematic selection.

When determining the sample size, the audit organization needs to establish the acceptable risk of the sample, calculate the permissible and expected errors, reflect in the working documentation all stages of the sample and analyze its results.

Combined check- involves a combination of methods of continuous and selective checks.

The method of continuous verification is used to audit small transactions associated with high risk. Such transactions mainly include: currency transactions, transactions with stock values, and others.

The random audit method is used to audit operations, the volume of which is quite large. Such operations include, for example: cash, settlement, economic and others.

Documentary (desk) verification- an audit limited to the study of accounting documents (primary and summary) and accounting or tax reporting of an economic entity. Such an audit does not involve an inventory, oral questioning of the personnel of the management of the audited organization, it is carried out, as a rule, without going to the audited object.

Actual check is carried out with access to the object being checked or to the audited organization.

Documentary and factual checks can be both continuous and selective or combined.

Purpose of the audit- expressing an opinion on the reliability of the financial statements of the audited entities and the compliance of the accounting procedure with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

In accordance with the results of the preliminary analysis of the enterprise, the auditor determines the method of conducting the audit, continuous or selective. If a decision is made to conduct a selective audit, the auditor forms an audit sample in accordance with the Federal Rule (Standard) of Auditing Activity No. 16 “Audit Sample” (hereinafter Federal Standard No. 16).

This standard specifies methods for selecting items to obtain audit evidence. So, the auditor can select all elements, or certain elements, or form an audit sample.

The audit sample is:

in a broad sense, a method of conducting an audit, in which the auditor checks the accounting documentation of an economic entity not in a continuous manner, but selectively, while following the requirements of the relevant rule (standard) of audit activity;

in the narrow sense, a list of selected elements of the tested population in a certain way, in order to draw a conclusion about the entire tested population based on their study.

The organization of an audit sample requires both theoretical and practical developments. The results and quality of the audit largely depend on the preparation and correct conduct of the audit sample. Federal Standard No. 16 imposes a representativeness requirement on the sample, for this it is necessary to use either random or systematic selection, or a combination of them.

In fact, based on their own judgment, auditors cannot say for sure whether the sample is representative. However, they can increase its representativeness by showing due care in determining its volume, in the selection and evaluation of the results. Thus, when preparing and implementing a spot check, the auditor faces the task of choosing a method for sampling and evaluating the results.

In doing so, he must be satisfied that the methods he uses are reliable in terms of obtaining sufficient appropriate audit evidence.

To solve the task, the auditor needs to understand the essence of statistical and non-statistical methods, their differences, advantages and disadvantages, and, as a result, options for application in specific situations.

Let us consider the sampling methods presented in the standard in more detail.

The statistical method is a sampling study that uses the mathematical apparatus of probability theory to construct a sample and evaluate it in order to formulate a conclusion about the population as a whole. The main characteristics of this method:

the sample from the population is formed randomly;

statistical methods are used to calculate and express results.

A non-statistical sampling method is defined as a sampling study in which auditors do not apply statistical methods to express results. The technology for selecting elements can be random selection or some other method that is not based on mathematical methods. Thus, choosing a non-statistical approach, the auditor relies solely on his ability to make professional judgment. He himself decides which units of the population he chooses.

The advantages and disadvantages of the approaches described above are presented in Table. 1.

It should be noted that it is acceptable to give a non-statistical estimate when using probabilistic methods, but more often they prefer not to do this, so this option is not considered in the table.

Statistical and non-statistical methods involve two similar procedures: obtaining a sample and evaluating the results. Sampling involves deciding how to select units from a population, and evaluating the results is the actual conclusions based on the audit tests of the selected units.

The relationship between the methods of obtaining a sample and evaluating the results can be expressed as follows (Table 2):

Standard No. 16 notes that the statistical and non-statistical approaches in the audit are alternative, that is, either the auditor uses only the statistical approach and the probabilistic method of obtaining a sample, or the non-statistical and improbability method. In our opinion, the auditor should use these approaches in combination, which will allow:

reduce labor costs for the study of the general population as a whole;

increase the representativeness of the sample;

adjust the sample size with minimal error.

59. Regulation of audit activity in the Russian Federation

The main regulatory act regulating auditing in Russia is Federal Law No. 119-FZ dated 07.08.2001 “On Auditing Activities”. It gives the concept of audit, audit services, defines the rights, obligations, responsibilities of the audited entities, the audit organization; disclosed requirements for certification, licensing; the bodies entrusted with control functions over compliance with the requirements of legislation in the field of audit have been determined.

Control over compliance with the law, audit standards and professional ethics can be carried out both by the authorized state body and by professional audit associations

The bodies exercising control over audit activities in Russia include:

§ an authorized federal executive body determined by the Government of the Russian Federation;

§ accredited professional audit associations.

In accordance with Art. 18 of the Federal Law of August 7, 2001 No. 199-FZ "On Auditing" on authorized federal executive body The Ministry of Finance of Russia is responsible for the following functions:

§ publication of normative acts within the limits of its competence;

§ organizing the development and submission for approval to the Government of the Russian Federation of the rules (standards) of auditing activities;

§ organization of a system of certification, training, advanced training, licensing;

§ organization of a system of supervision over compliance with license requirements;

§ monitoring compliance with federal rules (standards) of auditing activities;

§ determination of the volume and procedure for reporting on audit activities, financial reporting;

§ maintenance of the register of auditors, audit firms;

§ implementation of accreditation of professional audit associations.

According to Art. 19 of the Federal Law of 07.08.2001 No. 119-FZ “On Auditing Activities”, an Auditing Council was established under the authorized federal executive body. It is created to take into account the opinion of professional participants in the audit market and performs the following functions:

§ takes part in the preparation and preliminary review of the main documents of the audit activity and draft decisions of the Ministry of Finance of Russia;

§ develops federal rules (standards) for auditing activities, reviews them periodically and submits them for consideration to the Russian Ministry of Finance;

§ considers appeals and petitions of accredited professional audit associations and makes appropriate recommendations for consideration by the Russian Ministry of Finance.

The system of regulatory regulation of auditing activities in the Russian Federation

Publication date: 2015-02-03; Read: 6048 | Page copyright infringement

How being audited on practice?
What do the audited companies get as a result of the audit.

In continuation of our article Conduct an audit- what does it mean? On mandatory and initiative audit and on some practical aspects of choosing an audit company, we will consider two more important topics: “How an audit usually works” and “What you can get from an audit”. This will help you understand what you can expect from the audit and whether it is worth doing.

1. As usual, an audit check is carried out.

So, everything is determined, the audit company is selected, the contract is signed with it. How will the audit now take place?

At a pre-agreed time, auditors will come to your office. Also, if there are few documents, the audit can also be carried out in the office of an audit firm. In this case, do not forget to transfer the documents to the auditors strictly according to the description. The accounting database can be provided in the form of an archive.

Before starting the audit, ask the auditors to send list of documents required for verification so that your accountants can have time to prepare everything on time, request from the archive. Also, your employees involved in the maintenance of information systems should arrange for the provision of auditors with either an archive of the accounting database for its subsequent installation on laptops of auditors, or access to your accounting database (its copy). At the same time, it should be established for auditors restrictions in the form of the inability to change the data of the accounting database.

Then better appoint an employee responsible for providing auditors with information and documents, and inform the auditors of his contact details, e-mail address for sending requests.

An audit usually takes from a week (for small audited firms) to a month. At the same time, auditors request the documents they need - acts, invoices, personnel documents, invoices, contracts, accounting policies, tax reporting, reconciliation acts with counterparties, tax and customs authorities, various explanations from your employees, both written and oral.

All sections of accounting are checked, auditors participate in the inventory of the company's property, if its value is significant, they check the correctness of the calculation of taxes, contributions, the compliance of your data on the state of settlements with the budget and the data of your personal account with the tax office, the data of your accounting of settlements with suppliers and buyers and data on the status of settlements received from your counterparties, the correctness of the preparation of accounting and tax reporting, compliance with tax, currency, cash, partly labor and civil legislation is checked.

As a result of the audit, the auditors in their office write report on detected violations, errors and tax risks. It describes all these things in detail and gives recommendations for their correction/reduction.

Also, when the financial statements of your company are drawn up and signed, audit report: this is a small document (3-4 pages) with official language prescribed by auditing standards, which provides an opinion of the audit organization on the financial statements of the client. Opinion precisely about financial statements- about how it accurately reflects the property status of the enterprise as of December 31 of the audited year, its financial results, the movement of its cash for the audited year.

The audit report may indicate both a positive opinion of the auditors: the financial statements are reliable, and a negative opinion or an opinion with a reservation - that the statements are unreliable for such and such a reason, or are reliable with the exception of such and such indicators. Also, auditors, after conducting an audit, may refuse to express their opinion. This happens in very rare cases when the auditors were not provided with all the documents, accounting registers, explanations they needed, so that the auditors are not able to assess the reliability of the financial statements. through no fault of their own, but through the fault of the audit customer.

The auditors bind the signed audit report with your financial statements, and in the event of a mandatory audit, you must submit this set by the end of March following the reporting year to the state statistical authorities. Also, an audit report can be provided, if necessary, to the bank, your partners, etc. The audit report is confidential, should not be provided to any third party.

2. How beneficial is it for the company to conduct an audit? What does the company get as a result?

As mentioned above, in addition to the official audit report, which you can provide to the state statistics bodies in accordance with the requirements of the law, to the bank for obtaining a loan, to investors and partners, you also receive an auditors' report.

In their report, the auditors, like doctors after examining a patient, describe identified diseases of the enterprise and give recommendations for their treatment.

An example from a recent audit– the company applied benefits on insurance premiums as an IT company. The law on social insurance contributions contains precise wording - it describes the services in the provision of which this benefit can be applied. During the audit, it turned out that in the contracts between the enterprise and its clients, acts of services rendered, the name of the services is indicated very generally, their description does not exactly correspond to the type of services specified in the law and necessary for the application of benefits. Of course, the inspectors from the funds during the audit will most likely pay attention to this, recalculate the contributions at full rates, the enterprise will have to pay additional fees, fines and penalties or litigate for a long time, while wasting time, money and nerves.

It was much easier to slightly change the wording in contracts with customers, bringing them as close as possible to the description of privileged services in the law.

In our report, we have indicated all of the above. Management decided to amend the contracts with customers, indicating in additional agreements that their terms apply to the relationship of the parties from the beginning of the contract. Acts of the rendered services began to be drawn up more informatively, and the rendered services were also described there close to the text of the law on contributions.

The probability of nit-picking by fund inspectors has dropped sharply, as has the risk of additional charges. During the audit, we estimated the amount of such additional accruals of insurance premiums at 8 million rubles. The cost of the audit was 620 thousand rubles. At the same time, in addition to this risk, we found many more errors in accounting and especially shortcomings in the preparation of documents for expenses, which could result in additional accrual of income tax, penalties and interest on it. Also, partly on our recommendations, some documents on expenses were reissued.

Second example: when checking a building construction company that does not conduct any other activity, we saw that VAT received from suppliers of building materials, contractors constructing a building is accumulating and not being claimed for reimbursement. As it turned out, the accountant tried to show this VAT in the declaration, while in the absence of implementation, all this VAT turned out to be reimbursed from the budget. After that, she received a call from the tax office and was told to submit an updated declaration, removing these deductions and threatening with a tax audit. The firm, having decided not to get involved, submitted an updated declaration. And in the future, these deductions were not declared. Thus, VAT accumulated and accumulated, was not presented for reimbursement, and as a result amounted to about 15 million rubles.

In our report, we described this situation and recommended deducting VAT by submitting updated VAT returns for the entire period, carefully checking all invoices for which this deduction could be made and indicating the shortcomings in them. The point is that, according to the current legislation, there is limitation period, during which VAT can be presented for reimbursement from the budget. And after the expiration of this period, if the taxpayer has not declared a refund, VAT cannot be returned even through the court. Based on the results of the audit, the management of the company decided to submit revised declarations, indicating in them the VAT to be reimbursed. The tax inspectorate, of course, immediately requested all invoices for a desk audit. They, fortunately, were also put in order according to our comments. For a long time, tax inspectors did not want to return VAT to the company, they even went to inspect the building under construction, interrogated representatives of contractors, and threatened by phone. But in the end everything 15 million rubles They had to return the company. The cost of our audit was 120 thousand rubles.

And the third example: the auditor, when checking the costs of writing off materials in a construction company, revealed discrepancies with the list of written-off materials and the list of materials specified in the acts of KS-2, signed by the customer. This violation with examples was described in our report. Based on the results of its consideration and investigation of the reasons for such a discrepancy, it turned out that the chief engineer in the company with the estimator for several years wrote off non-existent materials in this way, they were received and written off in accounting, and the money received for them was the company owned by the acquaintances of the chief engineer, minus its percent was transferred back to him.

As a result, the chief engineer was fired. We do not know whether they were able to keep anything from him from the kidnapped person and whether they filed a lawsuit against him to the police or to the court. But at least further theft was prevented. And the cost of such overwritten materials amounted to 500 thousand per month, the construction firm being audited was quite large. The cost of the audit was 580 thousand rubles.

Thus, it can be seen from the above examples that the cost of an audit is usuallymuch lower than the sums probable financial losses audited enterprise that would have arisen if the audit did not.

Karpova Margarita Vladimirovna,
CEO of AuditHelp LLC, auditor

Cashiers online since 2016

The auditor is a specialist who checks the financial and tax reporting of companies, evaluates the financial efficiency of its work and gives management recommendations and advice on correcting the identified errors. In fact, the position of an auditor is akin to the position of an auditor, but there is still a difference - the auditor is an independent expert, often an entrepreneur who provides firms with documentation verification services. The specialty of an auditor is considered one of the promising professions, since such a staff of the kind is always in price.

Places of work

Auditors are key specialists of numerous audit firms cooperating with all more or less large companies that provide annual tax and financial reports to government agencies. Auditors can obtain a license and engage in private practice, which is also a fairly common and popular way of working.

In addition, many companies prefer to hire a so-called internal auditor - a specialist who checks financial documentation and all types of reporting in this particular company.

History of the profession

Even in tsarist Russia there were auditors, but then such a position meant a lawyer or secretary in the military judicial system. In the form in which we know them now, these specialists appeared relatively recently - in Russia, the audit service was formed in 1991.

Auditor's Responsibilities

The main duties of an auditor are as follows:

  • Conducting audits.

    Stages of the audit

    Drawing up reports and conclusions on their results, consulting clients.

  • Checking the correctness of the financial and tax documentation of the company (primary documents, tax and accounting reports, etc.).
  • Evaluation of the effectiveness and systems of internal control of financial and economic activities. Development of recommendations for improving business processes.
  • Evaluation of prospective financial transactions, their effectiveness and degree of risk.
  • Providing the management of the company with advice and practical assistance in managing finances and doing business.

Often the list of what an auditor does can be extended to include:

  • Tracking changes in legislation. Improving accounting and tax accounting in the company.
  • Cost control of the company by region.
  • Monitoring the performance of sales representatives of the company.
  • Identification and assessment of the risks of the company's activities, recommendations for their reduction.

Requirements for an auditor

Employers have the following requirements for the auditor:

  • Higher economic education.
  • Knowledge of the methodology for conducting audits, international standards for the activities of the auditor.
  • Knowledge of the regulatory framework and principles of tax, accounting and management accounting.
  • Good knowledge of 1C, confident PC skills.
  • Experience as an accountant or auditor.

Sometimes there are also additional requirements for applicants wishing to become an auditor in a particular company:

  • Auditor's certificate.
  • Knowledge of English at the level of Upper Intermediate.
  • Willingness to travel.

Some employers set age limits - usually they require employees aged 27-45.

Auditor Resume Sample

Resume sample.

How to become an auditor

The functions of an auditor can be successfully performed by a person with a higher economic education; ideally, auditor skills are successfully mastered by graduates of the specialty "Accounting, analysis and audit".

Auditor salary

The salary of an auditor depends on the degree of employment of a specialist, on the region of residence, as well as on the specifics of his activity (internal or independent auditor) - the amounts range from 40,000 to 130,000 rubles. At the same time, the average salary of an auditor is, as a rule, 50,000 rubles.

Where to get training

In addition to higher education, there are a number of short-term studies on the market lasting, as a rule, from a week to a year.

A modern scientific and technical academy and a number of its courses in the direction of "Accounting and audit".

Interregional Academy of the construction and industrial complex and its courses in the direction of "Accounting, analysis and audit".

In order to organize an audit within the established time frame, it is necessary to carry out certain preparatory procedures.

The process of organizing an audit includes several stages.

First of all, the auditor needs to draw up a clear plan for the upcoming work. That is, to plan the audit in such a way as to conduct it effectively within the time frame established by the contract with the audited company.

Audit planning consists of developing an overall strategy and a detailed approach to the expected nature, timing and extent of audit procedures.

Important!

In order to organize an audit, it is necessary to select the composition of specialists, appoint the head of the audit team.

When appointing the composition of specialists to conduct an audit, it is necessary to take into account:

    working time budget for each section of the audit program (the time spent by the auditor depends on the scope of the client's activities, the complexity of the audit, the auditor's experience with this audited company, and knowledge of the specifics of its activities);

    the total period of work of a group of specialists;

    qualification level of a group of specialists;

    the quantitative composition of the group of specialists;

    the need to involve experts in the audit team.

At the same time, skills and professional competence mean:

    understanding of an audit engagement and practical experience in performing audit engagements of a similar nature and complexity through training and previous work;

    knowledge and understanding of regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation and professional standards;

    knowledge in the field of information technology;

    knowledge of the industries in which the client operates;

    the ability to form professional judgment;

    understanding of the principles and procedures of quality control established in the audit company (clause 18 of standard No. 7 "Quality control of the performance of audit assignments").

Members of the audit team should understand the goals and objectives of the audit engagement they are performing.

Important!

This organization of the audit helps to ensure that the "bottlenecks" of the audit have been given the necessary attention to identify potential problems. In this case, the organization of the audit will be carried out at optimal costs, efficiently and in a timely manner.

A clear plan for the organization of the audit will effectively distribute the work among the auditors involved in the audit, as well as coordinate such work.

The head of the group agrees in advance the work schedule of the group of specialists at the client, taking into account the location and wishes of the client.

The organization of the audit also includes the development of a program for the preparation and conduct of the audit.

When organizing an audit, it should be understood that, due to its limited time, a selective method of collecting information should be used.

The auditor can:

    select all elements (solid check);

    select specific (certain) elements;

    select individual elements (form an audit sample).

The choice of sampling method or combination of sampling methods depends on the circumstances of the audit, in particular audit risk and audit effectiveness. In doing so, the auditor should be satisfied that the methods used by him are reliable in terms of obtaining sufficient appropriate audit evidence to achieve the objectives of testing.

The collection of audit evidence in the course of the audit is carried out using audit procedures. At the same time, the auditor fills in the working documentation, which is approved by internal auditing standards.

Working papers are used:

    when planning and conducting an audit;

    when exercising current control and checking the work performed by the auditor;

    to record audit evidence obtained in order to confirm the auditor's opinion (clause 4 of Standard No. 2 “Audit Documentation”).

In the process of conducting an audit, the team leader constantly exchanges information with the client in order to promptly correct the identified violations during the audit.

Prior to the issuance of an audit opinion, the audit partner should review the auditor's working papers and discuss the work with the audit team members to ensure that the audit evidence obtained is sufficient and appropriate to support the conclusions drawn.

First, the draft written information (report) of the auditor is sent to the client for review in order to draw up possible adjustments (clarifications), objections, as well as the submission of additional documents on these violations. This circumstance is due to the fact that the audit is carried out on a selective basis, as well as other limitations inherent in the audit, and there is a risk that some of the documents may not fall into the auditor's field of vision.

In the process of approving the draft report, the auditor accepts (or does not accept) the client's objections, and offers existing options for correcting errors in accounting and tax reporting. The auditor informs the client about the possible consequences of not correcting the misstatements in the statements.

The final version of the report, together with the auditor's report, is submitted to the client.

After the financial statements have been drawn up, the company must, first of all, audit the statements, that is, submit them to an audit firm for verification. Let's say right away that only certain categories of organizations are required to conduct an audit.

An audit is a verification of the reliability of financial statements. Such an audit is carried out by private audit companies or individual entrepreneurs at the expense of the company's money.

Auditing is of two types:

  • mandatory;
  • voluntary (initiative).

Mandatory audit

  • open joint stock companies (JSC);
  • firms that received in the year preceding the reporting year revenue (line code 2110 of the income statement) over 400,000,000 rubles. (excluding VAT and excises);
  • firms whose balance sheet assets (line code 1600) as of the end of the previous reporting year exceed 60,000,000 rubles;
  • banks, insurance companies, exchanges.

As a result, the audit of the financial statements for 2012 may not come as a surprise to the company. Thus, quantitative criteria are indicators of the year preceding the reporting year.

According to the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ, an audit report is not a form of a company's financial statements.

New in 2012 report

The auditor's report is submitted only to the state statistics body at the place of state registration of the company. Moreover, this must be done within a calendar year. It is not necessary to submit it simultaneously with the annual financial statements. So, to audit the statements for 2012, you have the entire 2013 year in reserve (clauses 1 and 2, article 18 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ).

But if during the year following the reporting one, the company does not submit a mandatory audit report to the "statistics", this is regarded as an independent administrative offense. It is provided for by a new article of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation - 15.37 "Evasion of a mandatory audit". The protocol is authorized to be drawn up by officials of the state statistical accounting bodies. The violating company will have to pay a fine of 700 thousand rubles. True, sanctions can be expected after a year, that is, in 2014. But one thing is clear: now it is “cheaper” to conduct a mandatory audit than to evade it.

There is also good news. Starting from 2013, it is not required to submit an audit report to the tax office. After all, it is no longer included in the financial statements. And this is fair. The fact is that it is not the reporting company itself that draws up and signs the conclusion, but the inspectors - an audit organization or an individual auditor. The auditor's report is the opinion of independent auditors on the company's financial statements.

Voluntary (proactive) audit

If the firm is not required to be audited, it can be audited on its own (proactive audit).

Most often, a voluntary audit is carried out to insure against a possible tax audit. After all, auditors not only help to detect errors in accounting and tax calculation, but also explain how to correct these errors.

New in 2012 report

In the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ (clause 1, article 14), a new name for the form was applied - a report on financial results. For the time being, the profit and loss statement is used as it (paragraph 34 of the PVBU). Moreover, starting from the reporting for 2012, non-profit organizations no longer compile this report.

Sometimes an audit is ordered by the founders to determine how conscientiously the head and chief accountant conduct the affairs of the company. The desire to conduct an audit may also arise from the head himself - for example, when changing the chief accountant. The initiator of the audit may be the chief accountant, which is especially important in cases where accounting areas are assigned to several accountants. Audit check will help to reveal how carefully subordinates keep records. And sometimes, following the results of the audit, the chief accountant has additional assistants, because it turns out that the volume of accounting operations is too large, which does not allow keeping records with sufficient scrupulousness.

Audit customers can also be organizations or individuals who plan to invest their funds in the firm. In this case, they are interested in the financial condition and solvency of a possible debtor.

In a proactive audit, your firm determines what and how auditors should audit. You can conduct both a comprehensive (that is, all reporting) and thematic (that is, individual sections of accounting or calculations for a specific tax) check, as well as determine the period that the inspectors will view.

Help for an accountant

The Internet portal will help you to submit ideal reporting this year and get away from unnecessary difficulties. www.buhgod.ru.

You can also use the popular book. With the book you will receive for free access to the Internet portal to support the submission of annual reports www.buhgod.ru .

Audit checks are selective and continuous. The first option is more common, because it is spelled out in the standards of auditing.

In a spot check, auditors look at a portion of the documents (for example, only large transactions or documents for one quarter). Based on the papers studied, the auditors conclude how well the company's accounting is conducted.

There is always a risk that auditors will not find errors. However, with spot checks, this risk increases. After all, shortcomings can be in those documents that the auditors did not look at. Therefore, audit customers often require continuous checks of all accounting documents.

It is clear that such checks are more time-consuming and, therefore, more expensive.

Checks in which auditors check one section of accounting (for example, payroll or cash transactions) are called thematic.

Tax audit is also very popular, when inspectors control the correctness of tax calculation and tax reporting of the company.