審計(jì)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)外文文獻(xiàn)

1、In depe ndent audit risk an alysis and preve ntive measuresAbstractPrevious studies have utilized a variety of approaches to determine appropriate criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of the internal audit function. For example, con sidered the degree of complia nee with sta ndards as one of the f

2、actors which affects internal audit performanee. A 1988 research report from the IIA-United Kingdom (IIA-UK, 1988)focused on the perceptions of both senior management and external auditors of the value of the internal audit function. The study identified the difficulty of measuring the value of serv

3、ices provided as a major obstacle to such an evaluation. Profitability, cost standards and the effective ness of resource utilizati on were ide ntified as measures of the value of services. In its recommendations it highlighted the need to ensure that audit work complies with SPPIA.In the US, Albrec

4、ht et al.(1988)studied the roles and ben efits of the in ternal audit fun cti on and developed a framework for the purpose of evaluat ing internal audit effective ness. They found that there were four areas that the directors of in ternal audit departments could develop to enhance effectiveness: an

5、appropriate corporate environment, top management support, high quality internal audit staff and high quality in ternal audit work. The authors stressed that man ageme nt and auditors should recognize the internal audit function as a value-adding function to the organization. In the UK, Ridley and D

6、 Silva (1997) identified thimportanee of complying with professional standards as the most important contributor to the internal audit function adding value.Key wordsAudit,Risk, I nternal C on trol, Audit ingComplia nee with SPPIAA number of studies have focused on the SPPIA standard concerned with

7、independence.Clark et al.(1981) found that the independence of the internal audit department and the level of authority to which internal audit staff report were the two most importa nt criteria in flue ncing the objectivity of their work. Plumlee (1985) focused on potential threats to internal audi

8、tor objectivity,particularly whether participation in the design of an internal control system in flue need judgeme nts as to the quality and effective ness of that system. Plumlee found that such desig n invo Iveme nt produced bias that could ultimately threate n objectivity.The relati on ship betw

9、ee n the internal audit function and compa ny man ageme nt more gen erally is clearly an importa nt factor in determ ining internal auditor objectivity. Harrell et al. (1989) suggested that perceptions of the views and desires of man ageme nt could in flue nee the activities and judgement of interna

10、l auditors. Also, they found that internal auditors who were members of the IIA were less likely to succumb to such pressure.P onemon (1991) examined the question of whether or not internal auditors will report sensitive issues uncovered during the course of their work. He concluded that the three f

11、actors affecting internal auditor objectivity were their social position in the orga ni zati on, their relati on ship with man ageme nt and the existe nee of a com muni cati on cha nnel to report wron gdo ing.The in depe ndence of internal audit departme ntsCommentators and standard setters identify

12、 independence as being a key attribute of the internal audit departme nt. From the questio nn aire resp on ses 60 (77%) of the internal audit departments stated that there was a written docume nt defi ning the purpose, authority and resp on sibility of the departme nt. In n early all in sta nces whe

13、re there was such a docume nt the terms of refere nee of the internal audit departme nt had bee n agreed by senior man ageme nt (93%), the document identified the role of the internal audit department in the organization, and its rights of access to individuals, records and assets (97%), and the doc

14、ument set out the scope of internal auditing (90%). Respondents were asked to assess the exte nt to which the releva nt docume nt was con siste nt with the specific requirements of SPPIA. In those departments where such a document existed 27 (45%) claimed full complianee with SPPIA, 23 (38%) con sid

15、ered their docume nt to bepartially eon siste nt with SPPIA. In more tha non e-third of the departme nts surveyed either no such docume nt existed (n=18, 23%) or the resp ondent was not aware whether or not the docume nt complied with SPPIA (n=10, 13%).SPPIA suggests that independence is enhanced wh

16、en the organization sboard of directors con curs with the appo in tme nt or removal of the director of the internal audit department, and that the director of the internal audit departme nt is resp on sible to an in dividual of suitable seni ority with in the organization. It is noticeable that in 4

17、7 companies (60%) their responsibilities with regard to appointment, removal and the receipt of reports lay with non-senior management, normally a general manager. SPPIA recommends that the director of the internal audit departme nt should have direct com muni cati on with the board of directors to

18、ensure that the department is independent, and provides a means for the director of internal audit ing and the board of directors to keep each other in formed on issues of mutual in terest. The in terviews with directors of internal audit departments showed that departments tended to report to gen e

19、ral man agers rather tha n the board of directors. Further evide nee of the lack of access to the board of directors was provided by the questi onn aire responses showing that in almost half the companies, members of the internal audit department have never attended board meetings and in only two co

20、mpa nies did atte ndance take place regularly.Un restricted access to docume ntati on and un fettered powers of enquiry are important aspects of the independence and effectiveness of internal audit. The questionnaire responses revealed that 34 (44%) internal audit directors considered that they did

21、not have full access to all necessary information. Furthermore, a significant minority (n=11, 14%) did not believe they were free,in all instances, to report faults, frauds, wrongdoing or mistakes. A slightly higher number ( n=17, 22%) considered that the internal audit function did not always recei

22、ve con siste nt support from senior man ageme nt.SPPIA identifies that involvement in the design, installation and operating of systems is likely to impair in ternal auditor objectivity. Resp ondents were asked how often management requested the assistanee of the internal audit department in the per

23、formanee of non-audit duties. In 37 internal audit departments (47%) surveyed such requests were made sometimes, often or always, and only 27 (35%) departments never participated in these non-audit activities. The in terviews revealed that in some orga ni zati ons in ternal audit staff was used regu

24、larly to cover for staff shortages in other departme nts.Woodworth and Said (1996)sought to ascertain the views of internal auditors in Saudi Arabia as to whether there were differe nces in the react ion of auditees to specific internal audit situations according to the nationality of the auditee. B

25、ased on 34 questi onn aire resp on ses from members of the IIA Dhahra n chapter, they found there were no sig ni fica nt differe nces betwee n the differe nt n ati on alities. The in ternal auditors did not modify their audit con duct accordi ng to the nationality of the auditee and cultural dimensi

26、ons did not have a sig nifica nt impact on the results of the audit.Given the importanee of complying with SPPIA, the professional and academic literature emphasizes the importa nee of the relati on ship betwee n the internal audit department and the rest of the organization in determining the succe

27、ss or otherwise of internal auditdepartme nts(Mints,1972;Flesher,1996;Ridley & Chambers,1998 and Moeller & Witt,1999). This literature focuses on the n eed for co-operati on and teamwork betwee n the auditor and auditee if internal auditing is to be effective.Bethea (1992) suggests that the need for

28、 good human relations skills is important because internal auditing creates negative perceptions and negative attitudes. These issues are particularly importa nt in a multicultural bus in ess en vir onment such as Saudi Arabia where there are significant differences in the cultural and educational b

29、ackgro und of the auditors and auditees Woodworth and Said (1996).Reas ons for not hav ing an internal audit departme ntOf the 92 compa ny in terviews exam ining the reas ons why compa nies do not have an in ternal audit fun cti on, the most freque nt resp onse from 52 compa nies (57%) was that reli

30、a nee on the exter nal auditor en abled the compa ny to obta in the ben efits that might be obta ined from in ternal audit. Typically, in terviewees argued that the external auditor is better, more efficient and saves money. In terviews with theexter nal auditors revealed that clie nt compa nies cou

31、ld not distinguish clearly between the work and roles of internal and external audit. For example, one exter nal auditor said,there is a misperception of what the external auditor does, they think the external auditor does everything for the company and must discover any problem.Having said this, on

32、e external auditor doubted that an internal audit function would add value in all circumstances. When referring to the internal con trol system he stated,as long as they are happy with the final output, I think the internal audit function will not add value. External auditing eventually will highlig

33、ht any sig nifica nt internal con trol weak ness.The second most frequent reason mentioned by interviewees (23 firms, 25%) for not operating an internal audit department was the cost/benefit trade-off. Specifically, 17 firms considered that the small size of the company and the limited nature of its

34、 activities meant that it would not be efficient for them to have an in ternal audit departme nt. The exter nal auditors in terviewed were of the opinion that the readily identifiable costs as compared with the more difficult to measure ben efits was a factor con tribut ing to this decisi on.A numbe

35、r of other reasons were given by interviewees for not having an internal audit departme nt. As a con seque nee of the high costs of con duct ing internal audit activities, 14 firms used employees who were not within a separate internal audit department to carry out internal audit duties. Eight compa

36、nies did not think there was a need for internal audit because they believed their internal control systems were sufficient to obviate the need for internal audit. Five companies did not think that internal audit was an important activity and three felt that their type of the bus in ess did not requ

37、ire internal audit. Three resp ondents men ti oned that they did not operate an internal audit department because professional people could not be found to run the department, and six companies did not provide a reason for not having an internal audit department. In 10 companies an internal audit dI

38、nternal audit risks in clud e the in here nt risks and con trol risks. The in here nt risks is the assumption that has nothing to d o with internal accounting controls,the units being audited financial statements and the overall balanee of the account of a bus in ess or the possibility of a major er

39、ror, that is caused by the audit unit econo mic characteristics of bus in ess and acco unting work itself the formati on of the lack of audit risk. Some enterprises such as the lack of due attention to the accounting system, account system complex, reducing clarity of accounting in formatio n, repor

40、ts, use of difficulty, cost, cost of lack of cost acco un ti ng con cepts. Con trol risk refers to as a result of in adequate in ternal con trol system perfect, weak in ternal con trol behavior, not timely d etectio n and correct ion of a bus in ess account or a major error in the formation of audit

41、 risk. Sometimes, even if the auditors audited un its to confirm the in ternal con trol system is un reas on able orout of control in key areas, the amendments proposed by the audit can really suitable for operating activities, but will also create a risk amendment.First, the internal audit risk cau

42、ses1. The in depe ndence of the internal audit age ncy eno ughInternal audit body is set up un its in in stituti ons, in the unit und er the l eadership of the responsible persons to work as a unit of service. Therefore, the independence of internal audit as social audit, the audit process, inevitab

43、ly affected the interests of the unit constraints. OIA staff faced with the unit leadership was among the leadership and the leadership of the relati on ship, as well as with various secti ons, the relati on ship betwee n colleagues, people are not invoIved in the leadership of my colleagues is, non

44、-directly related to also in directly related to the audit process an d con clusi ons will in evitably invo lve the in terests of specific in dividuals, which in evitably affected the audit process for all categories of pers onnel in terfere nee.2. Internal audit operations personnel ill-equippedThe

45、 quality of auditors is to determ ine the size of audit risk factors. The quality of the audit in clud ing those en gaged in the audit of the policies and regulati ons n eed to level of expertise, experienee, skills, audit professional ethics and work resp on sibilities.Audit experienee, the audit s

46、taff shoul d have an important skill, the need for the audit practice of the accumulation of experienee. Chinas internal audit staff, many people only familiar with the financial and accounting operations, some auditors do not und ersta nd the bus in ess activities of this unit and internal eon trol

47、s, audit limited experienee. In addition, the internal audit staff responsibilities and professional ethics is the impact of audit risk factors. Because of Chinas internal guidelines for the work of norms and ethical standards still some gaps, and many internal orga ns and pers onn el lack of occupa

48、ti onal norms bound and guida nee. In short, Chinas overall quality of the l ow OIA staff and directly affected the internal audit work carried out by the depth and breadth. Faced with the complexity of todays OIA object and content development, internal audit staff and powerful single force book, w

49、hich will directly l ead to the selection of audit risk.3. Internal audit of the scientific method is not strongChinas system of internal audit is the basis of the audit, with the internal operati on and man ageme nt of en vir onmen tal complicated mod els are not suited to carry out this audit inte

50、rnal management audit of the needs, because it is overly depe ndent on the internal man ageme nt of en terprises con trolled test, in itself a huge pote ntial the risk of internal audit gen erally use statistical sampli ng methods, as a result of the sample itself is based on a sample audit of the r

51、esults of the review can be inferred from the general characteristics, therefore, between the samples and the overall form is bound to a certain degree of error, the formati on of audit sampli ng risk. With the degree of in formati on tech no logy improved, the audited acco un ti ng in formatio n wi

52、ll be more and more errors and false accounting information d oped them, and fail ed to investigate the possibility of also increasing. Although the survey sampl e is built on the solid foundation of mathematical theory, but its existence is to allow a certain degree of audit risk. Similarly, a larg

53、e number of analytical review will also have associated risks, so that the composition of the contents of audit risk is more complicated.4. I nternal Audit man ageme nt systemsInternal audit management system construction and impl ementation of internal audit is the prerequisite and foundation. Soun

54、d and effective internal management system to detect and control of enterprise economic activity occurring in a variety of errors and fraud. To ensure the quality of internal audit, internal audit organizations should establish a perfect quality control system, however, some audit institutions still

55、 lack of prior audit plan, a matter of auditing procedures and audit review of the reporting period; the audit working papers in compl ete, gen erally on ly Records of audit matters, not the record ing of audit staff that the correct audit matters, making the audit review, audit quality con trol no

56、way; to coord in ate the relati on ship betwee n the audit report as a starti ng point to certain performance-based, qualitative ambiguous issues. More than the existe nce of the status quo, making the internal audit quality assura nce become an empty talk, let alone ward off risks.Secon d, reduce t

57、he risk of internal audit ways1. Strengthen the internal audit of the legal systemImprove and perfect the l egal system for the audit of internal audit is the basis of risk con trol measures. Audit no rms, the audit staff cod e of con duct and guideli nes, not only to control and reduce audit risk,

58、but also to measure auditors liability standards. Chinas internal audit late start compared with Western countries in the releva nt system-buildi ng there are many imperfect ions. In order to adapt to the con ti nu ous developme nt of moder n internal audit requireme nts, it is n ecessary to stre ng

59、the n the audit work of legalizati on and sta ndardizati on con struct ion to mini mize the audit work of bli ndn ess and randomn ess.2. To en sure the in depe ndence of in ternal auditThe independence of the internal auditor can make a fair and impartial professional judgment, which is appropriate to car