Auditing Evidence
AUDIT EVIDENCE
Audit Evidence Definition : All the information used by the auditor in arriving at the conclusions on which the audit opinion is based. This includes the information contained in the account records underlying the financial statements and other information. Additionally, audit evidence should be persuasive, rather than convincing.
There are different levels of reliability of audit evidence, some providing more evidence than others.
There are nine types of audit evidence :
1) Mathematical Recalculation
2) Inquiry
3) Re-performance
4) Analytical Procedures
5) Documentation (inspection of)
6) Confirmation
7) Observation
8) Physical Inspection of Assets
9) Scanning
Nature of Evidence
• Evidence is any information used by the auditor to determine whether the information being audited is stated in accordance with the established criteria.
• Evidence includes information that is highly persuasive, such as the auditor's count of marketable securities, and less persuasive information, such as responses to questions of client employees.
• The use of evidence is not unique to auditors. Evidence is also used extensively by scientists, lawyers, and historians.
• The auditor also gathers evidence to draw conclusions.
Audit Evidence Decisions
• A major decision facing every auditor is determining the appropriate types and amounts of evidence to accumulate to be satisfied that financial statements are fairly stated and the internal control system is effective.
• This judgment is important because of the prohibitive cost of examining and evaluating all available evidence.
• The auditor's decisions on evidence accumulation can be broken down into the following four sub-decisions:
1. Which audit procedures to use 2. What sample size to select for a given procedure 3. Which items to select from the population 4. When to perform the procedures
Audit evidence is
Audit Evidence Definition : All the information used by the auditor in arriving at the conclusions on which the audit opinion is based. This includes the information contained in the account records underlying the financial statements and other information. Additionally, audit evidence should be persuasive, rather than convincing.
There are different levels of reliability of audit evidence, some providing more evidence than others.
There are nine types of audit evidence :
1) Mathematical Recalculation
2) Inquiry
3) Re-performance
4) Analytical Procedures
5) Documentation (inspection of)
6) Confirmation
7) Observation
8) Physical Inspection of Assets
9) Scanning
Nature of Evidence
• Evidence is any information used by the auditor to determine whether the information being audited is stated in accordance with the established criteria.
• Evidence includes information that is highly persuasive, such as the auditor's count of marketable securities, and less persuasive information, such as responses to questions of client employees.
• The use of evidence is not unique to auditors. Evidence is also used extensively by scientists, lawyers, and historians.
• The auditor also gathers evidence to draw conclusions.
Audit Evidence Decisions
• A major decision facing every auditor is determining the appropriate types and amounts of evidence to accumulate to be satisfied that financial statements are fairly stated and the internal control system is effective.
• This judgment is important because of the prohibitive cost of examining and evaluating all available evidence.
• The auditor's decisions on evidence accumulation can be broken down into the following four sub-decisions:
1. Which audit procedures to use 2. What sample size to select for a given procedure 3. Which items to select from the population 4. When to perform the procedures
Audit evidence is