CC BY
6
УДК 657.6
Пшембаева М.А. студент 2 курса ОмГУ им. Ф.М. Достоевского экономический факультет профиль «Бухгалтерский учет, анализ и аудит»
Сергина С.А., к.п.н. научный руководитель, доцент кафедра ИЯ Ф. Россия, г. Омск
АУДИТОРСКАЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТЬ
Аннотация : Данная статья посвящена рассмотрению аудита как независимой бухгалтерской отчетности. В рамках статьи определены основные этапы проведения аудита, виды аудита, основные принципы аудита. В ней также представлен перечень нормативных документов и стандартов аудита.
Ключевые слова: Аудит, аудиторская деятельность, независимость аудитора, стандарты аудита, аудиторское заключение.
AUDIT ACTIVITIES
Annotation: This article deals with the audit of financial statements as an independent. Article defines the main stages of the audit, audit types, the basic principles of auditing. it also provides a list of regulatory documents and auditing standards.
The key words: Audit, audit activities, auditor's independence, auditing standards, audit opinion.
The entities are obliged to provide information about the results of their activities to investors, shareholders, creditors, tax authorities and so forth.
They must sure of reliability of their accounting records in which there is information about the entity. Therefore the important criterion during the control of activities of the entity is independence of the organization on that entity. In the system of controlling organizations auditing companies meet this requirement.
Audit is an independent examination of the financial reporting of the entity on the basis of checking of the proper order of conducting financial accounting, accordance of economic and financial transactions to the Russian Federation legislation, completeness and accuracy of reflection in the financial reporting of the entity's activities. The examination finishes with the creation of an audit report.
The purpose of audit is the solution of a specific objective which is determined by the legislation, system of standard auditing regulation, contractual commitments of the auditor and the client.
Auditing companies work either for the benefit of the entity and various organizations, that are either interested or not in the activities of the entity. Their objective is to estimate correctness of the information contained in financial
accounting and the reporting of the entity and by that to provide to owners, creditors and the other interested persons the real situation at the entity; to analyze its financial position; to plan the prospects of the future development of the entity.
Thus, audit now is a necessary form of control performed at the entity by the independent auditors. The reporting checked by auditors can be considered as the most true, and its users, as a result, can perform more precisely the analysis of the activities of the entity and make the decisions necessary both for their own interests, and for needs of the society and the entity.
The concept of audit and audit activity
The general definition of an audit can be given as an appraisal of an individual organization, process, system, project, enterprise, or product. The term is most commonly used as a reference to audits in accounting, but alike concepts also exist in project management, energy conservation, and quality management. [1]
Putting another way, an audit is an objective examination and evaluation of the financial statements of an organization to make sure that the records are a fair and accurate representation of the transactions they claim to represent. It can be done internally by employees of the organization, or externally by an outside firm. [2]
Let's allocate more specific objectives of audit:
• providing of consultations, development of strategy and development program;
• Development of reports
• conducting the independent check
• Assessment of system of internal and external risks [8].
• providing of consultations on compliance of the made or imported products to the provisions of regulation REACH133
Solving the tasks, audit systematizes financial and economic activities, synchronizes internal processes with the stages of development and enterprise scales. Audit also allows to build harmonious relations with stakeholders and to find balance between their interests and a strategic direction of development of the entity.[3]
The stages of the auditor's work when forming strategy of the entity include the following:
• the analysis of the current status of the entity (a set of indicators of financial and economic activities, including ecological and social);
• creation of a standard/provision of sustainable development
• implementation of general requirements and provisions of the standard in activities of the entity;
133 REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals) — European Union regulations governing the production and trafficking of chemicals.
• development and approval of evaluation methods of extent of goal achievement of steady development's strategy ;
The important instrument of audit at all stages of work — from the assessment of a current status of the entity to the development of a technique of monitoring of the operating changes is the economic analysis and its types [4]
The most important performance indicators of audit are its quality, labor input, cost and duration — indicators which determine the choice of the auditor by the client [5]
Audits are intended to protect the public by ensuring that accounting data are relevant and reliable. [6]
A statutory auditor is an auditor who is usually a part of the internal audit system that operates in one of the following areas and sometimes he may operate in more than one area. The following areas are:
• Reviewing of the accounting and all the related internal controls. Therefore, the function of a statutory auditor is clearly defined where he is usually given the specific responsibility to review the accounting systems and the internal controls related to it and also to monitor all their operations while the management has the work of seeing the overall accounting system and its adequacy.
• Reviewing of the financial as well as operating information that includes various functions like identifying, measuring, classifying and reporting all such information that specifically enquire individual items that includes detailed and thorough testing of transactions, balances and procedures.
• A statutory auditor may have to examine the efficiency, effectiveness and economy of operations that may also include all the non financial controls. [1]
An audit is an examination by an outside party. In accounting, an auditing firm examines the company's financial statements, accounting system, and internal controls. Auditors must be independent of the operations they examine. Managers immersed in day-to-day operations may overlook their own weaknesses.[6]
Auditors cannot examine all the transactions during a period, so they must rely on the accounting system to produce accurate records. When it comes to external auditing, there are two different categories of auditors. First, there is an external or statutory auditor who works independently to evaluate financial reporting, and then there are external cost auditors who evaluate cost statements and sheets to see if they're free of misstatements or fraud. Both of these types of auditors follow a set of standards different from that of the company or organization hiring them to do the work. [2]
Internal auditors, as the name implies, are employed by the company or organization for whom they are performing the audit. To the best of their ability, internal auditors provide information to the board, managers, and other stakeholders on the accuracy of their books and the efficacy of their internal systems.
Consultant auditors, while not working internally, use the standards of the
company they are auditing as opposed to a separate set of standards. These types of auditors are used when an organization doesn't have the resources to audit certain parts of their own operations. [1]
Normative regulation of audit activities
In the United States as in many other countries, an audit has to meet a general set of accepted standards as established by their respective governing bodies.
Standards for external audits, called the Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS) are set out by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. A separate set of International standards, called the International Standards on Auditing were set up by the International Auditing and Assurance Board. [7]
Generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) are a set of systematic guidelines used by auditors when conducting audits on companies' finances, ensuring the accuracy, consistency and verifiability of auditors' actions and reports.
By relying on GAAS, auditors can minimize the probability of missing material information. GAAS are divided into these main sections:
1)General standards
2) Standards of fieldwork
3) Standards of reporting
Each section is littered with requirements that the auditor and the subject company must meet. In short, an auditor must adequately plan the audit in advance, be independent of the client at all times, and always obtain reliable evidence. The companies must present their financial statements in accordance with GAAP, remain consistent in their reporting, and explicitly disclose all pertinent information.[2]
To address public concern, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, abbreviated as SOX. SOX revamped corporate governance in the United States and also had sweeping effects on the accounting profession. Here are some of the SOX provisions:
1. A newly created body, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, oversees the work of auditors of public companies. Public companies are those that sell their stock to the public.
2. Accounting firms may not both audit the financial statements of a public client and also provide certain consulting services for the same client.
3. The same person can serve as the lead auditor on public client for no more than 7 years. That person can resume prior audit duties only after a 2-year timeout period.
4. Public companies must issue an internal control report, and the outside auditor must evaluate the client's internal controls.
5. Stiff penalties await violators - 25 years in prison for securities fraud; 20 years for destroying records; and 20 years for a CEO or a CFO making false sworn statements.
It will take several years to determine how SOX affects financial reporting.[6]
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' (AICPA) senior technical committee for auditing, attestation and quality control. The Auditing Standards Board produces statements, standards and guidance to certified public accountants (CPAs) for non-public company audits. The Auditing Standards Board exists to service "the public interest by improving existing and enabling new audit and attestation services."
The Auditing Standards Board provides performance, reporting and quality control guidance as it pertains to audit and attest activities. The Auditing Standards Board is comprised of 19 members, including:
• Five members from local, regional and national firms;
• Five members nominated by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy(NASBA);
• Four members from the big four firms; and
• Five users and public members.
In large audit companies many problems are solved by means of forming of the organization's knowledge base on the basis of the experience acquired by employees that allows them to enhance their own methodology for many years. Besides, the staff of the similar companies is helped by the corresponding software which is tied to the postulates specified in methodology and doesn't allow employees without cogent reasons to depart from it. [8].
During the conducted research some working audit programmers containing accounting (financial) records of the audited person in the functionality were considered, such as "IT Audit : The auditor 4.1" 134, the special external connected module "1C: Entity 8" [3], Audit XP 5, Materiality Calculator Software 6 and CCH Audit Automation.
Auditor's independence
An independent auditor is a certified public accountant (CPA) or chartered accountant (CA) who examines the financial records and business transactions of a company with which he is not affiliated. An independent auditor is typically used to avoid conflicts of interest and to ensure the integrity of performing an audit.
Independent auditors are often used - or even mandated - to protect shareholders and potential investors from the occasional fraudulent or unrepresentative financial claims made by public companies, such as following the implosion of the dotcom bubble and the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) in 2002. [2].
An independent auditor either works for a public accounting firm or is self-employed. The auditor examines financial statements and related data, analyzes business operations and processes, and provides recommendations on achieving greater efficiency. He evaluates company assets for impairment and proper valuation and determines tax liability, ensuring compliance with tax code and laws.
The auditor develops an opinion asserting the reliability and fairness of
134 «IT-Audit: Audit 4.1», automation of internal and external audit URL: http://www. Audit-soft.ru/
clients' financial statements, then communicates the information to investors, creditors and government organizations. In addition, he may perform other auditing, tax and consulting services for individuals, corporations, nonprofit organizations or government entities. [6].
An independent auditor asks questions of management and staff for a better understanding of the business, its operations, financial reporting, internal control system, and known fraud or error. He may perform analytical procedures on expected and unexpected variances in account balances or transaction classes, and then test documentation supporting those variances. The auditor also observes the company's physical inventory count and confirms accounts receivable (AR) and other third-party accounts. [1].
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was passed after Enron, WorldCom and large numbers of technology companies were failing. The goal of SOX is improving corporate governance and restoring the faith of companies' investors. However, many in the business world are against SOX, seeing it as a politically motivated move leading to a loss of risk-taking and competitiveness.
Of concern to many is the mandate requiring that public companies obtain an independent audit of their internal control practices. The cost of the requirement is felt most acutely by companies with market caps of $75 million or greater. The audit standards were also modified in 2007, reducing costs for many firms by 25% or more annually. In addition, despite high initial costs of the internal control mandate, markets use the information to assess businesses more effectively, managers continue improving internal processes, and the internal control testing becomes more cost-effective over time. [2].
The Big Four includes the four largest international professional services networks in accountancy and professional services. These professional services networks handle the wide majority of audits for publicly traded companies and various private companies thus creating an oligopoly in large companies' auditing. [6].
None of the Big Four accounting firms is an individual firm. They are all accounting networks, each one being a network of firms, held and managed independently and have entered into agreements with other firms existing in the network to share a common name, brand, and quality standards. Each network has set up an entity aimed at co-ordination of activities of the network. In one case (KPMG), Swiss is the co-coordinating entity, while in the remaining three (Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, PwC and Ernst & Young), UK is the coordinating entity. These entities are not themselves involved in accountancy practice. Moreover, they also do not own or control the member firms. They are just like law firm networks instituted in the legal profession.
Currently, Big four includes:
• PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
• KPMG
• Deloitte
• Ernst & Young [1].
Audit Opinion
An audit opinion refers to a certification accompanying financial statements and is provided by the independent accountants involved in auditing of a company's books and records in addition to being helpful in creating the financial statements. The audit opinion is helpful in setting out the scope of the audit, the accountant's opinion about the procedures and records used for creating statements, and the accountant's opinion about whether or not the financial statements present an accurate reflection of the organization's financial condition.
As stated by Investopedia, there are usually four types of audit opinions. Each of these audit opinion types represents an official opinion that is used by internal and external business stakeholders to make significant business decisions. [1].
The different types of audit opinions are explained below:
• Unqualified opinion
An unqualified audit opinion signifies that auditors could find no noteworthy violations or misstatement in a company’s financial info. This opinion is also referred as 'clean opinion'. Normally, this report is written by the auditors with reference to the company’s ability for recording financial info as per GAAP. Besides, the report might also include a pithy summary about the process of conducting audit and the info that was reviewed. [1].
• Qualified Opinion
A qualified opinion is given when a company's financial records have not been presented in accordance with GAAP. Although the wording of a qualified opinion is very similar to an unqualified opinion, the auditor provides an additional paragraph including exclusions from the cleanliness of the financial statements and points out why the auditor report is not unqualified. [2].
• Adverse opinion
An adverse opinion is one of the two radically negative audit reports. An adverse opinion signifies that the auditor discovered significant material misstatements associated with financial information. These misstatements generally refer to the financial statements not conforming to GAAP and that the info is inaccurate and unreliable. [1].
• Disclaimer of Opinion
In the event the auditor is unable to complete the audit report due to absence of financial records or insufficient cooperation from management, the auditor issues a disclaimer of opinion. This is an indication that no opinion over the financial statements was able to be determined. A disclaimer of opinion is not an opinion itself. [2].
The audit report typically contains three paragraphs:
■ The first paragraph identifies the audited statements.
■ The second paragraph describes how the audit was performed; mentioning that generally accepted auditing standards are the benchmark for
evaluating audit quality.
Audit reports usually fall into one of four categories:
1. Unqualified (clean). The statements are reliable.
2. Qualified. The statements are reliable, except for one or more items for which the opinion is said to be qualified.
3. Adverse. The statements are unreliable.
4. Disclaimer. The auditor was unable to reach a professional opinion. .
The independent audit adds credibility to the financial statements. It is no
accident that financial reporting and auditing are more advanced in the United States than anywhere else in the world and that U.S. capital markets are the envy of the world. [6].
Conclusion
The emergence of audit is connected with the separation of interests of those who directly are engaged in enterprise management, and those who invest money in its activities.
The difference of the audit from the auditor activities consists of that the last provides also various auditor services. The system approach paved the way for the development of high-quality auditor services, i.e. auditor structures began to be engaged more in consulting activities, than directly in audit.
Special value has the fact that the reliability check of the entity's reporting, observance of the current legislation and creation of an audit report the independent auditor carries out.
Main aim of audit - checking of reliability of accounting (financial) records of economic actors and compliance of the financial and economic transactions made by them to regulations.
Auditing organizations during implementation of the activities are obliged to observe and use as a basis for acceptance of any professional solutions the following professional ethical principles: independence; honesty; objectivity; professional competence; conscientiousness; confidentiality; professional behavior.
The auditing organization is obliged to perform professional activity, i.e. carrying out audit and preparation by its results of an official audit report.
And as a conclusion we would like to provide a couple of stereotypes about the profession of the auditor:
• For the majority the concept "auditor" causes "reviser" association though concepts are absolutely different.
• Often under "the good auditor" the woman of 50 years is perceived, that has a lot of years of working as the chief accountant on large enterprise. However, age, sex and length of service aren't quality indicators in a profession.
• For some, auditors are all-knowing accountants. Yes, the specialists can expertise on this or that question, but it doesn't mean that it is aware of all problems in the company.
References:
1. IFRS financial reporting and analysis software. Financial audit. Retrieved from
http://www.readyratios.eom/reference/audit/#ref850
2. Investoredia. Audit. Retrieved from http: //www.investopedia. com/terms/a/audit.asp
3. Ivanter V.V., Uziakov M.N., Shirov A.A. Long-term sotsial'no-economic development of Russia: assessment of the potential for economic growth and technological development, (2011)
4. Khorin A.N., Kerimov V.E. Strategic analysis: Textbook [Benefit strategic analysis: a tutorial seh. Moskov, Eksmo - Exmo, (2006)
5. J. Robertson. Audit. [Auditing. Yong. Moscow, KPMG, Auditing firm «Contact» — «Contact» Auditing company, (1993).
6. Walter T. Harrison, Charles T. Horngren. Financial Accounting, 6e Pearson/Prentice Hall, (2006).
7. Nosberger T. EY Audit methodology short overview. Materiality. University of Freiburg, (2012).
8. International Research Journal. The Accounting, Account Analysis and Audit, Moscow, (2014).
9. R. Chandler. Auditing and assurance, University of London, 2014
10. Richard E. Baker, Valdean C. Lembke, Thomas E. King Advanced Financial Accounting, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, (2005).
УДК 378
Рак Е.В. аспирант
Брянский государственный университет имени академика И.Г. Петровского»
Россия, г. Брянск ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОЕ ОБРАЗОВАНИЕ КАК СИСТЕМНЫЙ ПОДХОД В ПОГОТОВКЕ КОМПЕТЕНТНОСТНОГО ДИЗАЙНЕРА-
ПЕДАГОГА
Аннотация: В статье представлены значимые характеристики профессионального образования. Рассмотрены роль и значение профессиональных знаний, умений и навыков на основе специальности 44.03.04 (Профессиональное обучение - Графический дизайн). Выделены подходы к определению понятий «профессиональная компетентность» и «профессионализм». Отмечено, что конкурентоспособность, креативность, проектирование новых дизайн-идей и коммуникативная компетентность позволят быть востребованным специалистом в своей области, самостоятельно планировать структуру своей трудовой деятельности.
Ключевые слова: профессиональное образование, профессиональная подготовка, профессиональное дизайн-образование, конкурентоспособность, профессиональные знания и навыки, профессионализм, компетенция.
