Sssh – Don’t Tell the Auditors We’re Related

This month’s article considers the issue surrounding related parties in the context of audit.  Related party transactions can be quite complicated and the auditors are, to some extent, reliant on their audit client to be both co-operative and open to them when it comes to related party transactions.

This article is relevant for those students who are planning to study auditing papers in the next diet of exams. Related party transactions can be (and in real life are) technically complex but after reading this article you will be in a much better position to answer questions which deal with related…

The Auditor and Fraud

Fraud has become a major issue within the accountancy profession over recent years and the accounting and audit profession has suffered a significant amount of embarrassment because of the failings whereby audit firms have either overlooked or ‘turned a blind eye’ to fraud.

This article considers the technical aspects of ISA 240 ‘The Auditor’s Responsibility to Consider Fraud in an Audit of Financial Statements’.  The article is written from the perspective of a smaller audit client and aims to outline what smaller audit firms need to consider when looking at fraud issues and what they have to do if they…

The Rising Cost of Audit

The introduction of International Auditing Standards in 2005 has had a major impact on the profession and the way in which firms – typically those at the smaller end of the scale – deal with auditing issues.

There is a dividing line between commercial reality/cost v benefit and adherence to ‘the book’ as well as a sense of uncertainty as to what various International Auditing Standards actually (a) require the auditor to do and (b) the documentation required to be placed on the audit file to support the audit evidence.

This article by Steven Collings looks at how audit firms…

Auditing Questions Answered

Recently there have been a number of questions asked on the AccountancyStudents website concerning the subject of Audit.  In recognition of the fact that audit can be technically complex in certain areas, our regular contributor Steven Collings has put together a number of questions and answers which are frequently asked in the area of audit.

What is an Audit?

An audit is official examination of an entity’s financial statements and the disclosures therein.  It is an independent examination undertaken by a qualified firm of Accountants who are registered and authorised to undertake audit work.

What is the outcome of an…