UNIT III
Auditing Techniques
Routine Checking is the elementary part of auditing. It is checking of arithmetical accuracy of books of account, accounting statements and other related accounts. These books of accounts are Journal, Ledger books, Cash book, Trial Balance and other subsidiary books. Checking of these books by an auditor or his staff is called Routine Checking.
In simple words in test checking a representative number of entries of each class is selected and checked and, if they are found correct, the remaining entries are also taken to be correct. Test checking is an accepted substitute of detailed checking, which in most of the cases from the economic point of view is unwarranted.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ROUTINE CHECKING AND TEST CHECKING
Under routine checking we need to verify each and every book of accounts, while test checking is the examination of selected number of items it is not that elaborative as that of routine checking. Under routine checking , check transaction verification without exception that means entire transaction which are being recorded in the original books of accounts and subsidiary books are to be checked without any deficiency or without leaving anything out while under test checking it avoids immaterial items only significant items or material items are being examine under test checking.
Routine checking is done on a daily basis while test checking can be done on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis depending upon the size of an organization and quantum of transaction which need to be analyzed and examined.
MEANING OF TEST CHECKING
Test checking in Audit means checking a few transactions selected at random from a large number of transactions. It is also known as “Selective Verification” or “Sampling Process“. It is a substitute for detailed checking. It involves only a partial checking. The auditor normally does not check completely all the records made into the books of accounts but, through a process of sampling, selects a few items and if they are found correct, he presumes that the remaining entries would also be correct likewise.
Thus, test checking is based on a simple theme that” if a representative number of transactions, so selected at random by the auditor for test checking, is found to be correct, the remaining ones would also be correct.”
Thus, the whole system of test checking implies selecting and checking only a few selected transactions so as to enable the auditor to form his final judgement as to the whole set of transactions.
FEATURES OF TEST CHECKING
FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED FOR TEST CHECKING
APPLICABILITY OF TEST CHECKING
Test checking can be applied in the following situations:
1. When there are large volumes of identical or routine transactions.
2. When transactions are large.
3. When the auditor has to certify the accounts quickly after the close of the accounting period.
4. When the auditor has past experience about the nature of transactions of the clients organisation.
5. When a satisfactory system of internal control and check system exist.
ADVANTAGES OF TEST CHECKING
Test checking can give the following advantages:
1. Reduces Volume of Work: The work of an auditor is reduced considerable as he checks only few transactions, extra time available can be utilised for concentrating on areas of considerable importance.
2. Reduces Time and Cost: Test checking is one of the technique which reduces time, cost and energy of both the auditor and the client.
3. Quick Completion of Audit Work: Test check enables the auditor to complete the work quickly as the auditor checks only a few or limited transactions.
4. Effective Means of Checking: Test checking can be effective if the auditor selects the transaction to be checked carefully.
5. Scientific Assessment of Risk: The risk of material misstatement in the financial statement is assessed by the auditor in a scientific manner by drawing samples and studying them in detail.
6. Serves as a Guide: It serves as a guide for the auditor to arrive at conclusion regarding the true and fair view of the state of affairs of business.
DISADVANTAGES OF TEST CHECKING
Test checking can give the following disadvantages:
1. No Scientific Approach: It is a traditional auditing technique where no scientific approach is used in selecting the samples, hence the results drawn on it tends to be incorrect.
2. Risk cannot be measured: It is not possible to measure the amount of risk involved.
3. Complicated Transactions are not Checked: The audit assistants select only simple transactions for checking and complicated transactions are left omitted.
4. Carelessness of the Client’s Staff: The client’s staff is aware that the auditor will not check all their work hence they become careless.
5. Possibility of Errors and Frauds Remain Undetected: When test check is adopted by the auditor there are possibility of errors and frauds left undetected.
6. Unsuitable when there is no System of Internal Check: The auditor cannot adopt test check when there is no proper system of internal check and control in operation.
7. Unsuitable for Small Business Concerns: Test checking is not suitable for small business concerns as the number of transactions involved is not large.
PRECAUTIONS BEFORE TEST CHECK
While applying test checks the auditor should take the following precautions:
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
MEANING OF AUDIT SAMPLING
Audit sampling is the application of an audit procedure to less than 100 percent of the items within an account balance or class of transactions for the purpose of evaluating some characteristic of the balance or class. This section provides guidance for planning, performing, and evaluating audit samples.
PURPOSES OF AUDIT SAMPLING
Auditors usually perform the audit sampling on both the test of control and substantive audit procedures. In the test of controls, auditors use the sampling method to evaluate whether the client’s internal controls work effectively. In substantive audit procedures, they use the sampling method to estimate the amount of misstatement in an account balance.
Also, auditors usually design audit sampling that provides them a reasonable basis to draw conclusions about the population from which the sample is selected. Hence, it saves them a lot of time and effort comparing to auditing the entire population of an account balance.
Moreover, the audit sampling method is usually used when auditors want to make an investigation on a specific matter that comes up when performing the audit work.
In summary, purposes of audit sampling include:
FACTORS IN DETERMINING SAMPLE SIZE
In general, three or four factors must be known or estimated to calculate sample size:
(1) The effect size (usually the difference between 2 groups);
(2) The population standard deviation (for continuous data);
(3) The desired power of the experiment to detect the postulated effect; and
(4) The significance level.
SAMPLING RISK
Sampling risk is the risk that the auditor’s conclusions based on a sample may be different from the conclusion if the entire population were the subject of the same audit procedure.
TOLERABLE ERROR AND EXPECTED ERROR
Tolerable error
Tolerable error is the maximum error in the population that the auditor would be willing to accept and still concludes that the result from the sample has achieved the audit objective. Tolerable error is considered during the planning stage and, for substantive procedures, is related to the auditor’s judgement about materiality. The smaller the tolerable error, the greater the sample size will need to be.
In tests of control, the tolerable error is the maximum rate of deviation from a prescribed control procedure that the auditor would be willing to accept, based on the preliminary assessment of control risk.
In substantive procedures, the tolerable error is the maximum monetary error in an account balance or class of transactions that the auditor would be willing to accept so that when the results of all audit procedures are considered, the auditor is able to conclude, with reasonable assurance, that the financial statements are not materially misstated.
Expected error
If the auditor expects error to be present in the population, a larger sample than when no error is expected ordinarily needs to be examined to conclude that the actual error in the population is not greater than the planned tolerable error. Smaller sample sizes are justified when the population is expected to be error free. In determining the expected error in a population, the auditor would consider such matters as error levels identified in previous audits, changes in the entity’s procedures, and evidence available from other procedures
METHODS OF SAMPLING
1. Simple random sampling
In a simple random sample, every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected. Your sampling frame should include the whole population.
To conduct this type of sampling, you can use tools like random number generators or other techniques that are based entirely on chance.
2. Systematic sampling
Systematic sampling is similar to simple random sampling, but it is usually slightly easier to conduct. Every member of the population is listed with a number, but instead of randomly generating numbers, individuals are chosen at regular intervals.
3. Stratified sampling
Stratified sampling involves dividing the population into subpopulations that may differ in important ways. It allows you draw more precise conclusions by ensuring that every subgroup is properly represented in the sample.
To use this sampling method, you divide the population into subgroups (called strata) based on the relevant characteristic (e.g. gender, age range, income bracket, job role).
Based on the overall proportions of the population, you calculate how many people should be sampled from each subgroup. Then you use random or systematic sampling to select a sample from each subgroup.
4. Cluster sampling
Cluster sampling also involves dividing the population into subgroups, but each subgroup should have similar characteristics to the whole sample. Instead of sampling individuals from each subgroup, you randomly select entire subgroups.
If it is practically possible, you might include every individual from each sampled cluster. If the clusters themselves are large, you can also sample individuals from within each cluster using one of the techniques above.
This method is good for dealing with large and dispersed populations, but there is more risk of error in the sample, as there could be substantial differences between clusters. It’s difficult to guarantee that the sampled clusters are really representative of the whole population.
EVALUATION OF SAMPLE RESULTS
Auditing procedures that are appropriate to the particular audit objective should be applied to each sample item. In some circumstances the auditor may not be able to apply the planned audit procedures to selected sample items because, for example, supporting documentation may be missing. The auditor's treatment of unexamined items will depend on their effect on his evaluation of the sample.
If the auditor's evaluation of the sample results would not be altered by considering those unexamined items to be misstated, it is not necessary to examine the items. However, if considering those unexamined items to be misstated would lead to a conclusion that the balance or class contains material misstatement, the auditor should consider alternative procedures that would provide him with sufficient evidence to form a conclusion.
The auditor also should evaluate whether the reasons for his or her inability to examine the items have (a) implications in relation to his or her risk assessments (including the assessment of fraud risk), (b) implications regarding the integrity of management or employees, and (c) possible effects on other aspects of the audit.
The auditor should project the misstatement results of the sample to the items from which the sample was selected.There are several acceptable ways to project misstatements from a sample.If the sample results suggest that the auditor's planning assumptions were incorrect, he should take appropriate action.
The auditor should relate the evaluation of the sample to other relevant audit evidence when forming a conclusion about the related account balance or class of transactions.
Projected misstatement results for all audit sampling applications and all known misstatements from non sampling applications should be considered in the aggregate along with other relevant audit evidence when the auditor evaluates whether the financial statements taken as a whole may be materially misstated.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
MEANING OF INTERNAL CONTROL
Internal control is the process designed and affected by those charged with governance, management, and other personnel to provide reasonable assurance about the achievement of the entity’s objectives concerning the reliability of financial reporting, effectiveness, and efficiency of operations and compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
It follows that internal control is designed and implemented to address identified business risks that threaten the achievement of any of these objectives.
PURPOSE OF INTERNAL CONTROL
An ideal internal control system of an organization is one that ensures best possible utilization of the resources, and that too for the intended use and helps to mitigate the risk involved in it concerning the wastage of organization’s funds and other resources.
ADVANTAGES OF INTERNAL CONTROL
An audit control system can give the following advantages:
1. Detection of Errors and Frauds: Internal control systems are structured in such a way that work done by one employee in a process is checked by another without knowledge of the former. In such an environment, any fraud committed is brought to light unless there is collusion among fraudsters.
2. Time Saving: Auditor can test check or sample checks the transactions to ensure reliability, and accuracy of entries in the books. Hence, he can complete his audit work and prepare financial statements within the prescribed time.
3. Minimum Scope for Errors and Frauds: Each employee does only a limited work assigned to him, moreover, consciousness of his work being independently checked by another keeps him to be always alert at work. In such a context, chances for commission of error or fraud are lesser.
4. Operational Efficiency:
It facilitates fixation of accountability, error – free work performance, accuracy reliability and authenticity of entries and eradicate inefficiency, fraud, theft, etc. Moreover, this system enables the management to assess the performance of employees. All these collectively contribute to enhance the operational efficiency of organization as a whole.
DISADVANTAGES OF INTERNAL CONTROL
An audit control system can give the following limitations or disadvantages:
1. Organizational Structure: Deficiencies in organizational structure make internal control ineffective.
2. Size of the Organization: Small organizations have very low levels of internal control, which are almost negligible due to more interference by owners and management.
3. Unusual Transactions: The internal control procedures normally fail to keep a check on unusual transactions.
4. Costly: The implementation of internal control procedures and processes involves incurring costs in terms of time, effort and resources.
5. Abuse of Power: Members at the top-level management may override or interfere with control.
6. Collusion of two or more People: It may lead to internal controls being over- ridden.
7. Obsolescence: Control system may become redundant with passage of time if not updated with change in the size and nature of business.
8. Human Error: Internal control fails as there are possibilities of human errors.
9. Frequent follow-up measures: Follow-up procedures need to be frequent to ensure its effectiveness, which is extremely time-consuming.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
BASIS FOR COMPARISON | INTERNAL CHECK | INTERNAL CONTROL |
Meaning | Internal Check is a system, wherein division of work and allocation of responsibilities are organized in such a manner that the work of one employee is spontaneously looked over by another. | Internal Control is the ongoing critical examination of the financial and operational activities of the concern, by an internal auditor. |
Method | Work of one person is automatically checked by another person. | Work performed by the employees is examined by a separate group. |
Commencement of Work | Commences from the moment a transaction is entered. | Once the transaction has been recorded in the books. |
Involved evaluation of | Accounting and clerical accuracy | Effectiveness of management control |
Performed by | Existing staff | A specially dedicated team of auditors |
Cost Involvement | Economical | Comparatively Expensive |
Thrust of System | Prevention of errors and frauds | Detection of errors and frauds |
Tool for | Arrangement of the work | Examination of the work |
|
|
|
REFERENCES: