one person to finish the audit work

one person to finish the audit work

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i am going to start working in a local audit firm where all but 2 people are part timers. at my job interview, the authorised auditor told me he would guide me to do all the work in the beginning. and i feel umcomfortable with the fact that i am allowed to work on an audit all by myself up to the final report.is it allowed? in other words, only 2 people perform one particular audit( the authorised auditor who prepare the audit report and sign and i who go to the client's premises to do the work).

who check me in this case? nobody will know whether i have done a good or bad job. the quality and credibility of the audit report is seriously in question even before it started, from my point of view. any comment?
kevin

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By Abacjm
15th Dec 2001 22:32

One Man Audit
Kevin, I would be slightly worried about the quality of this audit, if you are the same person who is asking about understanding T Accounts. If you are in any doubt about your own abilities to undertake the work on your own, suggest that as you are a beginner, it would be more useful (in the first year at least) to be accompanied by an audit senior, whether or not he/she is part-time). He/she will be much more likely to ask pertinent questions rather than someone who is still dealing with the rudiments of T Accounts.
You are right to be concerned at this firm, I think.

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By neileg
14th Dec 2001 13:30

Yes, why not?
The short answer is yes. The person signing the report is responsible for doing the work on which the audit opinion is based. It is quite possible that the signatory (who is the auditor in law)would do all the work. I have done this myself. Therefore it is quite reasonable for the auditor to delegate the work to a single individual.

However, your question does raise the quite proper issue of planning the audit, recording the work, quality control, and a number of other issues that need to be addressed regardless of the number of people involved. The auditor is resopnsible for doing this, but again, provided the proper checks are in place, this may too be delegated.

In summary, the planning of the audit, the quality control of the work, and the appropriate experience or qualification of the staff are essential to the audit process. There are no short cuts. But all this can be achieved, and audit credibility maintained, by just one or two people, provided that this is appropriate to the size and nature of the audit.

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