Essence and value of audit in modern conditions. Audit Significance of audit

The transition to the market, fundamental changes in the economy led to the creation of a new branch of scientific knowledge - audit.

An audit is defined as checking and confirming the correctness of maintaining the accounts of an enterprise, carried out by qualified specialists. In Russia, audit has been developed in the last 10 years.

In difficult economic conditions, during the transition to market relations, it became important to have reliable economic information about the financial and economic activities of the organization. Excluding the above, the creation of commercial structures has caused an influx of new entrepreneurs who do not have the proper experience of working in the new economic conditions, are poorly versed in legislative acts, and therefore the first violations (sometimes unintentional) appeared in compliance with the requirements of regulatory documents related to economic activity.

In connection with this, a new form of control over economic activity has arisen, including consultations on accounting issues and the correctness of tax calculations.

Audit activity - audit- represents the entrepreneurial activity of auditors (audit firms) for the implementation of independent non-departmental audits of accounting (financial) statements, payment and settlement documentation, tax returns and other financial obligations and requirements of economic entities, as well as the provision of other audit services.

Based on the foregoing, we come to the conclusion that audit activity is a broader concept, including both the audit itself (an audit to confirm the reliability of financial statements) and related services (tax consulting, analysis of financial and economic activities, forecasting issues). etc.)

The main purpose of the audit activity will be to establish the reliability of the accounting (financial) statements of economic entities and the compliance of their financial and business transactions with the regulations in force in the Russian Federation.

The significance of the audit lies in the fact that it will not only be an independent audit of financial and economic activities, but gives recommendations and proposals for improving ϶ᴛᴏ activities, expanding audit services and creating audit companies and firms at the international level.

The need for audit is related to:

• the need to obtain special knowledge to conduct inspections at a professional level;
• obtaining objective information about the state of accounting and reporting at the enterprise and its creditworthiness;
• proper conduct of business and its quality.

Auditors should also apply audit methods that will minimize audit time without sacrificing quality.

The main tasks of the audit are related to the purpose of the audit (for example, audit of funds, etc.)

The main tasks of the audit activity will be:

• checking the legality of financial and economic transactions;
• checking the status of accounting and reporting;
• verification of the reliability of the most important reporting indicators, including the balance sheet, income statement, etc.;
• study of economic activity in order to identify intra-production reserves;
• checking the status and efficiency of the use of resources (labor, financial, material)

The audit is based on civil law, administrative law, accounting.

The ultimate goal of the audit is to analyze the financial condition of the organization, its financial stability and creditworthiness.

The financial condition and stability of the organization are measured by a number of financial ratios: To solvency, To liquidity, etc.

The purpose of the audit there will be a verification of the reliability and reality of financial statements and confirmation of its ϲᴏᴏᴛʙᴇᴛϲᴛʙiya, as well as an expression of the opinion of the audit organization on the reliability of ϶ᴛᴏth reporting and its ϲᴏᴏᴛʙᴇᴛϲᴛʙiya normative acts.

Do not forget that issues related to revision, control and audit, their similarities and differences occupy an important place.

Audit and audit will be ways to organize control over the financial and economic activities of the organization. Audit and audit - ϶ᴛᴏ two approaches to the organization of control over the financial and economic activities of the organization. There are many similarities and significant differences between them.

revision- an integral part of state financial control, which establishes the legality, reliability, expediency and efficiency of business operations.

Audit- independent verification of financial statements or financial information of an economic entity in order to identify reserves and obtain conclusions about the financial condition of the enterprise.

During the audit, the shortcomings of the financial and economic activities of the audited organization will come out in order to eliminate them.

Features of revision, audit:

1. The purpose of the audit is to determine the legality of all operations and the elimination of irrational ones (the purpose of the audit is to find out how accurate the financial statements are)
2. The audit determines the sequence of procedures (during the audit, the audit scheme is mainly given)
3. In the audit, all operations are checked with the maximum arithmetic accuracy (during the audit - approximately, as it depends on the established significance of the operations and the degree of risk)
4. The legal basis of the audit will be the Administrative Code (in the case of an audit - the Civil Code)
5. The salary in the audit depends on the management of the enterprise (for audit - fee - the amount paid to the auditor by the client)
6. The auditor imposes penalties (the auditor gives advice and recommendations on how to eliminate deficiencies)

The main differences between audit and audit are presented in Table. one.

Table 1

Differences between an audit and a revision

Distinctive feature	Audit	revision
1. According to the objectives of the study	Identification of shortcomings in economic activity, provision of services, assistance in cooperation with the client, expression of an independent opinion	Identification and assessment of shortcomings for their elimination (liquidation of consequences)
2. By solving practical problems	Assisting the client in optimizing business operations	The main tasks for the suppression of abuses in economic activity and the safety of funds
3. By nature	Entrepreneurial activity	Performing activity
4. Legal feature	Civil law based on business contracts	Administrative law based on laws, instructions, orders, directives, etc.
5. Management	Connections are horizontal, voluntary	Vertical connections in the order of administrative influence and coercion
6. According to the methodology	The methodology and techniques can be used in general, only for auditing much more widely, taking into account modern requirements
7. By the principle of payment	The client or the one who needs the audit report pays	Organization administration pays
8. By sufficiency	Focus on cost-benefit ratio	Accuracy and identification of the perpetrators, the amount of damage
9. By results	Audit report and recommendations to the client	Act of audit, penalties, instructions, verification of performance

Organization of the audit service

Today in Russia, audit firms are organized in all major cities.

Audit firms may have any organizational and legal forms provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation, with the exception of the form of an open joint stock company. Auditing firms have organizational and legal forms of a closed company or a limited liability company.

The main features of the classification of audit firms are as follows:

• Nature of activity;
• scope of services provided.

According to the nature of their activities, audit firms are divided into universal and specialized.

Universal audit firms are engaged in a variety of types of work and may have several licenses for the right to conduct one or another type of statutory audit. For example, an audit in the field of general audit, banking audit, insurance, etc., services for setting up, restoring and maintaining accounting, analyzing financial and economic activities, consulting on financial, managerial and tax accounting, computerization of accounting and other services.

Specialized audit firms perform the narrowest range of work and specialize in certain types of work (for example, audits, training, etc.)

In addition to audit firms, auditors can also be involved in auditing, who must pass certification, obtain a license in a certain area for the right to conduct audits and register as entrepreneurs. Private auditors can be engaged in both universal and specialized activities. Auditors and audit firms may not engage in any business activities other than auditing and other related activities. Both universal and specialized firms must perform the main type of service - a statutory audit.

According to the volume of services provided, audit firms are divided into large, medium, small. Universal firms are most often large and medium. In Russia, mainly small and medium-sized audit firms are created. For example, a small company - up to 10 people, medium - 10-15 people, large - 50 and more.

In a large audit firm, there are deputy heads, who report to ϲᴏᴏᴛʙᴇᴛϲᴛʙ departments (for example, departments for types of audit and related services)

Except for the above, for accounting purposes, the company has an accounting department, and for the implementation of economic activities - an administrative and economic department, an editorial and publishing department is engaged in publishing activities.

Small audit organizations may have a simplified two-level management system - the head of the audit organization and auditors reporting to him.

Do not forget that an important direction of audit checks is the use of pre-prepared basic methods (intracompany standards) for checking on ϲᴏᴏᴛʙᴇᴛϲᴛʙ accounting sections and accounts.

Based on all of the above, we come to the conclusion that the main activities of audit firms will be:

• conducting inspections;
• setting up accounting;
• accounting for enterprises and organizations;
• control of accounting and preparation of accounting (financial) statements;
• improvement of the organization of accounting, its improvement;
• financial analysis, consulting services (in the field of banking, tax, etc., economic legislation, investment activities, etc.);
• holding seminars, advanced training of accounting personnel;
• training of accounting staff;
• publication of methodological manuals on accounting, taxation, analysis, audit;
• evaluation of economic and investment projects;
• accounting automation.

This list can be expanded and supplemented, but it is obvious: even at present, audit firms perform a wide variety of services.

Questions for self-examination

1. What is the essence of an audit?
2. What is the need and need for an audit?
3. What are the purpose and objectives of an audit?
4. How are accounting firms formed?
5. What is the structure of the audit system?
6. Who determines the procedure for issuing and revoking audit licenses?
7. What types of services do audit firms provide?

By the way, the stages of formation and development of audit

Timeline of audit development

Auditing began to develop in the 14th century, when ledgers began to appear in court. In the XVI century. book data is controlled.

The birthplace of the audit will be Great Britain (Scotland), where in 1844 a series of company laws was issued.

In 1853, the Edinburgh Audit Institute was established (in France, the Audit Institute was established in 1862, in the USA - in 1937)

Since 1905, the formation of the profession of an auditor begins. In the 70s of the XX century. International auditing standards began to be issued, in which changes and additions were made up to the present time.

Today, in all countries with a market economy, there is a public audit institution with its legal and organizational infrastructure.

In Russia, the title of auditor was introduced under Peter I in the army, where the positions of an auditor combined the duties of a clerk, secretary and prosecutor. Since 1867, with the introduction of military judicial reform in Russia, the position of an army auditor was abolished.

Attempts to create an audit institute with examinations in Russia were made in 1889, 1909, 1912, 1928. (Institute of State Accountants-Experts), but they all ended in failure due to the lack of a mechanism for the action of these financial control bodies and the economic prerequisites for auditing. Material published on http: // site

In Russia, an important feature for the creation of the audit was the transition to a market economy. In 1987, in ϲᴏᴏᴛʙᴇᴛϲᴛʙii, with the decision of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, the first audit firm Inaudit was established, which was privatized in 1991.

Since 1987, with the creation of this company, the formation of audit in Russia begins, but the official date is 1991 (transition to a market economy)

The activity of auditors in Russia, as well as in other countries of the market economy, is regulated on the basis of laws.

In 1993, audit received a legal basis - the Provisional Rules for Auditing were introduced (Decree of the President of Russia No. 2263 of December 22, 1993)

Since 1998, the development of norms and standards has begun in relation to the conditions of Russia, while the development of norms and standards abroad dates back to the 70s.

Since 1999, separate volumes of the Encyclopedia of General Auditing have been published.

Audit in our country is beginning to gain momentum.

Auditing can be carried out by individuals licensed to carry out such activities. Material published on http: // site
The Audit Committee under the President of the Russian Federation determines the procedure for issuing and revoking licenses, organizes work on the development of standards and recommendations in the field of audit, accounting, and economic analysis. Licenses are issued for conducting: banking audit; audit of insurance organizations; audit of stock exchanges, off-budget funds and investment institutions; general audit. Having one license, for example for a general audit, does not give the right to conduct a banking audit without a valid license.

It should be noted that the creation of audit and audit firms in Russia had the following directions:

• in early 1990, foreign firms dominated the market for audit firms;
• currently, leadership is shifting to domestic firms, which have begun to work together with large international clients.

Questions for self-examination

1. What is the essence and significance of an audit?
2. What is the purpose, objectives and need for an audit?
3. What are the similarities and differences between revision and audit?
4. What is the role and tasks of audit firms?
5. What are the features of audit in Russia?

Types of audit

Within the framework of international practice, as well as in our country, the audit is divided into: internal, external, initiative and mandatory.

Internal audit is considered as part of the overall system of management and control over the production and economic activities of the organization.
It is worth noting that it is carried out at the discretion of the management.

The tasks of the internal audit will be:

• checking the accuracy of records;
• control over the safety of funds;
• prevention of errors and abuses;
• strict adherence to control procedures;
• control over the execution of tasks;
• determining the effectiveness of individual operations;
• reliability, objectivity, completeness of financial (accounting) reporting;
• efficiency and evaluation of financial and economic activities during the audit;
• development of proposals for improving accounting and analysis;
• compliance with regulatory legal acts and standards.

The scope of internal audit work should be determined by management independently of the work of external auditors.

The role of internal audit has changed. So, at first, there was control over information, its processing, then internal control over the quality of information, the effectiveness of the methodology for analyzing information began to increase.

Internal audit is often called on-farm audit, it will be the information base for external audit. Internal audit is carried out continuously during the business process.

The main task of internal audit is to help the employees of the enterprise to perform their duties and duties in a qualified manner.

It is carried out to carry out self-control over the level of prime cost, distribution costs, quality of products and work, etc.

The internal auditor prepares information on the financial and economic activities of the enterprise, the correctness of reporting and posting accounts, etc.

Internal auditors will traditionally be employees who are on the staff of the enterprise and report to its management.

The tasks that the internal audit service should perform determine the functions of the employees of the ϶ᴛᴏ service and their professional and qualification composition:

1. Implementation of periodic control over the financial and economic activities of the audited organizations.

   Performing this task, the internal auditor studies the accounting and control system, assesses the effectiveness of its functioning using various techniques (sampling, scanning, etc.). The auditor checks the legal validity of the operation and the optimality of taxation, assesses the significance of the errors found.

2. Conducting a financial and economic analysis of the organization's activities and developing its financial strategy. When performing the second task, the auditor conducts an express analysis of the financial and economic activities of the organization, assesses its solvency and financial stability, and makes recommendations on the strategy of financial and economic activities. Material published on http: // site
3. Advisory services in the field of accounting and taxation, as well as in matters of law and other services in the profile of the audit service - one of the most common types of services. An accountant engaged in current work may need professional assistance in unusual or rare economic situations, as well as significant changes in legislation, the performance of this service can also be attributed to the tasks of the internal audit service.

As a result of the audit, analysis and consultation by the internal audit service, the organization will be prepared for audit by external auditors, tax authorities and other control bodies.

The third task is performed by the internal auditor as needed. Certified auditors, as well as specialists in legal issues, taxation and analysis can be involved in its solution.

Internal audit is divided into:

• managerial - checking and improving the system of internal control and enterprise management, assessing the efficiency of production and financial investments.

  Management audit is performed by an independent auditor and will be one of the types of consulting services;

• economic activity - a systematic analysis of the economic activity of an enterprise, carried out to assess the effectiveness of management and identify reserves, develop recommendations for identified reserves. An audit of economic activity can be carried out at the request of the administration, at the request of government agencies.
• on ϲᴏᴏᴛʙᴇᴛϲᴛʙi requirements is to determine the financial or economic activity of the applicable laws and regulations (conducted by internal or external auditors);
• financial statements - verification of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted standards. The result will be the preparation of an audit report, where the auditor expresses his opinion on the ϲᴏᴏᴛʙᴇᴛϲᴛʙ and the reporting provided, the correct accounting and business analysis and is carried out mainly by independent auditors;
• special - verification of compliance by an economic entity with certain procedures, for example, tax reporting, the use of special funds, etc.

Based on all of the above, we come to the conclusion that internal audit is determined by management: its role changes from checking and preventing losses to analyzing the quality of information systems.

Internal audit provides the management of the enterprise with information about the financial and economic activities of the enterprise, contributes to the creation of a highly efficient accounting and internal control system that prevents violations and confirms the reliability of the reports of the enterprise and its structural divisions.

The existing external audit system is aimed primarily at protecting the interests of enterprises and organizations, shareholders, as well as counterparties (banks, insurance organizations, suppliers, buyers, etc.)

External audit - ϶ᴛᴏ independent control, carried out by highly qualified specialists in the field of accounting, control and analysis of economic activity, who have a ϲᴏᴏᴛʙᴇᴛϲᴛʙa license or certificate. An audit is carried out by independent auditors on the basis of contracts and the preparation of a ϲᴏᴏᴛʙᴇᴛϲᴛʙ statement confirming the reliability of the financial statements and the effectiveness of the results achieved in accordance with the current standards, the correctness of accounting. The object of the external audit will be the financial and economic activities of the enterprise. An external audit may make recommendations to the client. Auditors at ϶ᴛᴏm use modern forms of calculations based on economic and mathematical statistical methods of analysis.

For a clearer understanding of these types, we use the scheme for conducting internal and external audits (Table 2.)

table 2

Differences in conducting internal and external audit

Distinctive feature	Internal audit	External audit
1. By object	Determined by management in order to avoid losses. Today, the audit is aimed at the quality of information systems	Determined by the contract. The audit of financial statements and the reliability of information prevails
2. According to the qualifications of the personnel	Less independence, professional control	High degree of independence, high professional level
3. According to the methodology	There is much in common in the methodology and methods of analysis, however, with an external audit - a more detailed level of research, the use of modern methods of calculation based on computer technology
4. According to the purpose of the study	Determined by the management of the enterprise	Determined based on external needs
5. Reporting	Before management	To third parties
6. By time	continuously	1 time per year

The main tasks of the external audit will be:

• verification and conclusion on the reliability of the financial statements of the enterprise;
• assessment of ongoing business transactions and their compliance with legislation and regulations;
• the quality of accounting;
• verification of the correctness of economic calculations (cost, profit, its distribution);
• analysis of the financial condition of the enterprise;
• assessment of liquidity, solvency, financial stability and solvency;
• setting up accounting, providing practical assistance in its improvement;
• providing advice on various issues;
• recommendations for improving accounting and business activities. Material published on http: // site

An external audit is carried out by audit firms or individual auditors in order to objectively assess the reliability of accounting and financial statements of the audited object; There are types of external audit: initiative and mandatory.

Initiative audit (or voluntary) - ϶ᴛᴏ verification of the financial and economic activities of the client at his request.

The reason is staff turnover at the enterprise, low qualification of accounting personnel, especially at newly formed enterprises, and other reasons.

The heads of enterprises and firms facing such problems themselves turn to audit firms about the need for an audit (in order to check the quality of the work of the accounting apparatus, to verify the reliability of reporting, etc.)

An initiative audit can be thematic, and the audit can be selective or comprehensive.

Mandatory audit - is carried out in accordance with legislative acts. It is worth noting that it will be comprehensive and can be carried out on behalf of state bodies determined by the Provisional Rules. Evasion of a mandatory audit leads to a penalty or a fine, the amounts go to the republican budget. The purpose of a mandatory audit is to confirm the reliability of financial statements. If an audit firm has previously provided services to this enterprise, then it cannot conduct a mandatory audit.

Questions for self-examination

1. What types of audit do you know?
2. What is internal audit and how is it carried out, what are its tasks?
3. Who conducts an external audit, its purpose and objectives?
4. What types of internal audit do you know?
5. What is meant by mandatory and proactive audit?

Legislative and regulatory framework for audit

The development of audit abroad and in Russia has led to the need for unification of audit activities. Material published on http: // site
As a result, standards began to be developed, first within the national framework, then on an international scale. At the heart of modern audit are theoretical concepts that involve the use of postulates that determine the audit methodology. Postulates are scientifically based provisions that regulate the main, important points of auditing standards.

The organization of audit activity in Russia is formed taking into account the experience that has developed in world practice. It is worth saying that standards play an important role for a quality audit. The standards define the requirements for auditors, for the general approach to conducting an audit, for reflecting the results of an audit.

The value of auditing standards is essentially that they have the following features:

• if they are observed, the high quality of the audit is ensured;
• promote the introduction of new scientific achievements into audit practice;
• determine the actions of the auditor in specific conditions;
• help users understand the audit process;
• facilitate the work of auditors.

The standards are divided into:

1. General patterns (postulates)
2. General standards.
3. Working (special) standards.
4. Reporting standards.

General patterns (postulates) include a general approach to the audit - ϲᴏᴏᴛʙᴇᴛϲᴛʙ standards, consistency, access to information, management responsibility, etc., and serve as a scheme for auditors to form an independent opinion and draw up an audit report.

General standards define the quality and degree of qualifications that an auditor must have, in other words, the standards of conduct for auditors.

To the general standards ᴏᴛʜᴏϲᴙt: independence, confidentiality, competence, objectivity, due attention.

The independence of the auditor is due to the fact that he will not be an employee of a state institution, is not subordinate to the control and audit bodies and does not work under their control, complies with audit standards, and does not have any property or personal interests in the audited enterprise.

The auditor, therefore, must be independent, have access to all audit documents and the right to obtain the necessary information.

Confidentiality is the most important requirement when conducting an audit. The auditor should not provide any information to any authority about the economic activities of the audited company. For the disclosure of the secrets of their clients, the auditor is liable under the law, as well as moral, and if provided by the contract, material responsibility.

Competence is related to the fact that the auditor must have the necessary professional qualifications, take care of maintaining it at the proper level, and comply with the requirements of regulatory documents. The auditor must be sufficiently competent in the main issues of the audit and should not provide services to the client if he does not have sufficient qualifications.

He must use economic, statistical and mathematical methods of analysis, factor analysis models, skillfully apply new information technologies in auditing. Material published on http: // site

The auditor must be sufficiently objective in conducting the audit. This quality is closely related to internal control. The better the control is organized, the more objective its accounting and reporting data. A good control system eliminates the possibility of abuse, unforeseen losses, fraud, etc.

Due diligence is related to the fact that the auditor must act with due diligence in the audit process and be extremely careful in dealing with the standard. The auditor must be prepared for possible forgeries, additions, various violations, be able to resist them.

These are the general auditing standards.

Working (special) standards - ϶ᴛᴏ rules by which the auditor is guided when performing the audit.

Working standards include:

1. Planning, control and documentation.
2. Examination and evaluation of the accounting and internal control system during the audit.
3. Audit in the conditions of computer processing of information.
4. Document analysis.

Let's explore these directions.

The auditor should plan the audit in order to improve the quality of the audit. The auditors also exercise control over the verification of members of the audit team. Attention is paid to internal control in the evaluation of accounting and reporting, as well as risk assessment.

The basis for the verification will be reliable information obtained during the verification.

The auditor for an objective opinion must be confident in good quality information.

Evidence can be: internal, received from the client, and external - from third parties and other organizations.

More valuable will be external evidence (statements from the client's bank accounts, etc.), as well as evidence obtained by the auditor himself, taking into account the risk.

Collecting evidence, the auditor: 1) checks the arithmetic calculations of the client; 2) participates in the inventory of individual business transactions; 3) checks the documents received from the client.

Computer processing of data affects three aspects of the audit: 1) planning; 2) assessment of the risk of control inefficiency; 3) collection of factual data on the details of business transactions.

Of greatest importance are the features of planning and control when using computer systems, testing control procedures and collecting data on business transactions.

The auditor completes the analysis of working standards with an analysis of documents (for example, he analyzes documents related to profit growth, determines unprofitable operations at ϶ᴛᴏm, monitors the correct distribution of profits)

Reporting Standards- with their help, the auditor can determine whether the audited financial statements conform to generally accepted accounting principles. The auditor should express ϲʙᴏ's opinion on their reliability or state the reasons why ϶ᴛᴏ's opinion cannot be expressed.

Reporting standards include: the auditor's report on the audit of financial statements, types of audit reports, written information from the auditor to the management of the economic entity on the results of the audit.

These standards will be extremely important, the type and content of the reports should be known not only to the auditors themselves, but also to all users of the reporting, confirmed by the audit report.

Auditing standards can be presented in the form of a diagram (Fig. 1)

1. Patterns (postulates)
   • Compliance
   • Consistency, impartiality
   • Internal controls
   • Accountability
   • Access to the information
   • Management Responsibility
   • Activity control + improvement of inspection technique
2. General standards
   • Objectivity
   • Independence
   • Competence, due attention, etc.
3. Working standards (quality of inspection)
   • Test planning (preparation)
   • Supervision and control Internal controls
   • Information (evidence)
   • Document Analysis
4. Reporting Standards
   • in form - title, date, signature, obligations of the parties
   • by content - completeness, legal basis, ϲᴏᴏᴛʙᴇᴛϲᴛʙie
   • standards, modern calculation methods

Figure No. 1. Scheme of auditing standards

Based on all of the above, we come to the conclusion that the reporting standards, the report (or conclusions) must have an addressee, title, signature and date.

When formulating the conclusion, the auditor should pay attention to the significance of the issues, the nature of the activity of the audited enterprise.

Do not forget that it will be important to say that the auditor's opinion depends on his interests (professional, moral)

Additions to these generally accepted standards are periodically issued.

Specific standards can be used in the audit in certain areas of activity, for example, audit standards for banks, insurance organizations, etc.

With the development of market relations and the transformation of individual audit organizations into large international groups, it became necessary to unify auditing on an international scale.

Despite the undoubted achievements in the field of creating international auditing standards, it is too early to say that true uniformity has already been achieved. Modern international standards can be considered as a combination of national and regional ones that have mutual influence, since national legislation in this area varies significantly in different countries. Moreover, the leaders in this area, as well as in the service sector in general, will be industrialized countries.

A number of organizations are involved in the development of professional requirements at the international level.
It should be noted that the main organization will be the International Committee of Auditing Practice, operating within the framework of the International Federation of Accountants, which was established in 1977. At the same time, Russia is not included in this organization. Different countries apply international standards differently.

In Russia, the development of auditing standards (taking into account international standards) is led by the Research Financial Institute of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, which began work in this direction in 1993. Ten standards were selected, which were extremely important to develop in the first place:

1. Basic principles of audit.
2. Objectives and scope of the audit of financial statements.
3. Auditor's report on the audit of financial statements.
4. Types of audit reports.
5. Letter of commitment on consent to the audit.
6. Audit evidence (types, sources and methods of obtaining)
7. The auditor's actions when fraud or errors are detected.
8. Using the work of an expert.
9. information for guidance.
10. Date of the audit report, events after the balance sheet, discovery of facts after the release of the financial statements.

In general, it was supposed to create four groups of Russian analogues based on the standards developed by the International Committee on Auditing Standards:

1. General Auditing Standards.
2. Working standards in 1 audit.
3. Reporting standards.
4. Specific standards used for auditing in particular industries.

The problem of ϲᴏᴏᴛʙᴇᴛϲᴛʙiya of Russian audit firms with international auditing standards is all the more relevant due to fierce competition in the Russian market from large Western firms.

Leading Russian firms tend to become clients of Western companies. Therefore, Russian audit firms face a very acute issue of compliance with international auditing standards in order to make real competition to Western companies.

Russian audit firms attract clients with lower prices and greater attention to the wishes of clients. The advantage of Western firms is a big name and a strong reputation.

With ϶ᴛᴏm, the quality of services provided by Russian auditors is usually no worse than that of Western colleagues. At the same time, the development of its own Russian market is largely hampered by the absence of a number of legally fixed standards for auditing, which would become a guideline for all firms and would establish criteria for the professional responsibility of auditors.

The peculiarities of the application of audit standards in Russia and the specifics of audit as a whole are largely due to the fact that Russian audit has historically emerged on the basis of the work of control and audit bodies, in which there were both positive and negative aspects.

It is important to note that one of the shortcomings of the work of such services will be a narrow departmental approach, as a result of which a lot of attention during checks was paid to finding minor errors, which should have demonstrated the meticulousness of the inspectors, and major omissions were often “turned a blind eye” if it was not about theft. The fact that the Russian audit in many respects "grew" out of revision checks led to a distortion of the very concept of "audit".

Often, the purpose of an audit is not understood to be confirmation of reporting, but detection of theft, search for financial abuse, verification of the correctness of tax calculations and the timeliness of transferring taxes to the budget.

The national system of Russian standards, according to leading scientists, should include 59 rules, of which 46 will be analogues of international auditing standards (MCA), and an additional 13 standards are purely Russian. As an example for comparison, we give a table of domestic and international auditing standards (moreover, a number of standards have already been published and approved by the audit commission under the President of the Russian Federation)

Do not forget that it will be important to say that Russian standards are more detailed and section XI "Education and training" refers entirely to Russian standards (Table 3)

Table 3

Comparative characteristics of domestic and international auditing standards (ISA) s

No. p / p	Numerical value of ISA documents	ISA Standards (International Auditing Standards)	Domestic rules (standards) of audit activity
I. Introductory remarks
1	100	Foreword to ISA and Related Services	Foreword to Auditing Standards
2	110	Glossary of terms	List of terms and definitions used in the rules (standards) of auditing
3	120	General Structure of the ISA	General structure of auditing rules
4			Characteristics of related audit services and requirements for them
5	-	-	Organization and procedure of the auditor
6	-		Requirements for internal standards of audit organizations
II. A responsibility
7	200	Objectives and Guidelines Related to an Audit of Financial Statements	Objectives and basic principles related to the audit of financial statements
8	210	Terms of audit engagements	Letter - an obligation of the audit organization on consent to the audit
9	-	Quality control of work during the audit	Intracompany audit quality control
10	-	-	External Quality Control Audit
11	230	Documentation	Audit Documentation
12	240	Fraud and error	The actions of the auditor in identifying misstatements in financial statements
13	250	Accounting for laws and regulations in the audit of financial statements	Verification of compliance with regulations during the audit
14			Rights and obligations of audit organizations and audited economic entities
15	-		The procedure for concluding contracts for the provision of audit services
III. Planning
16	300	Planning	Audit planning
17	310	Business Knowledge	Understanding the activities of an economic entity
18	320	Materiality in audit	Materiality and audit risk
IV. Internal control
19	400	Risk Assessments and Internal Controls	Study and evaluation of accounting and internal control systems during the audit
20	401	Audit in the environment of computer and information systems	Audit in the conditions of computer data processing
21	402		Audit Features Applicable to Legal Entities Using Service Organizations
V. Audit evidence
22	500	Audit Evidence	Audit Evidence
23	501		Audit evidence - additional consideration for specific cases
24	510	Initial Jobs - Opening Balances	Primary audit of initial and comparative indicators of financial statements
25	520	Analytical procedures	Analytical procedures
26	530	Audit sample	Audit sample
27	540		Audit of estimated values ​​in accounting
28	550	Related organizations	Posting transactions with related assemblies during posting
29	560	Subsequent events	The date of signing the auditor's report and reflecting in it the events that occurred after the date of preparation and presentation of financial statements
30	570	ongoing activity	Applicability of the going concern assumption
31	580	Management Statements	Explanations provided by the management of the audited economic entity
VI. Using the work of third parties
32	600	Using the work of another auditor	Using the work of another audit organization
33	610	Accounting for the work of the internal auditor	Studying and using the work of the internal auditor
34	620		Using the work of an expert
VII. Conclusions and reports in the audit
35	700	Auditor's report on financial statements	The procedure for drawing up an audit report on financial statements
36	710	Comparable values	Comparable values ​​(under development)
37	720	Other information contained in documents related to financial statements subject to audit	Other information in documents containing audited financial statements
38			Written information of the auditor to the management of the economic entity based on the results of the audit
VIII. Specialized areas
39	800	Auditor's opinion on special audit engagements	The opinion of the audit organization on special audit assignments
40	810	Examining Forecast Financial Information	Verification of pro forma financial information
41	-	-	Bank Specific Auditing Standards
42	-	-	Specific standards of insurance activity
43			Specific Auditing Standards for Exchanges, Extrabudgetary Funds and Investment Institutions
IX. Related services and tasks
44	910	Tasks for the audit of financial statements	Tasks for checking financial statements
45	920	Assignments to perform agreed-upon procedures related to financial information	Law on Compliance with Consistent Procedures Related to Accounting Information
46	930		Financial Compilation Engagements
X. Worth mentioning - position on international audit practice
47	1000		Intrabank confirmation procedures
48	1001		Means of computer information systems - individual microcomputers
49	1002		Computer Information Systems Tools - Online (ON) Systems
50	1003		Means of computer information systems - database systems
51	1004		Relationship between bank controllers and external auditors
52	1005		Small Business Audit Features
53	1006		Audit of international commercial banks
54	1007	Communication with management	Communication with the management of the economic entity
55	-	-	Tax audit and communication with tax authorities
56	1008		Risk assessments and internal control - characterization and accounting of the environment of computer information systems
57	1009		Note that the technique of conducting an audit using computers
XI. Education and training
58	-	-	Auditor education
59			Programs of qualified exams, the procedure for passing these exams, the formation of examination commissions and the rules of their work

Questions for self-examination

1. What is meant by auditing standards?
2. Name the types of audit standards.
3. What are the general standards?
4. What work standards do you know? What is their meaning?
5. List the reporting standards. What is their essence?
6. What is included in the classification of standards?
7. What is the difference between Russian auditing standards and international ones?

Rights, duties and responsibilities of the auditor

The rights and obligations of auditors and customers of audit services are determined by the Law "On Auditing" dated August 7, 2001 No. 119-FZ.

Understanding auditors and their clients ϲʙᴏ their rights and obligations (as well as the contradictions between their interests) has ϲʙᴏ and features. Do not forget that it will be important to say that the rights and obligations of auditors and their clients in the conditions of Russia are extremely important to study in detail, test in practice, solve and debug within the framework of creating a legal economy as a whole. This will be resolved over time.

An audit is carried out by individuals or legal entities licensed to conduct an audit. Auditors (individuals) may engage in audit activities as part of an audit firm by entering into an employment agreement with it, or independently by obtaining an audit license.

Auditors and audit firms are not entitled to:

1. Engage in any business activity, except for auditing and related.
2. Transfer the information obtained during the audit to third parties.
3. Conduct an audit if there are relatives at the audited enterprise, as well as acquire shares of the audited enterprise. There are four types of licenses (general audit, banking, insurance, other organizations)

There are three types of liability:

• responsibility to the client;
• liability based on civil law;
• criminal responsibility.

In the process of conducting audits, the auditor has the right to:

1. Independently determine the forms and methods of auditing (based on the requirements of regulations, specific terms of the contract, etc.)
2. Check in full the documentation on financial and economic activities (accounting books, cash documents, securities, etc.)
3. It is worth saying - to receive from third parties all the information necessary to fulfill the objectives of the audit (upon a written request)
4. It is worth saying - to receive all the necessary clarifications on emerging issues or additional information.
5. Engage highly qualified specialists on a contractual basis (in the field of accounting and analysis of economic activity, etc., except for persons working at the audited enterprise)
6. Refuse to conduct an audit in special cases (failure to provide the necessary information for verification, criminal situation, etc.)
7. Provide audit-related services.

Responsibilities of auditors

Considering the duties of auditors and audit firms, it should be borne in mind that they carry out financial control and their functions do not include tax control, as well as control over the formation and use of social insurance and security funds and other off-budget funds. Based on ϶ᴛᴏgo, auditors mainly check accounting or financial statements (balance sheet with annexes, i.e. 5 forms of annual reporting), confirming its reality and validity. Excluding the above, the audit only covers those business transactions of the economic entity, which are documented. Business operations that are not documented will be the area of ​​activity of other bodies.

As a result, the auditor is required to:

1. Strictly comply with the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation, as well as the rules - audit standards.
2. Immediately inform the customer, as well as the state body that ordered the audit, of the impossibility of his participation in the audit or the need to involve additional auditors in the audit.
3. Perform ϲʙᴏ functions impartially.
4. Ensure the safety of documents during the audit and not disclose their content without the consent of the owner (manager) of the economic entity.
5. Based on the principles of integrity, honesty, goodwill. Material published on http: // site
6. Draw up an audit opinion and written information (auditor's report) in ϲᴏᴏᴛʙᴇᴛϲᴛʙii with approved standards.
7. Contribute to the growth of the authority of ϲʙᴏ her profession in society.

For a better understanding of the rights and obligations of auditors, we will reflect in the diagram (Fig. 2)

Figure No. 2. Rights and obligations of the auditor

To successfully perform ϲʙᴏ and duties, the auditor must meet a number of requirements. The directive of the International Audit Service indicates the following principles that must be observed during the audit: integrity, objectivity, independence, secrecy, qualifications and competence, job organization and integrity. A necessary requirement for an auditor is the presence of proper education. The International Federation of Accountants notes that key issues that should be carefully considered will be the objectives of the audit, its concepts, evidence, practices and procedures, as well as the rights, duties and responsibilities of auditors.

It is important to note that one of the main distinguishing features of a professional auditor is his understanding of responsibility "to the public. The necessary minimum rules of conduct are mandatory. Ethical behavior is not just the observance of certain prohibitions. The rules of data require strict adherence to the principle of respect for customers to the detriment personal interests of the public accountant (auditor)

Professional data requirements for auditors include:

1. honesty;
2. objectivity;
3. goodwill;
4. professional competence;
5. confidentiality of information.

The requirement of independence will be a prerequisite for the audit (these requirements are detailed in the topic on audit standards) Professional data requirements for auditors are reflected in the auditor data code, which was adopted by the Audit Council under the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation on August 28, 2003 behavior of auditors and basic requirements for audits.

The auditor takes a qualifying exam for the right to carry out audit activities. Material published on http: // site
Both the audit firm and the auditor can thus conduct an audit with the issuance of a formal audit report only if they have a license.

Individuals with an economic or legal education (higher or specialized secondary), with at least 3 years of work experience out of the last 5 as an auditor, a specialist in an audit firm, an accountant, an economist, a head of an enterprise, are allowed to be certified. Persons convicted by a court verdict are not allowed to attestation.

Certification is assigned to the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation for the audit of enterprises, organizations, stock exchanges, investment, pension, public and other funds, as well as citizens engaged in independent entrepreneurial activities. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation - to check banks, credit organizations, their unions, etc.

Certification is carried out on the basis of educational and methodological centers for training and retraining of auditors (AMU), the list of which is determined by the commission on audit activities under the President of the Russian Federation. Exams are held according to uniform programs.

It is worth saying that the regulation on licensing by types of auditor was approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of September 23, 2002 No. 190 “On licensing audit activities”.

Certification is carried out on the basis of educational and methodological centers (with representatives of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, teachers of the Moscow Financial Academy under the Government of Russia). The license is issued for a period of 5 years. The work on certification of auditors and issuance of licenses is carried out by the Central Licensing Commissions established under the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the Federal Service of Russia for Supervision of Insurance Activities.

Questions for self-examination

1. What are the rights of auditors?
2. What are the responsibilities of auditors?
3. Who certifies and licenses auditors?
4. Draw up a diagram "Rights and obligations of auditors", disclose its content.

Audit- This is an independent audit of the activities of a single organization in order to study the reliability of the company's financial statements. This procedure is also subject to all processes taking place within the company, manufactured products, as well as ongoing projects.

An audit is not an identification of a control check. The goals pursued by these procedures are not identical. The main task of an audit is to identify errors and assist in their elimination.

Description of the audit in simple words

An audit is similar to a revision, only it differs in some things. An audit is a voluntary audit of an organization, which is most often needed in order to improve financial performance. Revision is a compulsory procedure. And it is needed in order to find shortcomings, eradicate them and punish the guilty.

Information from Wikipedia

Types of audit

There are several variations of this type of check. We are talking about mandatory, external, internal, as well as initiative audit. Each of them has its own differences and pursues certain goals and objectives.

Mandatory audit

In order to check the maintenance of financial statements of a single enterprise. Such checks can be organized exclusively by audit companies. They are held at least once a year. This procedure is regulated by the established acts of legislation. At the end of the audit, a decision is made regarding the confirmation or refutation of the reliability of the company's financial statements.

External audit

It is not a mandatory procedure, but it takes place with the involvement of third-party specialists in order to obtain the most objective result. It is carried out at the discretion of the governing bodies and can help in resolving the issue of optimizing the entire workflow. The advantage of such a check is the complete disinterest of controlling persons.

Internal audit

A procedure that is carried out exclusively by the own forces of a single company. Internal audit is designed to protect the interests of investors and managers by monitoring how the company's employees comply with professional standards. This allows to ensure an appropriate level of reliability, as well as to minimize possible risks in the course of the organization's activities.

Initiative audit

This type of review is carried out solely at the discretion of management. The main goals pursued in this case are the identification of shortcomings that may appear in the conduct of accounting. Also, an initiative audit allows you to identify shortcomings in reporting or taxation.

Some types of audits have something in common with certification. At the same time, this procedure can help not only in normalizing the work of regulatory authorities, but also in an objective assessment of the financial and economic activities of a single organization. The high frequency of inspections allows to increase the level of confidence in the financial statements on the part of investors. An audit allows you to identify possible errors and minimize the company's tax risks. At the same time, recommendations are developed to optimize the workflow.

The head of the company is primarily interested in conducting an audit. It allows you to determine the quality of work and improve the skills of all employees. During the audit, the correctness of the declarations is checked, the preparation and maintenance of financial statements, and the calculation of taxes. All available constituent documents of the company, labor agreements are analyzed for the fact of their compliance with the law, and the entire accounting policy of the organization is checked.

Audit directions

Types of audit can also be divided into areas.

HR audit

The efficiency of each enterprise is in the hands of the staff. Therefore, it is necessary to deal with the management and evaluation of the activities of employees. To do this, you need to use the personnel analysis procedure. It consists of the stages of assessing the management of personnel and analyzing the potential of the firm.

The main task is to increase the efficiency of the staff. To do this, auditors develop a list of conditions:

1. Analysis and finding "bottlenecks" in the activities of personnel.
2. Development of personnel interest procedures.
3. Coordination of the given methods and models to the legislative basis.
4. Coordination of methods of interaction of personnel services with the personnel of the enterprise.
5. Reducing the cost of motivation and staff management.

The method of applying the audit to the activities of the personnel leads to the fact that the control system of the company is strengthened. This process provides materials for the analysis of the current situation in the firm. After that, methods and systems for increasing the functionality of the personnel activities are developed. Thus, employees form an efficient and strong company.

In order for the company to function properly, it is necessary to take into account the stages of the audit:

1. During the reorganization of the company.
2. If it is necessary to optimize the number of employees.
3. To increase the functioning of branches or individual parts of the company.
4. To determine the personnel potential of the company.
5. To attract investment funds.
6. Before the release of a new product or service.
7. With the expansion of production.

After the audit, the enterprises will receive the following results:

1. Identification of "bottlenecks" in the work of personnel.
2. Optimization of personnel costs.
3. Assess the functional diagram of personnel in the enterprise.
4. Risks in the activities of personnel.
5. Evaluation of the functional capabilities of personnel to implement the mission of the enterprise.
6. Risks and threats, personnel work.
7. Ways to overcome conflict situations.
8. Recommendations for optimizing the work of employees.

Thus, after conducting a personnel audit, it is possible to build a strong and efficient company. This firm will be ready for various crisis situations both within the company and in the external environment.

Tax audit

A tax audit is an examination that a customer, a business owner, can voluntarily order, and a performer, a professional audit firm, can conduct. In the course of such an audit, the correctness of determining the taxable base and calculating payments is assessed, and an analysis of financial statements is also carried out.

It is important to emphasize that tax audit or tax expertise is a preventive measure, not a mandatory procedure. It is necessary if the company's management decides to determine possible tax losses and liabilities.

In fact, a voluntary tax audit is a comprehensive audit, similar to the one with which the tax office comes. However, "feedback" in case the company has financial and economic inconsistencies, will be received not in the form of a fine, but in the form of an expert opinion.

Issue price

By the way, tax audit is a paid service: the cost of work starts from 30 thousand rubles. Many business owners are willing to pay even more, because they see an economic effect in this procedure - the transparency of the accounting department allows you to optimize many items of expenditure.

It makes sense to conduct a tax examination even if the company has undergone structural changes (for example, a change of ownership); tax expertise will not be superfluous if in the future it is planned to expand the business with the involvement of investors.

A complex approach

There is no generally accepted standard for conducting tax audits. Many firms offering audit services have their own original developments and methods in this area. However, tax audit is based on an integrated approach consisting of 3 stages.

• The first is preparatory, during which a preliminary assessment of the taxation system used is carried out in order to determine its “weak points”;
• As part of the second - intermediate stage, tax documentation is checked, compliance with the payment deadlines, the accuracy of the calculation of the tax base, the validity of the use of tax benefits;
• The third - the final stage - obtaining an audit opinion. In this document, experts give their assessment of the reliability of financial statements, the legality of financial and business transactions and recommendations for finalizing the shortcomings identified during the audit.

Fire audit

This is an independent fire risk assessment conducted by an expert organization that has passed a special accreditation.

The concept of a fire safety audit and its main requirements are approved in the Technical Regulations (Federal Law No. 123-FZ of July 22, 2008 "Technical Regulations on Fire Safety Requirements"), as well as in Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of April 7, 2009 No. 304 (as amended on 15.08. 2014) "On Approval of the Rules for Assessing the Conformity of Protected Objects (Products) with the Established Fire Safety Requirements by Independent Fire Risk Assessment".

Fire audit is divided into mandatory and voluntary.

Mandatory fire audit is carried out once every 3 years. A fire audit is subject to be carried out to conduct a study of facilities where there are deviations from the requirements of the Technical Regulations. The initial stage of this procedure is the conclusion of an agreement with an accredited organization included in the Register of accredited organizations for conducting a fire safety audit.

The above organization cannot conduct an independent fire risk assessment in relation to the object of protection if it conducts or conducted other types of services in the field of fire safety, and also if it is owned (possession, use, disposal on other legal grounds).

Fire audit includes the following mandatory steps:

• analysis of documentation related to the fire safety of the facility;
• fire-technical inspection of an enterprise or other object of fire safety;
• carrying out examinations, tests and calculations;
• formation of results on the fulfillment of the conditions for the compliance of the object of protection with the requirements of the Technical Regulations or, in case of their non-fulfillment, the development of measures to eliminate them.

At the end of the fire audit, a conclusion is formed that contains all the key conclusions about the fire risk assessment of the object under study. The conclusion can be drawn up and sent both in writing and electronically. Within 5 working days after the approval of the above conclusion, the data of the results of an independent fire risk assessment are sent to the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

In case of violations, a special plan is developed to eliminate them and sent along with a conclusion on the fire condition of the facility. Control over the implementation of this plan is carried out by the organization that carried out the fire audit.

• The advantages of a fire audit are that it can reduce the cost of mandatory property insurance against fire.
• The disadvantages include the fact that inspections of the object by the Ministry of Emergency Situations cannot be avoided. A fire audit can only help to delay these checks, since in the event of a fire audit, the Ministry of Emergency Situations does not have the right to supervise the facility in question.

Environmental audit

- this is a part of management that provides a 100% environmental verification of documentation based on expertise, as well as economic activities and analysis of the reporting of an economic entity by authorized legal entities and individuals, which makes it possible to identify environmental problems at a particular enterprise.

Eco audit features allow:

• control the information provided by the customer,
• compliance with the environmental requirements of the facility, its standards, regulations, certificates,
• assess the management system that does not threaten the ecological environment to the health of the employee,
• assess the risk of impacts on the environment by regulated and non-regulated entities.

An environmental audit can be:

1. At the request of the enterprise (Voluntary),
2. By decision of state authorities (Mandatory).

Eco-audit is divided into three types:

1. internal (check a specific enterprise),
2. sectoral (activities of a separate industry),
3. territorial (examine a specific area).

An environmental audit is carried out if the customer or government authorities decide:

• substantiate the strategy of the enterprise's environmental policy;
• evaluate the current activities of the enterprise from the point of view of ecology;
• determine the further development of ecology and its priorities at the enterprise;
• identify for the implementation of the priorities of the enterprise for its existence;
• check the nature protected by law, on compliance with the activities of the economy;
• enhance the activities of the enterprise with the ecological environment;
• reduce the risk of unforeseen situations.

In terms of conducting an environmental audit, the procedure for conducting is required, i.e. to determine the source of funding, determine what the position, directions of the audit are, conclude an agreement in the field of environmental audit.

Nesterov A.K. The value of audits // Encyclopedia of the Nesterovs

Audits are carried out taking into account the volume and characteristics of the activities of enterprises, while it is important to determine what their significance is for the audited organizations.

It should be noted that the results of the audit are the main value of the audit, therefore, they must be formalized in a special way.

The results of the audit of enterprises are drawn up in the form of an act of verification, which is signed by auditors, the chief accountant and the head of the enterprise.

The results of audits are classified as confidential information and should not be disclosed, except as otherwise provided by applicable law.

Prerequisites for the significance of audits

It is determined by the information that they contain, which is due to the interest of users of the reporting documentation of the enterprise in its activities.

It should be noted that most of the users of reporting information do not work at the enterprise, but have a direct financial interest in the results of its activities, primarily the founders of the enterprise, creditors. Such users of reporting information cannot independently verify that:

1. The financial and economic operations of the enterprise are legal.
2. The transactions are correctly reflected in the accounting records.
3. The reported information is reliable.

The value of audits is extremely high, as they provide an opportunity to confirm or refute the reliability of the reporting information of economic entities, in which users of this information are interested.

The direct recipients of the information contained in the audit report based on the results of the audit are the management and representatives of the owner of the audited entity.

The need for audits

Generally, the need for audits due to the possibility of providing the management apparatus, owners and external interested users of financial statements with sufficient evidence that accounting is maintained at a particular enterprise in accordance with applicable law and reflects the state of its economic activity. However, proof of reliability is not the only basis for conducting an audit.

For the effective management of an enterprise, the importance of audits lies in their immediate results, which allow using the auditor's recommendations in the interests of the enterprise for management purposes, improving the efficiency of financial and economic activities, as well as improving accounting activities at the enterprise.

The need to confirm the correctness of the financial statements during the audit determines the auditor's satisfaction of the needs of the management and shareholders of the enterprise in reliable information about the performance and financial position of the organization following the results of the audited period.

In this way, the need and importance of audits are interrelated: verified areas of accounting and economic activity can be objectively assessed based on the results of the audit.

The importance of audits for management

In this regard, it manifests itself as a fundamental basis for making changes in the activities of the enterprise and making managerial decisions aimed at improving the efficiency of the economic process within the enterprise.

Therefore, we can rightly agree with the following statement:

The auditor acts as an external consultant, evaluating the internal processes in the organization, being in essence a partner of the organization, and not an audit body.

Data from the results of audits can also serve as the basis for planning the future development of the enterprise and budgeting the costs of specific projects. At the same time, audit checks make it possible to establish the correctness of the goals set, for example, in relation to the commensurate amounts of the company's sales proceeds and profit. Thanks to this, the enterprise management apparatus can objectively evaluate the actual results of activities, since the audit confirms their reliability, therefore, it allows to assess the degree of achievement of the goals facing the enterprise and located in the financial and economic sphere. These goals include, first of all, indicators of financial stability, solvency, business activity, profitability, as well as the formation and distribution of net profit.

One can objectively judge the high level of importance of audits and opinions as one of the factors for making management decisions:

• In a dynamically developing competitive environment, enterprises face certain goals of activity, expressed through certain financial indicators.
• The degree of achievement of such goals is determined by the final values ​​of these indicators.
• In fact, the higher, for example, the profitability of commercial activities, the more successfully the enterprise operates.
• However, the management cannot independently determine the validity of the achievement of the planned indicators; this requires audits.

In this way,

Having outlined certain ways to achieve the targets, the enterprise follows the tasks set, while the audit at the same time helps to control the achievement of the goals facing a particular enterprise.

As a result, it becomes clear the importance of audits as a source of reliable assessment of the quality of financial statements. Having the necessary information on financial performance, confirmed by the audit report, the management of the enterprise and its owners can make informed and informed decisions, in accordance with the current financial and economic situation of the enterprise.

Conclusion

It manifests itself in the ability to use their results in management activities, while the audit acts as a tool for assessing the internal economic, financial and accounting processes of the enterprise.

Sooner or later, every enterprise and every entrepreneur is faced with the need to conduct audit operations in their area of ​​business. But not everyone knows what an audit is.

The birthplace of audit is considered to be England, where in the XIII-XIV century the basic principles of audit were formulated: honesty, competence, prudence.

Audit control is widely used in world practice. It is based on the mutual interest of the state, the administration of enterprises and their owners in the reliability of accounting and reporting. Under the conditions of a planned, centrally controlled economy, there was no need for independent financial control in the Russian Federation. It was completely replaced by a system of departmental and non-departmental control, aimed at identifying violations and abuses in the financial and economic activities of enterprises, errors and deviations in reporting, finding and punishing those responsible. The development of market relations necessitates the adoption of a large number of new regulatory documents regulating new issues in the activities of enterprises; accounting and reporting; taxation and the procedure for the formation of the cost of production. In this regard, the first violations (sometimes unintentional) appeared in compliance with the requirements of regulatory documents related to the economic activity of the enterprise. The bodies, which were charged with the responsibility of assisting enterprises in the correct application of certain legislative acts, themselves, due to their small number and overwork, were not ready for such work. In this regard, there is a need to create a new form of control over the activities of enterprises, which would include consulting on the organization and maintenance of accounting, the correct calculation of taxes, legal position and other types of services. Owners and, above all, collective owners, as well as creditors, are deprived of the opportunity to independently verify that all the numerous operations of the enterprise, often very complex, are legal and correctly reflected in the accounts. Because usually they do not have access to accounts, relevant experience, and therefore need the services of auditors. Independent confirmation of information about the results of enterprises and their compliance with the law is necessary for the state to make decisions in the field of economics and taxation.

Audit checks are necessary for state bodies, courts, prosecutors and investigators to confirm the financial statements they are interested in.

The word "audit" comes from the Latin "audio", which means "he hears", "listener". This emphasizes the special trust in the relationship of auditors with their clients, attentiveness, goodwill, compassion, interest in the affairs of the client who applied for the services of the auditor. The task of the auditor is to check the state of the financial and economic activities of the enterprise for a certain period, formulate objective conclusions, and give the necessary recommendations.

The concept of audit is much broader than audits or other forms of control, because includes not only verification of the reliability of financial indicators, but also the development of assumptions for improving the economic activity of enterprises in order to rationalize costs and optimize taxes.

Auditing activity - audit - is an entrepreneurial activity of auditors (audit firms) to carry out independent non-departmental audits of accounting or financial statements, payment and settlement documentation of individual business transactions, tax returns and other types of financial obligations and requirements of economic entities on a contractual basis.

The concept of audit Ugolnikov in the article "History of Audit": "Audit is the process of checking the maintenance of accounting records and institutions in terms of its reliability and fairness."

“An audit is a systematic process of obtaining and evaluating evidence of the reliability of data about economic activities and events, determining the degree to which this data meets established criteria, and communicating the results to interested users.”

“Audit is a systematic process carried out by a person or group of persons independent of external factors, based on the results of control and their own opinion. Based on established criteria and standards regarding the information that the audit unit provides to third parties in its activities and its prospects.

The Auditing Standards on Auditing give the following definition:

“Audit is an independent examination of the financial statements of an enterprise based on verification of compliance with the accounting procedure, compliance of business and financial operations with the legislation of the Russian Federation, completeness and accuracy of the reflection of the enterprise's activities in the financial statements. The examination ends with the preparation of an auditor's report.

Despite some differences in the definition of audit, almost all authors emphasize one or another of its features:

• 4. independence;
• 5. payment;
• 6. privacy.

Sometimes it is considered too narrowly and limited only to checking the accounts of non-state actors. In other cases, it is extremely broad, identifying with any accounting activity. Such a scatter in the understanding of audit is also due to the fact that this concept is adopted from Western literature.

In countries with developed market economies, where audit has been around for a long time, the concept of audit is interpreted in a very diverse way. In England, an audit is understood as an independent review and expression of an opinion on the financial statements of an enterprise. At the same time, the term "audit" is used not only when auditing enterprises that fall under the law "On Companies" or the law on industrial or other societies, but also when drawing up an audit of government agencies and local authorities, as well as when providing audit services to clients under an agreement .

Jack Roberton noted that an audit is the process of reducing to an acceptable level of information risk (ie the likelihood that financial statements contain false or inaccurate information) for users of financial statements.

An independent auditor performs verification of the reliability of the company's reporting, compliance with current legislation and the preparation of an audit opinion on this issue.

An audit is a type of activity consisting in the collection and evaluation of facts relating to the functioning and position of an economic entity, carried out by a competent independent person. It aims to reduce to an acceptable level information risk, that is, the likelihood that financial statements contain false and inaccurate information for their users. At the same time, the audit provides not only verification of the reliability of financial indicators, but also the development of recommendations for improving the efficiency of the economic activity of an economic entity. Therefore, audit is often defined as a kind of business expertise.

The level of materiality (hereinafter referred to as materiality) is understood as the limiting value of the error in financial statements, starting from which a qualified user of these statements with a high degree of probability will no longer be able to draw correct conclusions on its basis and make correct economic decisions.

The auditor must take into account two aspects of materiality in the audit: qualitative and quantitative. From a qualitative point of view, the auditor must use his professional judgment in order to determine whether the deviations in the order of financial and business operations performed by an economic entity from the requirements of regulations in force in the Russian Federation, noted during the audit, are or are not material. From a quantitative point of view, the auditor must assess whether, individually and in total, the detected deviations (taking into account the predicted value of unobserved deviations) exceed the quantitative criterion - the level of materiality.

Materiality is a relative value, that is, it depends on the scale of the organization's activities and the specific conditions of its management.

Since materiality is a relative value, the calculation of the absolute value of materiality (ie, the monetary value of the marginal error) is made by the auditor in relation to each audited organization separately. When determining the absolute value of materiality, the auditor takes as a basis the most important indicators that characterize the reliability of the reporting of an economic entity subject to audit, hereinafter referred to as the basic indicators of financial statements.

Materiality in audit- is the probability that the audit procedures used make it possible to determine the presence of an error in the reporting of an economic entity and assess their impact on the adoption of appropriate decisions by its users. Information about individual assets, liabilities, income, expenses and business transactions, as well as components of capital considered material, if its omission or distortion may affect the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of financial (accounting) statements.

The auditor cannot express an opinion on the degree of reliability of the financial statements with absolute certainty, since there are limitations inherent in the audit that affect the ability to detect material misstatements due to objective, subjective and other reasons.

To objective reasons relate:

§ the auditor's use of testing systems;

§ the presence of limitations inherent in any accounting and internal control systems;

§ the existence of limitations in terms of audit evidence that is persuasive rather than conclusive.

When auditing financial statements, not all transactions reflected in accounting and financial statements are checked. According to auditing standards, the audit is carried out selectively, using testing of controls in relation to the effectiveness of the organization and functioning of accounting and internal control systems, as well as by testing account balances, groups of similar transactions. The second reason has to do with accounting and internal control systems. The auditor expresses an opinion with reasonable certainty, since ideal accounting and internal control systems do not exist (see topic 5). To collect evidence, the auditor uses the information contained in the primary accounting documents, accounting registers, financial statements. He can make sure that the financial and economic transaction recorded in the primary accounting document is drawn up in accordance with the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation and reflected in the accounting registers in accordance with the accounting policy, current regulations. However, the auditor cannot guarantee that the transaction in question actually took place at that time, to the extent indicated in the primary accounting document, since he was not present at its commission. Therefore, audit evidence is not exhaustive.

Subjective reasons are determined by the auditor's own judgment about the system for collecting documents and the conclusions drawn from them. In accordance with the Federal Law of August 7, 2001 No. 119-FZ “On Auditing”, the auditor has the right to independently determine the forms and methods of the audit. Taking auditing standards as a source and relying on his professional judgment, the auditor organizes the collection of audit evidence that, in his opinion, is more appropriate and reliable, and on its basis forms a conclusion about the degree of reliability of the financial statements.

Other reasons audit limitations arise from the financial and business transactions carried out by the entity being audited and the presence of factors that increase the risk of material misstatement beyond what would be expected under normal circumstances.

In accordance with Federal Rule (Standard) No. 4 “Materiality in Auditing”, it is determined that information about individual assets, liabilities, income, expenses, business transactions, as well as components of capital is considered material if its omission or distortion may affect the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of financial statements.