Types of Audit Engagements

/Types of Audit Engagements

External Audit

External audit, also known as financial audit and statutory audit, involves the examination of the truth and fairness of the financial statements of an entity by an external auditor who is independent of the organization in accordance with a reporting framework such as the IFRS. Company law in most jurisdictions requires external audit on annual basis for companies above a certain size.

Internal Audit

Internal audit, also referred as operational audit, is a voluntary appraisal activity undertaken by an organization to provide assurance over the effectiveness of internal controls, risk management and governance to facilitate the achievement of organizational objectives. Internal audit is performed by employees of the organization who report to the audit committee of the board of directors as opposed to external audit which is carried out by professionals independent of the organization and who report to the shareholders via audit report.

Forensic Audit

Forensic Audit involves the use of auditing and investigative skills to situations that may involve legal implications. Forensic audits may be required in the following instances:

  • Fraud investigations involving misappropriation of funds, money laundering, tax evasion and insider trading
  • Quantification of loss in case of insurance claims
  • Determination of the profit share of business partners in case of a dispute
  • Determination of claims of professional negligence relating to the accountancy profession

Findings of a forensic audit could be used in the court of law as expert opinion on financial matters.

Public Sector Audit

Public sector audit involves the scrutiny of the financial affairs of the state owned enterprises to assess whether they have been operated in way which is in the best interest of the public and whether standard procedures have been followed to comply with the requirements in place to promote transparency and good governance (e.g. public sector procurement rules). Public sector audit therefore goes a step further than the financial audit of private organizations which primarily focuses on the reliability of financial statements

Audits of public sector companies are becoming increasingly concerned with the efficiency, effectiveness and economy of resources used in state organizations which has given way for the development of value for money audits.

Tax Audit

Tax audits (whether VAT or GST) are conducted to assess the accuracy of the tax returns filed by a company and are therefore used to determine the amount of any over or under assessment of tax liability towards the tax authorities.

Information System Audit

Information system audit involves the assessment of the controls relevant to the IT infrastructure within an organization. Information system audits may be performed as part of the internal control assessment during internal or external audit.

Environmental & Social

Environmental & Social Audits involve the assessment of environmental and social footprints that an organization leaves as a consequence of its economic activities. The need for environmental auditing is increasing due to higher number of companies providing environment and sustainability reports in their annual report describing the impact of their business activities on the environment and society and the initiatives taken by them to reduce any adverse consequences.

Compliance Audit

In many countries, companies are required to conduct specific audit engagements other than the statutory audit to comply with the requirements of particular laws and regulations. Examples of such audits include:

Value for Money

Value for money audits involves the assessment of the efficiency, effectiveness and economy of an organization’s use of resources.

Value for money audits are increasingly relevant to sectors which do not have profit as their main objective such as the public sector and charities. They are usually performed as part of internal audit or public sector audit.

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