...the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on Auditing Prior to the 2002, there were numerous accounting and corporate scandals that rocked the business world. Foremost of which is the Enron debacle which was followed by WorldCom, Tyco International and Global Crossing (CIO Decisions). The collapse of these businesses was attributed to the lack of regulatory controls in the part of the government as well as transparency of operations of corporations which can be of help to its stakeholders in the analysis of profitability and assurance of good governance to the public. They importance of the Act lies on the accountability and security of financial reporting that the stakeholders would have in a corporation’s implementation of good business practices and adherence to laws and regulations in the administration and operations of the company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act revised a significant portion of the federation securities laws which had been in place for 60 years already (Sarbanes-Oxley Information). Before SOX, there is a self-regulation in the accounting profession whereby the Securities and Exchange Commission was “given statutory authority to set accounting standards and oversight over the Activities of the auditors…the role of establishing standards was left to the accounting profession” (CPCAF). One of the key changes in internal audits is that the “Act requires all financial reports to include an internal control report” (Sarbanes Oxley Basics)...
Words: 1522 - Pages: 7
...The independence of internal auditing in China Term Paper Advanced Auditing February, 15 * The independence of internal auditing in China Abstract China’s rapid economic growth boosted its accounting system that has evolved at a singular rate. The national government encourages foreign investors to participate in the domestic capital market actively. The government also strictly supervises the different national economic activities; as a result, the credibility of the auditing system plays a important role. Chinese government as well as some firms seek reliable and independent internal audit services. This paper will examine some factors which may cause lack of independence in Chinese internal audit systems, the difference between the internal auditing in China and in western countries. Based on interviews and questionnaires, suggestions are made for future improvement on the internal audit system in China. Key words: internal auditing, audit independence I INTRODUCTION The globalization of economy, complexity of business and allegations of fraudulent financial reporting have recently sharpened the ever-increasing attention to internal controls and internal auditing. (Karagiorgos et al., 2009) The role of internal auditing is also evolving as reflected in the following definition ‘an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization’s operations. It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by bringing...
Words: 2167 - Pages: 9
...Continuous Auditing In the customary tradition, internal auditing’s testing of controls has been performed on months once business activities have occurred. Internal auditors need to respond effectively to the demands of a fast changing business environment, while assisting organizations comply with growing regulatory mandates. This pressures internal auditors to provide more timely and ongoing assurance that controls are working effectively and risk is being mitigated. Today, IAs use continuous auditing as a method to perform control and risk assessments automatically on a more frequent basis. According to Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Continuous Auditing is defined as a methodology that enables independent auditors (both internal & external) to provide written assurance on a subject matter using a series of auditors’ reports issued simultaneously with, or a short period of time after, the occurrence of events underlying the subject matter (Searcy and Woodroof, 2003). The Institute of Internal Auditors' (IIA) Global Technology Audit Guide (GTAG 3) defined continuous auditing as any method used by auditors to perform audit-related activities (including control and risk assessments) on a more continuous (occurring without interruption) or continual (occurring at repeated intervals.) basis. Continuous auditing requires specialized skills of audit personnel to monitor information...
Words: 1568 - Pages: 7
...REPORT OF COOPER AUDITING FIRM OF APOLLO SHOES, INCORPORATED To: The Board of Directors and Shareholders of Apollo Shoes, Incorporated The ____ Auditing Firm audited the balance sheets of Apollo Shoes, Inc. beginning December 31, 2008 and 2009 and the reports shared to the revenue, complete revenue, investors’ equity, and cash-flow for the period of two years that ended on December 31, 2008. ___ Auditing Firm has evaluated the manager’s statements of Apollo Shoes, Inc. that is placed with the attached Management’s Report in the part of the Internal Control-Over Financial Reporting. In this part, Apollo Shoes, Incorporated has retained effective internal control over financial reporting beginning December 31, 2008, the concern of a variety of standards, of the Internal Control Integrated Framework distributed by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Apollo Shoes’ organization has a responsibility to uphold accurate financial statements, keeping effective internal control over financial reporting, and evaluation of internal control over the financial reporting system. __ Auditing Firm is accountable for issuing a professional judgment that will exemplify a complete evaluation of the financial statements, organization’s evaluation, and efficiency and success of the organizations internal control over financial reporting according to the auditing decisions of __ Auditing Firm. ___ Auditing Firm has performed the audit in agreement with the...
Words: 918 - Pages: 4
...for the accuracy of financial statements, and to institute and monitor effective internal controls over financial reporting. The cost of implementing an effective internal control structure are onerous, and SOX inflicts opportunity costs upon an enterprise as executives have become more risk adverse due to fears of incrimination. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) was created by SOX to oversee the accounting process and dictate independence requirements for auditors and auditing committees. The PCAOB proposed regulations must be approved by the SEC before they are enacted. Since the passage of SOX, the IT department has become critical in designing and implementing the internal controls in company accounting information systems. The Information Technology Governance Institute (ITGI) created a framework called Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT) to provide guidance for companies to implement and monitor IT governance. Accounting Information Systems Research Paper The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 changed the landscape of corporate financial reporting and auditing. In the wake of corporate reporting scandals, Congress decided the accounting profession was unable to self-regulate, and The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was signed into law. The law addresses corporate greed and dishonesty by requiring companies to implement extensive internal control procedures to deter fraud and hold corporate...
Words: 3250 - Pages: 13
...------------------------------------------------- To: The Board of Directors and Shareholders of Apollo Shoes Inc. From: CBA Auditing Firm Re: Audit Report and Internal Control Evaluation Date: June 10, 2013 CBA Auditing Firm has audited the balance sheets of Apollo Shoes as of December 31, 2012. In addition, our auditing firms also reviewed statements of income such as shareholders equity, comprehensive income, and cash flows for the same period. Our company also assessed Apollo Shoes financial reporting internal controls based on the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO criteria) and determined that they are adequate and effective for the period ending December 31, 2012. Apollo Shoes Inc. management holds sole responsibility for maintaining effective internal controls, validity of their financial statements. CBA Auditing responsibility is only to reflect an opinion on management’s assessment, the company’s internal controls, and the financial statements based on the results of our Audit. Our audit was conducted in accordance with the standards set by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. These standards require for our organization to prepare and execute the inspection to attain reasonable assurance of whether Apollo Shoes Inc. financial statements are without material misstatements and determine if the internal controls are effective enough over financial reporting for all material aspects. Our audits provide a reasonable basis for our...
Words: 542 - Pages: 3
...major differences between preventive, detective and corrective control procedures. b)Why should timely reports be an essential element within a company’s Internal control system and what kind of control is it? a)Preventive control procedures are designed and implemented before an activity is performed to prevent some potential problem (e.g., the inaccurate handling of cash receipts) from occurring that relates to the activity. Detective control procedures are designed and implemented to provide feedback to management regarding whether or not operational efficiency and adherence to prescribed managerial policies have been achieved. In other words, preventive controls should be developed prior to operating activities taking place and detective controls should be developed to evaluate if operating efficiency and adherence to policies of management have occurred after operating activities have taken place. Corrective control procedures come into play based on the findings from the detective control procedures. That is, through detective controls, corrective control procedures should be developed to identify the cause of an organization’s problem, correct any difficulties or errors resulting from the problem, and modify the organization’s processing system so that future occurrences of the problem will hopefully be eliminated or at least minimized. b)From the standpoint of evaluating a company’s internal control system, a performance report is a type of report that provides...
Words: 981 - Pages: 4
...Internal audit Internal auditing is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization's operations. It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes.[1] Internal auditing is a catalyst for improving an organization's governance, risk management and management controls by providing insight and recommendations based on analyses and assessments of data and business processes. With commitment to integrity and accountability, internal auditing provides value to governing bodies and senior management as an objective source of independent advice. Professionals called internal auditors are employed by organizations to perform the internal auditing activity. The scope of internal auditing within an organization is broad and may involve topics such as an organization's governance, risk management and management controls over: efficiency/effectiveness of operations (including safeguarding of assets), the reliability of financial and management reporting, and compliance with laws and regulations. Internal auditing may also involve conducting proactive fraud audits to identify potentially fraudulent acts; participating in fraud investigations under the direction of fraud investigation professionals, and conducting post investigation fraud audits to identify control breakdowns and establish...
Words: 3415 - Pages: 14
...THE IMPACT OF INTERNAL AUDIT ROLE ON RISK MANAGEMENT IN UAE PHD proposal Presented to (Dr Puah Chin Hong) Faculty of Economics and Business University of Malaysia Sarawak Presented By Muhammad Usman Research Proposal for PHD Admission: Presented By Muhammad Usman Page 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 2.0 INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 3.0 4.0 A brief history of internal auditing The role of the internal auditor Role of the risk management function The internal auditor and the risk management process PROBLEM STATEMENT RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 4.1 Specific Research Questions 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 IMPORTANCE OF STUDY SCOPE OF STUDY RESEARCH DESIGN THE LITERATURE REVIEW DATA COLLECTION & SAMPLING 9.1 9.2 Survey by questionnaire and interviews Sample selection 10.0 11.0 DATA ANALYSIS REFERENCES Research Proposal for PHD Admission: Presented By Muhammad Usman Page 2 1.0 INTRODUCTION The audit function has been performed at least since the fifteenth century. However internal auditing has developed most rapidly throughout the twentieth century as a core tool of risk assessment. Today, in businesses worldwide, the internal audit function is becoming very important for achieving the objectives of organizations. In recent years, UAE market has recognized the importance of the internal audit function, which is why that function has been established in some public as well as private companies. These companies setup audit functions to deal with the assessment...
Words: 2567 - Pages: 11
...Introduction Technology plays a vital role in continuous auditing activities. As an automatic method, continuous auditing’s responsibility is to perform auditing activities more frequently which including control and risk assessments. With the aim of helping to automate the identification of anomalies or exceptions, analyze models, test controls and review trends, “Continuous” in this aspect of continuous reporting and auditing serves as the financial information’s real-time ability to be shared and checked. Continuous auditing presents that the financial information’s integrity can be evaluated at any given-point-time; as a result, financial information’s inefficient, frauds and errors could able to be verified constantly. In the other hand, we could consider continuous auditing as a very detailed audit. 1 Historical development of continuous auditing As a kind of audit method, it theoretical sources is from the traditional auditing method. The traditional auditing theory is the basis of analyzing the continuous auditing. Most of the auditing is a format of statutory audit, but not all the auditing is required by the statutory from the beginning. Under the freedom of market environment, we should strengthen research on audit risk, explore ways of audit risk management and control, continue to improve audit quality, and reduce audit risk. “In fact, the concept of “continuous auditing” has been around since the late 1980s. But the urgency that Sarbanes-Oxley has brought...
Words: 758 - Pages: 4
...Internal auditing is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization's operations. It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes.[1] Internal auditing is a catalyst for improving an organization's governance, risk management and management controls by providing insight and recommendations based on analyses and assessments of data and business processes. With commitment to integrity and accountability, internal auditing provides value to governing bodies and senior management as an objective source of independent advice. Professionals called internal auditors are employed by organizations to perform the internal auditing activity. The scope of internal auditing within an organization is broad and may involve topics such as an organization's governance, risk management and management controls over: efficiency/effectiveness of operations (including safeguarding of assets), the reliability of financial and management reporting, and compliance with laws and regulations. Internal auditing may also involve conducting proactive fraud audits to identify potentially fraudulent acts; participating in fraud investigations under the direction of fraud investigation professionals, and conducting post investigation fraud audits to identify control breakdowns and establish financial...
Words: 405 - Pages: 2
...function of the PCAOB and AS 5 and AS 11 Ramecha Davis This paper is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Auditing BUS5423 Section 70 Texas Woman’s University Dr. John Nugent April 20, 2015 Abstract The purpose of this research paper is to provide an in depth review of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and how it contributes to the interest of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. The research highlights the importance of the PCAOB’s role in the accounting profession as well as prospective changes that may evolve in the future related to PCAOB. Upon reading this research the reader will be familiar with PCAOB’s roles and functions, as well as auditing standards (AS) released such as AS5 and AS11. The PCAOB’s significance in the protection of investors is revealed as well. Keywords: SEC, PCAOB, SOX, AS 5, AS 11, Internal Control, Materiality Table of Contents Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………….5 PCAOB…………….……………………………………..……………………………….……….……5-6 a) The PCAOB Mission, Vision, & Core Values………………………………….………........6-7 b) Current Standards…………………………………………………………….…..............…7-8 c) Future Standard Plans…………………………………………………………………….…8-9 Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 Section 404……………………………………………………………...….9 a) Auditing Standard 5…………………………………………………………………….….9-10 b) Auditing Standard 11……………………………………………………………………..10-12 c) Communication Requirements..............................................
Words: 4910 - Pages: 20
... | | |Auditing | Copyright © 2009, 2008, 2007 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Course Description In this course, students focus on the auditing practice performed by public accountants. Topics include the CPA profession and the auditor’s role, planning the audit, audit reporting and required communications, evaluating internal controls, audit programs for current assets and liabilities, and audit programs for other business cycles. Policies Faculty and students/learners will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within the following two documents: • University policies: You must be logged into the student website to view this document. • Instructor policies: This document is posted in the Course Materials forum. University policies are subject to change. Be sure to read the policies at the beginning of each class. Policies may be slightly different depending on the modality in which you attend class. If you have recently changed modalities, read the policies governing your current class modality. Course Materials Arens, A. A., Elder, R. J., & Beasley, M. S. (2006). Auditing and assurance services: An integrated approach (11th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson. Hayes, R., Dassen, R., Schilder, A., & Wallage...
Words: 2385 - Pages: 10
...Internal control, as its name implies, involves everything that controls risks to a business. With enterprise strategic management theory continuing to develop, the actual meaning of internal controls is of increasingly focused. “Internal controls are an important step to help safeguard assets against the unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition.” Fabiano (2012) explains that “Internal controls can help minimize the risk of employee theft or fraud occurring in your organization.” While according to Thain (1969), who developed criteria for differentiating among small, medium and large firms, because small firms might face much more different kinds of problems than others, they would find that it would be difficult to implement the internal control procedures in their firms. This literature review sets out to explicate the significant impact of internal controls in small businesses in term of improving the efficiency of auditing. It would also take account of the extension of it, using internal controls to reduce employee theft in small businesses. It is clear in the literature that effective internal controls have contributed to small businesses to shorten the time spent on auditing, which would also provide a savings in audit fees. Different economists propose a similar attitude to the impact of internal controls on auditing. Hicks and Chenok (1957) put forward a theory to suggest auditors use internal control questionnaires to assist them to characterize a properly coordinated...
Words: 929 - Pages: 4
...ACCT 432: AUDITING 1 COURSE OUTLINE GENERAL OBJECTIVE To introduce students to the concept of the audit of financial statements and the issues surrounding the audit of such statements EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES By the end of the course, the student is expected to be able to; a) b) c) d) e) f) Explain what is an audit and the qualifications and duties of an auditor Understand the legal and professional rules governing the audit and the auditor Able to design an adequate internal control system Able to design an audit plan and an audit program to conduct an audit Able to audit a computerized client Able to design an audit report Week Topics Content Time (Hours) Definition of auditing 3 Distinction between auditing and accounting Objectives of an audit Types of audits Appointment of an auditor Qualifications of auditors 6 1 GENERAL ENVIRONMENT AUDIT 2-3 THE LEGAL PROFFESIONAL AND Week Topics Content Time (Hours) Rights of auditors Dismissal and duties of auditors REQUIREMENTS AUDITOR 4 OF AN CONDUCTING AN AUDIT 5-6 ERRORS, FRAUD AND OTHER IRREGULARITIES 7 INTERNAL SYSTEMS CONTROL 8 9-10 CAT AUDIT EVIDENCE General audit steps 3 Accepting an audit engagement Letter of engagement Planning an audit Types of errors 6 Fraud Detection, correction and prevention of errors and fraud Role of the auditor in respect of detection and prevention of errors and fraud Definition and types of internal 3 control systems...
Words: 537 - Pages: 3
