What is an audit? Auditing an organization How to conduct an audit at an enterprise.
In order to clearly understand what an audit of financial statements is, it is necessary to have information about what is included in this concept.
Thus, financial statements are documents containing data on the property, finances and economic activities of the organization, which are compiled at regular intervals. We will talk about how the audit of accounting and reporting takes place in our today's material.
As a rule, reports on the activities carried out within the organization are prepared monthly, and in some cases - weekly. Basically, it depends on the corporate policy and activities of the organization.
The provision of official documentation for verification to regulatory authorities or potential investors is carried out by enterprises once a calendar year.
Some organizations are required to publish data on their financial affairs - profits and achievements, after they pass the audit. The report on the audit conducted by the auditor is published along with other accounting documentation.
Types of financial statements
Now consider what types of financial statements exist. Depending on the completeness of information and terms, documents can be divided into the following types:
1. Internal documents (intended for use only within an organization or enterprise).
2. External documents (intended to be provided to inspection bodies, as well as potential investors, clients or interested investors).
3. Annual reports (contain information on the financial condition and economic activity of the organization for the calendar year).
4. Interim reports (contain information about any period during the calendar year - for the month, quarter, week).
5. Private reporting (contains information about the work of a separate section or department of an enterprise or organization).
6. General reporting (contains data on the work of the organization as a whole).
It should be noted that the audit of financial statements can be aimed at studying individual documents (for example, for a particular industry or for a specific period of time). The annual audit of the financial statements of the organization involves checking all the documents of the enterprise.
Accounting Forms
Basically, accounting documents are kept on forms. Samples of such forms usually have a unified form. Other documents within the organization can be filled out on forms that have been developed taking into account the characteristics of the enterprise.
The composition of the general reports submitted for audit includes such documents as:
- report on the financial results of the organization;
- balance sheet of the enterprise;
- statement of changes in equity;
- cash flow statement.
Please note that additional explanatory notes or reports may be provided to the above documents.
The essence of the audit of financial statements
The audit of financial accounting statements consists in a thorough study of all data. The auditor checks the compliance of the results of economic and financial activities of the enterprise (organization) with the norms of the current legislation of the Russian Federation. In addition, the audit of financial statements must confirm the accuracy of the information contained in the documents.
The auditor checking the reporting, in his activity is guided by the approved procedures for conducting an audit in accordance with the norms of the Tax and Civil Code and the Regulations and recommendations of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation. Auditors who conduct an audit of the financial statements of an organization must necessarily adhere to the Code of Professional Ethics for Auditors.
Notification of an upcoming inspection
As we have already found out, the essence of the audit of financial statements is to identify the compliance of the maintenance of documents with the norms of the law. Before the audit of the organization, notification of the upcoming audit should be received, unless the audit is unscheduled. The notice indicates exactly what should be prepared for and how long the audit of the financial statements will last.
An unscheduled inspection of the enterprise can be carried out in the event of an investigation of any serious offense.
During the audit of financial statements, the auditor usually examines:
Types of audits
An audit of financial statements can be:
- mandatory (annual);
- at the initiative of the head of the organization (enterprise).
In the second case, an audit initiated by the director of the enterprise may be aimed at identifying an unscrupulous employee during it or for reinsurance. In such a situation, the audit of statements may be selective. The reviewer will not view all documents, but only some of them (for example, interim reports).
Methods for conducting an audit by the auditor
The audit of the financial statements of the organization can be carried out in several ways, namely:
1. Method of deduction
The inspector first checks the content of the reporting accounting documentation, and after that - the information of analytical and synthetic accounting. The auditor then processes the primary documents.
2. Method of induction
The auditor first checks the primary documents, and then - then the accounting registers. Next, he checks the financial statements of the organization.
In general, in the process of gathering audit evidence, the auditor may use a variety of procedures and methods. The most commonly used audit methods include arithmetic verification of the accuracy of accounting records (and other documents). The auditor during the audit can independently carry out the necessary recalculations.
Stages of an audit
The audit of financial statements takes place in three stages:
1. Organization and planning of the audit
At this stage of the audit, the audit firm receives an invitation with a request to conduct an audit of an organization or enterprise. The audit firm gets acquainted with the enterprise and its activities. After that, the firm develops a plan and program for future verification. In addition, a special document is drawn up, which specifies the rights and obligations of the client and the auditor during the audit. Last This concludes an audit agreement.
2. Collection of evidence by inspectors
At this stage, special checks are carried out in order to identify distortions in the accounting reporting documentation. For identification, a profit and loss statement, a balance sheet and statistical reporting, including cash books and a journal-order, are used. In addition, at the second stage of the audit, the results of the inventories and the statutory documents of the organization are studied.
3. Completion of the check
All information collected by the auditor during the audit is grouped and systematized. After that, the inspector reports the received data to the head of the organization. about checking the auditor's report, in which he expresses his opinion on the reliability of the financial statements of the enterprise.
Identification of violations during the audit
In the process of verifying the financial statements of an enterprise, the auditor can identify a number of violations, for example:
- the inventory was carried out formally, and not actually;
- when calculating indicators (their rounding), errors were found;
- reporting forms have no connection with each other;
- hidden information about deposits (deposits) was discovered;
- income and losses are incorrectly reflected;
- the authorized capital does not correspond to the amount stated in the documents.
In addition, the auditor may identify the fact of incorrect disclosure of management expenses or erroneous calculation of income tax.
Article comments
Why verification is needed
An audit of financial statements (APBO) is an authorized independent control of the results of the financial and economic activities of an institution presented in the reporting registers of accounting.
Goals of the test:
- confirmation of the completeness and reliability of the data reflected in the submitted reports;
- control over compliance with the norms and rules of the current accounting, tax and civil legislation;
- certification of the expediency of the movement of funds, based on the functional purpose of the financial and economic activities of the organization;
- identification of reserve funds.
Only auditors directly representing audit organizations have the right to audit the financial statements of an organization and issue opinions (clause 2, article 7 of FZ-119 dated 07.08.2001).
The APBO is regulated by the provisions of the Federal Law No. 307 of December 24, 2008, RF Government Regulation No. 696 of September 23, 2002, the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, recommendations, orders and resolutions of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, as well as the rules of an accredited professional association of auditors.
Types and methods
APBO can be of two types:
- mandatory audit of accounting financial statements;
- initiated by the management of the enterprise (unscheduled).
Mandatory is carried out annually no later than 3 months after the end of the reporting year (period). The conclusion on the state of the BO is provided together with copies of the audited accounting within 10 working days from the day following the date of issue of the conclusion, but no later than December 31 of the year following the reporting one (FZ No. 402 of 06.12.2011).
How are
The first stage is the planning and organization of the APBO. The inspector gets acquainted with the activities of the enterprise and, based on the observations made, develops a program for the upcoming PBO.
The second stage is the collection and processing of data. The auditor examines the statutory documentation and financial reports (profit and loss, balance sheet, statistical reporting), looking for deviations and distortions of information. Cash books, order journals, inventory results are checked.
At the third stage, the information is analyzed and a conclusion is drawn. Then the auditor reports the results of the control to the head, confirming or refuting the completeness and reliability of the reporting data.
Who conducts APBO
Mandatory audit of financial statements, in accordance with Part 2 of Art.
How is an audit of financial statements carried out?
5 307-FZ, the following enterprises should conduct annually:
- joint-stock companies;
- credit organizations;
- Insurance companies;
- NPF or its managing institution;
- professional participants in the securities market.
For all other business entities, state (municipal) institutions, including state, autonomous and budgetary, as well as non-profit organizations, it is not necessary to conduct APBO. Control measures are carried out only if:
- the institution compiles a consolidated BO (with the exception of state off-budget funds);
- the volume of sales proceeds for the period preceding the reporting period is over 400 million rubles. The exception is agricultural cooperatives and their unions, as well as state (municipal) unitary enterprises;
- the total amount of assets in the balance sheet at the end of the year preceding the reporting one exceeds 60 million rubles. Exceptions are similar to the previous paragraph;
- this obligation is enshrined in other federal laws;
- the founder or supervisory board of a budgetary (autonomous) institution initiates an audit.
How being audited on practice?
What do the audited companies get as a result of the audit.
In continuation of our article Conduct an audit- what does it mean? On mandatory and initiative audit and on some practical aspects of choosing an audit company, we will consider two more important topics: “How an audit usually works” and “What you can get from an audit”. This will help you understand what you can expect from the audit and whether it is worth doing.
1. As usual, an audit check is carried out.
So, everything is determined, the audit company is selected, the contract is signed with it. How will the audit now take place?
At a pre-agreed time, auditors will come to your office.
Audit of financial statements - what is it, how is it carried out
Also, if there are few documents, the audit can also be carried out in the office of an audit firm. In this case, do not forget to transfer the documents to the auditors strictly according to the description. The accounting database can be provided in the form of an archive.
Before starting the audit, ask the auditors to send list of documents required for verification so that your accountants can have time to prepare everything on time, request from the archive. Also, your employees involved in the maintenance of information systems should arrange for the provision of auditors with either an archive of the accounting database for its subsequent installation on laptops of auditors, or access to your accounting database (its copy). At the same time, it should be established for auditors restrictions in the form of the inability to change the data of the accounting database.
Then better appoint an employee responsible for providing auditors with information and documents, and inform the auditors of his contact details, e-mail address for sending requests.
An audit usually takes from a week (for small audited firms) to a month. At the same time, auditors request the documents they need - acts, invoices, personnel documents, invoices, contracts, accounting policies, tax reporting, reconciliation acts with counterparties, tax and customs authorities, various explanations from your employees, both written and oral.
All sections of accounting are checked, auditors participate in the inventory of the company's property, if its value is significant, they check the correctness of the calculation of taxes, contributions, the compliance of your data on the state of settlements with the budget and the data of your personal account with the tax office, the data of your accounting of settlements with suppliers and buyers and data on the status of settlements received from your counterparties, the correctness of the preparation of accounting and tax reporting, compliance with tax, currency, cash, partly labor and civil legislation is checked.
As a result of the audit, the auditors in their office write report on detected violations, errors and tax risks. It describes all these things in detail and gives recommendations for their correction/reduction.
Also, when the financial statements of your company are drawn up and signed, audit report: this is a small document (3-4 pages) with official language prescribed by auditing standards, which provides an opinion of the audit organization on the financial statements of the client. Opinion precisely about financial statements- about how it accurately reflects the property status of the enterprise as of December 31 of the audited year, its financial results, the movement of its cash for the audited year.
The audit report may indicate both a positive opinion of the auditors: the financial statements are reliable, and a negative opinion or an opinion with a reservation - that the statements are unreliable for such and such a reason, or are reliable with the exception of such and such indicators. Also, auditors, after conducting an audit, may refuse to express their opinion. This happens in very rare cases when the auditors were not provided with all the documents, accounting registers, explanations they needed, so that the auditors are not able to assess the reliability of the financial statements. through no fault of their own, but through the fault of the audit customer.
The auditors bind the signed audit report with your financial statements, and in the event of a mandatory audit, you must submit this set by the end of March following the reporting year to the state statistical authorities. Also, an audit report can be provided, if necessary, to the bank, your partners, etc. The audit report is confidential, should not be provided to any third party.
2. How beneficial is it for the company to conduct an audit? What does the company get as a result?
As mentioned above, in addition to the official audit report, which you can provide to the state statistics bodies in accordance with the requirements of the law, to the bank for obtaining a loan, to investors and partners, you also receive an auditors' report.
In their report, the auditors, like doctors after examining a patient, describe identified diseases of the enterprise and give recommendations for their treatment.
An example from a recent audit– the company applied benefits on insurance premiums as an IT company. The law on social insurance contributions contains precise wording - it describes the services in the provision of which this benefit can be applied. During the audit, it turned out that in the contracts between the enterprise and its clients, acts of services rendered, the name of the services is indicated very generally, their description does not exactly correspond to the type of services specified in the law and necessary for the application of benefits. Of course, the inspectors from the funds during the audit will most likely pay attention to this, recalculate the contributions at full rates, the enterprise will have to pay additional fees, fines and penalties or litigate for a long time, while wasting time, money and nerves.
It was much easier to slightly change the wording in contracts with customers, bringing them as close as possible to the description of privileged services in the law.
In our report, we have indicated all of the above. Management decided to amend the contracts with customers, indicating in additional agreements that their terms apply to the relationship of the parties from the beginning of the contract. Acts of the rendered services began to be drawn up more informatively, and the rendered services were also described there close to the text of the law on contributions. The probability of nit-picking by fund inspectors has dropped sharply, as has the risk of additional charges. During the audit, we estimated the amount of such additional accruals of insurance premiums at 8 million
rubles. The cost of the audit was 620 thousand rubles. At the same time, in addition to this risk, we found many more errors in accounting and especially shortcomings in the preparation of documents for expenses, which could result in additional accrual of income tax, penalties and interest on it. Also, partly on our recommendations, some documents on expenses were reissued.
Second example: when checking a building construction company that does not conduct any other activity, we saw that VAT received from suppliers of building materials, contractors constructing a building is accumulating and not being claimed for reimbursement. As it turned out, the accountant tried to show this VAT in the declaration, while in the absence of implementation, all this VAT turned out to be reimbursed from the budget. After that, she received a call from the tax office and was told to submit an updated declaration, removing these deductions and threatening with a tax audit. The firm, having decided not to get involved, submitted an updated declaration. And in the future, these deductions were not declared. Thus, VAT accumulated and accumulated, was not presented for reimbursement, and as a result amounted to about 15 million rubles.
In our report, we described this situation and recommended deducting VAT by submitting updated VAT returns for the entire period, carefully checking all invoices for which this deduction could be made and indicating the shortcomings in them. The point is that, according to the current legislation, there is limitation period, during which VAT can be presented for reimbursement from the budget. And after the expiration of this period, if the taxpayer has not declared a refund, VAT cannot be returned even through the court. Based on the results of the audit, the management of the company decided to submit revised declarations, indicating in them the VAT to be reimbursed. The tax inspectorate, of course, immediately requested all invoices for a desk audit. They, fortunately, were also put in order according to our comments. For a long time, tax inspectors did not want to return VAT to the company, they even went to inspect the building under construction, interrogated representatives of contractors, and threatened by phone. But in the end everything 15 million rubles They had to return the company. The cost of our audit was 120 thousand rubles.
And the third example: the auditor, when checking the costs of writing off materials in a construction company, revealed discrepancies with the list of written-off materials and the list of materials specified in the acts of KS-2, signed by the customer. This violation with examples was described in our report. Based on the results of its consideration and investigation of the reasons for such a discrepancy, it turned out that the chief engineer in the company with the estimator for several years wrote off non-existent materials in this way, they were received and written off in accounting, and the money received for them was the company owned by the acquaintances of the chief engineer, minus its percent was transferred back to him.
As a result, the chief engineer was fired. We do not know whether they were able to keep anything from him from the kidnapped person and whether they filed a lawsuit against him to the police or to the court.
But at least further theft was prevented. And the cost of such overwritten materials amounted to 500 thousand per month, the construction firm being audited was quite large. The cost of the audit was 580 thousand rubles.
Thus, it can be seen from the above examples that the cost of an audit is usuallymuch lower than the sums probable financial losses audited enterprise that would have arisen if the audit did not.
Karpova Margarita Vladimirovna,
CEO of AuditHelp LLC, auditor
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Mandatory audit
When is a mandatory audit carried out? Who conducts the statutory audit? What is reflected in the auditor's report? What threatens the company for failure to provide an audit report in the financial statements? You will find answers to these questions in our article.
Legal basis
The legal basis for the regulation of audit activities in the Russian Federation is determined by the Federal Law of August 7, 2001 N 119-FZ "On Auditing" (hereinafter - Law N 119-FZ). The audit is carried out in accordance with this Law, other federal laws and other regulatory legal acts on the conduct of audit activities, issued in accordance with Law N 119-FZ (clause 2, article 1 of Law N 119-FZ).
Such acts include the Rules (standards) of audit activity, which are approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation. They represent uniform requirements for the procedure for the implementation of audit activities, execution and assessment of the quality of the audit (clause 1, article 9 of Law N 119-FZ). At present, the Rules (standards) of audit activity are in force, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of September 23, 2002 N 696 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules (standards)). These Rules (standards) are mandatory not only for audit organizations and individual auditors, but also for audited entities, with the exception of provisions that are advisory in nature (clause 3, article 9 of Law N 119-FZ).
Mandatory audit is an annual mandatory audit of accounting and financial (accounting) reporting of an organization and an individual entrepreneur (clause 1, article 7 of Law N 119-FZ).
There is a contractual relationship between the audit organization and the audited firm. The contract for a mandatory audit is a contract for the provision of services for a fee (clause 2, article 779 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). The subject of this agreement is the verification by an audit firm (executor) of the reliability of financial (accounting) statements and the correctness of accounting of the organization (customer). Under the contract, the customer is obliged to pay for the services rendered to him within the time limits and in the manner specified in the contract for the provision of paid services (in our case, audit services) (clause 1, article 781 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
When is a mandatory audit carried out?
Subject to mandatory audit (clause 1, article 7 of Law N 119-FZ):
- credit organizations, credit history bureaus, insurance organizations, mutual insurance companies, commodity and stock exchanges, investment funds, state extra-budgetary funds, the source of formation of funds of which is mandatory contributions from citizens and organizations, funds, the sources of formation of funds of which are voluntary contributions of citizens and organizations;
- organizations (with the exception of agricultural cooperatives and their unions) and individual entrepreneurs (hereinafter referred to as individual entrepreneurs), whose revenue in one year exceeds 500 thousand minimum wages<*>or the amount of balance sheet assets exceeds 200 thousand minimum wages at the end of the reporting period<*>.
<*>Currently, for these purposes, a minimum wage of 100 rubles is accepted. (Article 5 of the Federal Law of June 19, 2000 N 82-FZ "On the Minimum Wage", Letter of the UMNS of Russia of February 24, 2004 N 11-14 / 11113). The organization is subject to mandatory audit if the amount of sales revenue for the year exceeds 50 million rubles. (500,000 x 100 rubles) or the amount of balance sheet assets at the end of the year will be more than 20 million rubles. (200,000 x 100 rubles).
- state unitary enterprises, municipal unitary enterprises established on the right of economic management, if their performance indicators comply with clause 3 of this list. For municipal unitary enterprises, the law of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation may lower financial indicators;
- organizations and individual entrepreneurs whose mandatory audit is provided for by federal laws.
Example. Assume that the annual revenue of the OJSC amounted to 60 million rubles.
Auditing of financial statements
For which of the grounds listed in paragraph 1 of Art. 7 of Law N 119-FZ, is the organization subject to mandatory audit?
It follows from the condition of the example that the organization is subject to mandatory audit for two reasons. Firstly, the organizational and legal form is OJSC; secondly, the volume of revenue for the year exceeds the minimum wage by 500 thousand times.
The fact that the organization is an OJSC obliges it to conduct a mandatory audit, regardless of the amount of revenue. Therefore, in this case, compare revenue with the limit value in accordance with paragraphs. 3 p. 1 art. 7 of Law N 119-FZ is not necessary.
Let us dwell in more detail on paragraph 3 of the above list. In order to compare revenue with the marginal value, you need to take the indicator reflected in the line "Revenue (net) from the sale of goods, products, works, services (minus value added tax, excises and similar payments)" of Form N 2 "Report on profit and loss".
With respect to the assets of the balance sheet, the indicator reflected in line 300 of form N 1 "Balance sheet" is used.
Forms N 1 and 2 were approved by the Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 22, 2003 N 67n.
What other organizations, besides those directly listed in Law N 119-FZ, are subject to mandatory audit?
For example, non-state pension funds are subject to mandatory audit. This is provided for in Art. 22 of the Federal Law of 07.05.1998 N 75-FZ "On Non-State Pension Funds". Issuers of securities are also subject to mandatory audit (Clause 9, Article 22 of Federal Law No. 39-FZ of April 22, 1996 "On the Securities Market").
Conducting a mandatory audit also applies to developers. Norm pp. 6 p. 2 art. 20 of the Federal Law of December 30, 2004 N 214-FZ "On Participation in Shared Construction of Apartment Buildings and Other Real Estate and on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation" obliges the developer to submit an audit report for review to any person who applies.
It follows from this: the developer must annually conduct an audit, which, according to the law, is mandatory for him.
Agricultural cooperatives stand apart. A direct indication that they must conduct a mandatory audit does not follow from Law N 119-FZ. Therefore, it is necessary to be guided by the Federal Law of December 8, 1995 N 193-FZ "On Agricultural Cooperation" (hereinafter - Law N 193-FZ). Law N 193-FZ does not contain a norm that would oblige agricultural cooperatives to conduct a mandatory inspection.
The law provides for an audit carried out by auditors-consultants who are employees of the audit union or are involved under civil law contracts (Article 32 of Law N 193-FZ). An audit for agricultural cooperatives is a prerequisite.
This conclusion is based on the fact that the financial statements must include the conclusion of the auditing union of agricultural cooperatives (paragraph "d", paragraph 2, article 13 of the Federal Law of November 21, 1966 N 129-FZ "On Accounting").
Who conducts the statutory audit?
As mentioned above, a mandatory audit should be carried out by audit firms (clause 2, article 7 of Law N 119-FZ). They carry out audits on the basis of a license to provide audit services. Such a requirement is established by paragraph 2 of Art. 4 of Law N 119-FZ. It should be noted that from July 1, 2008, the licensing of audit activities is terminated. Federal Law No. 135-FZ of July 19, 2007 introduced these amendments into Federal Law No. 128-FZ of August 8, 2001 "On Licensing Certain Types of Activities."
As for individual auditors, they are not entitled to carry out a mandatory audit. Considering the complaint of an individual auditor, who has a license to conduct a general audit, about the violation of constitutional rights due to the fact that a mandatory audit is carried out only by audit organizations, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation established the following.
The provision of paragraph 2 of Art. 7 of Law N 119-FZ, according to which a mandatory audit is carried out by audit organizations, does not infringe on the rights of individual auditors and does not contradict the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
When choosing an audit organization, a firm should pay attention to some points. When conducting an audit in an organization whose authorized capital is at least 25% owned by the state or a municipality, an audit organization is selected based on the results of an open competition (clause 2, article 7 of Law N 119-FZ).
An important role in choosing an audit firm is played by the independence of auditors (Article 12 of Law N 119-FZ). An audit cannot be carried out by auditors (audit organizations) who (whose leaders) are founders (participants) of the audited entities, officials responsible for accounting and reporting or who are closely related to the listed category of citizens.
Auditing firms and individual auditors are not entitled to conduct an audit in an organization to which they provided services for the restoration and maintenance of accounting and reporting during the three years preceding the audit. These rules are provided for in 1 p. 1 art. 12 of Law N 119-FZ.
Audit report
Based on the results of the audit, an audit opinion is drawn up on the financial (accounting) statements (hereinafter referred to as the opinion). It is an official document intended for users of the financial (accounting) statements of audited entities. The conclusion contains the opinion of the audit organization on the reliability of the financial (accounting) statements and on the compliance of the accounting procedure with the legislation of the Russian Federation (clause 1, article 10 of Law N 119-FZ).
The auditor's report (or the conclusion of the auditing union, if the organization is an agricultural cooperative) is included in the financial statements (paragraph "d", paragraph 2, article 13 of the Law "On Accounting").
The conclusion indicates: the addressee; information about the auditor and the audited entity. This is followed by an introductory part; the part describing the scope of the audit; the part containing the auditor's opinion; the date of the auditor's report; auditor's signature (clause 4 of Rule (Standard) No. 6). In the conclusion, a list of audited reporting should be given indicating the reporting period and the composition of the reporting (clause 7 of Rule (standard) No. 6).
The auditor must date the audit report by the date when the audit was completed (paragraph 20 of Rule (Standard) N 6). The conclusion must be signed by the head or an authorized person of the audit firm. In this case, the number and validity period of his qualification certificate must be indicated. The signature must be sealed.
Due to the fact that the Rules (standards) of audit activity are mandatory for both audit organizations and audited entities, the audit report must be presented to users in accordance with the requirements established by Rule (standard) No. 6.
Accounting for audit costs
In accounting, the organization's expenses for conducting an audit are taken into account as expenses for ordinary activities (clause 5 of PBU 10/99). They are reflected in an amount equal to the amount of payment or the amount of accounts payable (clause 6 of PBU 10/99). Expenses are recognized in the reporting period in which they were incurred, regardless of the time of actual payment of funds (paragraph 18 of PBU 10/99). When accounting for audit services, the company has the right to deduct the VAT presented (paragraph 1, paragraph 2, article 171, paragraph 1, article 172 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The right to a deduction is granted, in particular, if transactions subject to VAT are carried out.
Example. OOO "Alfa" has concluded an agreement with an audit firm to conduct a mandatory audit. The cost of audit services amounted to 118,000 rubles. (VAT - 18,000 rubles).
In accounting, the accountant of Alpha LLC needs to make the following entries:
Debit 26 - Credit 60
- 100 000 rub. — reflects the cost of audit services;
Debit 19 - Credit 60
- 18 000 rub. — the VAT presented by the audit firm has been taken into account;
Debit 68 / "Calculations for VAT" - Credit 19
- 18 000 rub. - accepted for deduction of "input" VAT;
Debit 51 - Credit 60
- RUB 118,000 - reflected payment on the basis of an agreement on the provision of audit services.
* * *
For the purposes of taxation of profits, the expenses for audit services are related to other expenses related to production and sale (clause 17, clause 1, article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). These expenses must be economically justified and documented and are made for the implementation of activities aimed at generating income (clause 1, article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
The procedure for determining the date of recognition of expenses for audit services depends on the method adopted for calculating income tax (accrual or cash basis).
Under the accrual method, the costs of audit services are taken into account for the purposes of profit taxation in the reporting (tax) period to which they relate, regardless of the time of actual payment. Expenses are recognized in the period in which they arise based on the terms of the transaction (in paragraph 1 of article 272 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
The date of implementation of expenses for audit services can be considered:
- date of settlements in accordance with the terms of the contract;
- date of presentation of documents serving as the basis for settlements (for example, an act on the provision of services);
- the last day of the reporting (tax) period to which the expenses relate.
Such rules are set out in s. 3 p. 7 art. 272 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
One of the three above dates must be reflected in the accounting policy of the organization. A similar point of view is shared by the Ministry of Finance of Russia in Letter No. 03-03-04/1/183 dated August 29, 2005.
Under the cash method, the costs of audit services are recognized for the purposes of taxation of profits after their actual payment (clause 3, article 273 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Responsibility for the absence of an audit report in the financial statements
Audit firms may bear criminal, administrative, civil liability in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation (clause 1, article 21 of Law N 119-FZ).
Currently, the legislation establishes tax and administrative liability for failure to submit an audit report to the tax inspectorate.
The auditor's report is a component of the financial statements for organizations that are subject to mandatory audit (paragraph "d", paragraph 2, article 13 of the Law "On Accounting").
Organizations must submit financial statements to the tax authorities (clause 5, clause 1, article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The deadline for submitting annual reports is 90 days after the end of the year. For a number of reasons, an entity may not provide an auditor's report. In this regard, the organization may be fined in accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 126 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. For each document not submitted, a fine of 50 rubles is collected.
In addition, the management of the organization may also be fined for "failure to provide information necessary for the implementation of tax control" (Article 15.6 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation). The size of the sanction is from 300 to 500 rubles.
Payment of the fine does not relieve the company from the obligation to submit an audit report (part 4 of article 4.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).
The maximum fine can be 550 rubles.
"Economy and life"
"New accounting", 2007, N 12
When is a mandatory audit carried out? Who conducts the statutory audit? What is reflected in the auditor's report? What threatens the company for failure to provide an audit report in the financial statements? You will find answers to these questions in our article.
Legal basis
The legal basis for the regulation of audit activities in the Russian Federation is determined by the Federal Law of August 7, 2001 N 119-FZ "On Auditing" (hereinafter - Law N 119-FZ). The audit is carried out in accordance with this Law, other federal laws and other regulatory legal acts on the conduct of audit activities, issued in accordance with Law N 119-FZ (clause 2, article 1 of Law N 119-FZ).
Such acts include the Rules (standards) of audit activity, which are approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation. They represent uniform requirements for the procedure for the implementation of audit activities, execution and assessment of the quality of the audit (clause 1, article 9 of Law N 119-FZ). At present, the Rules (standards) of audit activity are in force, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of September 23, 2002 N 696 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules (standards)). These Rules (standards) are mandatory not only for audit organizations and individual auditors, but also for audited entities, with the exception of provisions that are advisory in nature (clause 3, article 9 of Law N 119-FZ).
Mandatory audit is an annual mandatory audit of accounting and financial (accounting) reporting of an organization and an individual entrepreneur (clause 1, article 7 of Law N 119-FZ).
There is a contractual relationship between the audit organization and the audited firm. The contract for a mandatory audit is a contract for the provision of services for a fee (clause 2, article 779 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). The subject of this agreement is the verification by an audit firm (executor) of the reliability of financial (accounting) statements and the correctness of accounting of the organization (customer). Under the contract, the customer is obliged to pay for the services rendered to him within the time and in the manner specified in the contract for the provision of paid services (in our case, audit services) (clause 1, article 781 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
When is a mandatory audit carried out?
Subject to mandatory audit (clause 1, article 7 of Law N 119-FZ):
- credit organizations, credit history bureaus, insurance organizations, mutual insurance companies, commodity and stock exchanges, investment funds, state extra-budgetary funds, the source of formation of funds of which is mandatory contributions from citizens and organizations, funds, the sources of formation of funds of which are voluntary contributions of citizens and organizations;
- organizations (with the exception of agricultural cooperatives and their unions) and individual entrepreneurs (hereinafter referred to as individual entrepreneurs), whose revenue in one year exceeds 500 thousand minimum wages<*>or the amount of balance sheet assets exceeds 200 thousand minimum wages at the end of the reporting period<*>.
- state unitary enterprises, municipal unitary enterprises established on the right of economic management, if their performance indicators comply with clause 3 of this list. For municipal unitary enterprises, the law of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation may lower financial indicators;
- organizations and individual entrepreneurs whose mandatory audit is provided for by federal laws.
Example. Assume that the annual revenue of the OJSC amounted to 60 million rubles. For which of the grounds listed in paragraph 1 of Art. 7 of Law N 119-FZ, is the organization subject to mandatory audit?
It follows from the condition of the example that the organization is subject to mandatory audit for two reasons. Firstly, the organizational and legal form is OJSC; secondly, the volume of revenue for the year exceeds the minimum wage by 500 thousand times.
The fact that the organization is an OJSC obliges it to conduct a mandatory audit, regardless of the amount of revenue. Therefore, in this case, compare revenue with the limit value in accordance with paragraphs. 3 p. 1 art. 7 of Law N 119-FZ is not necessary.
Let us dwell in more detail on paragraph 3 of the above list. In order to compare revenue with the marginal value, you need to take the indicator reflected in the line "Revenue (net) from the sale of goods, products, works, services (minus value added tax, excises and similar payments)" of Form N 2 "Report on profit and loss".
With respect to the assets of the balance sheet, the indicator reflected in line 300 of form N 1 "Balance sheet" is used.
Forms N 1 and 2 were approved by the Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 22, 2003 N 67n.
What other organizations, besides those directly listed in Law N 119-FZ, are subject to mandatory audit?
For example, non-state pension funds are subject to mandatory audit. This is provided for in Art. 22 of the Federal Law of 07.05.1998 N 75-FZ "On Non-State Pension Funds". Issuers of securities are also subject to mandatory audit (Clause 9, Article 22 of Federal Law No. 39-FZ of April 22, 1996 "On the Securities Market").
Conducting a mandatory audit also applies to developers. Norm pp. 6 p. 2 art. 20 of the Federal Law of December 30, 2004 N 214-FZ "On Participation in Shared Construction of Apartment Buildings and Other Real Estate and on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation" obliges the developer to submit an audit report for review to any person who applies.
It follows from this: the developer must annually conduct an audit, which, according to the law, is mandatory for him.
Agricultural cooperatives stand apart. A direct indication that they must conduct a mandatory audit does not follow from Law N 119-FZ. Therefore, it is necessary to be guided by the Federal Law of December 8, 1995 N 193-FZ "On Agricultural Cooperation" (hereinafter - Law N 193-FZ). Law N 193-FZ does not contain a norm that would oblige agricultural cooperatives to conduct a mandatory inspection.
The law provides for an audit carried out by auditors-consultants who are employees of the audit union or are involved under civil law contracts (Article 32 of Law N 193-FZ). An audit for agricultural cooperatives is a prerequisite.
This conclusion is based on the fact that the financial statements must include the conclusion of the auditing union of agricultural cooperatives (paragraph "d", paragraph 2, article 13 of the Federal Law of November 21, 1966 N 129-FZ "On Accounting").
Who conducts the statutory audit?
As mentioned above, a mandatory audit should be carried out by audit firms (clause 2, article 7 of Law N 119-FZ). They carry out audits on the basis of a license to provide audit services. Such a requirement is established by paragraph 2 of Art. 4 of Law N 119-FZ. It should be noted that from July 1, 2008, the licensing of audit activities is terminated. Federal Law No. 135-FZ of July 19, 2007 introduced these amendments into Federal Law No. 128-FZ of August 8, 2001 "On Licensing Certain Types of Activities."
As for individual auditors, they are not entitled to carry out a mandatory audit. Considering the complaint of an individual auditor, who has a license to conduct a general audit, about the violation of constitutional rights due to the fact that a mandatory audit is carried out only by audit organizations, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation established the following. The provision of paragraph 2 of Art. 7 of Law N 119-FZ, according to which a mandatory audit is carried out by audit organizations, does not infringe on the rights of individual auditors and does not contradict the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
When choosing an audit organization, a firm should pay attention to some points. When conducting an audit in an organization whose authorized capital is at least 25% owned by the state or a municipality, an audit organization is selected based on the results of an open competition (clause 2, article 7 of Law N 119-FZ).
An important role in choosing an audit firm is played by the independence of auditors (Article 12 of Law N 119-FZ). An audit cannot be carried out by auditors (audit organizations) who (whose leaders) are founders (participants) of the audited entities, officials responsible for accounting and reporting or who are closely related to the listed category of citizens.
Auditing firms and individual auditors are not entitled to conduct an audit in an organization to which they provided services for the restoration and maintenance of accounting and reporting during the three years preceding the audit. These rules are provided for in 1 p. 1 art. 12 of Law N 119-FZ.
Audit report
Based on the results of the audit, an audit opinion is drawn up on the financial (accounting) statements (hereinafter referred to as the opinion). It is an official document intended for users of the financial (accounting) statements of audited entities. The conclusion contains the opinion of the audit organization on the reliability of the financial (accounting) statements and on the compliance of the accounting procedure with the legislation of the Russian Federation (clause 1, article 10 of Law N 119-FZ).
The auditor's report (or the conclusion of the auditing union, if the organization is an agricultural cooperative) is included in the financial statements (paragraph "d", paragraph 2, article 13 of the Law "On Accounting").
The conclusion indicates: the addressee; information about the auditor and the audited entity. This is followed by an introductory part; the part describing the scope of the audit; the part containing the auditor's opinion; the date of the auditor's report; auditor's signature (clause 4 of Rule (Standard) No. 6). In the conclusion, a list of audited reporting should be given indicating the reporting period and the composition of the reporting (clause 7 of Rule (standard) No. 6).
The auditor must date the audit report by the date when the audit was completed (paragraph 20 of Rule (Standard) N 6). The conclusion must be signed by the head or an authorized person of the audit firm. In this case, the number and validity period of his qualification certificate must be indicated. The signature must be sealed.
Due to the fact that the Rules (standards) of audit activity are mandatory for both audit organizations and audited entities, the audit report must be presented to users in accordance with the requirements established by Rule (standard) No. 6.
Accounting for audit costs
In accounting, the organization's expenses for conducting an audit are taken into account as expenses for ordinary activities (clause 5 of PBU 10/99). They are reflected in an amount equal to the amount of payment or the amount of accounts payable (clause 6 of PBU 10/99). Expenses are recognized in the reporting period in which they were incurred, regardless of the time of actual payment of funds (paragraph 18 of PBU 10/99). When accounting for audit services, the company has the right to deduct the VAT presented (paragraph 1, paragraph 2, article 171, paragraph 1, article 172 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The right to a deduction is granted, in particular, if transactions subject to VAT are carried out.
Example. OOO "Alfa" has concluded an agreement with an audit firm to conduct a mandatory audit. The cost of audit services amounted to 118,000 rubles. (VAT - 18,000 rubles).
In accounting, the accountant of Alpha LLC needs to make the following entries:
Debit 26 - Credit 60
- 100 000 rub. - reflected the cost of audit services;
Debit 19 - Credit 60
- 18 000 rub. - the VAT presented by the audit firm has been taken into account;
Debit 68 / "Calculations for VAT" - Credit 19
- 18 000 rub. - accepted for deduction of "input" VAT;
Debit 51 - Credit 60
- RUB 118,000 - reflected payment on the basis of an agreement on the provision of audit services.
* * *
For the purposes of taxation of profits, the expenses for audit services are related to other expenses related to production and sale (clause 17, clause 1, article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). These expenses must be economically justified and documented and are made for the implementation of activities aimed at generating income (clause 1, article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
The procedure for determining the date of recognition of expenses for audit services depends on the method adopted for calculating income tax (accrual or cash basis).
Under the accrual method, the costs of audit services are taken into account for the purposes of profit taxation in the reporting (tax) period to which they relate, regardless of the time of actual payment. Expenses are recognized in the period in which they arise based on the terms of the transaction (in paragraph 1 of article 272 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
The date of implementation of expenses for audit services can be considered:
- date of settlements in accordance with the terms of the contract;
- date of presentation of documents serving as the basis for settlements (for example, an act on the provision of services);
- the last day of the reporting (tax) period to which the expenses relate.
Such rules are set out in s. 3 p. 7 art. 272 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.
One of the three above dates must be reflected in the accounting policy of the organization. A similar point of view is shared by the Ministry of Finance of Russia in Letter No. 03-03-04/1/183 dated August 29, 2005.
Under the cash method, the costs of audit services are recognized for the purposes of taxation of profits after their actual payment (clause 3, article 273 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Responsibility for the absence of an audit report in the financial statements
Audit firms may bear criminal, administrative, civil liability in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation (clause 1, article 21 of Law N 119-FZ).
Currently, the legislation establishes tax and administrative liability for failure to submit an audit report to the tax inspectorate.
The auditor's report is a component of the financial statements for organizations that are subject to mandatory audit (paragraph "d", paragraph 2, article 13 of the Law "On Accounting").
Organizations must submit financial statements to the tax authorities (clause 5, clause 1, article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The deadline for submitting annual reports is 90 days after the end of the year. For a number of reasons, an entity may not provide an auditor's report. In this regard, the organization may be fined in accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 126 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. For each document not submitted, a fine of 50 rubles is collected.
In addition, the management of the organization may also be fined for "failure to provide information necessary for the implementation of tax control" (Article 15.6 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation). The size of the sanction is from 300 to 500 rubles.
Payment of the fine does not relieve the company from the obligation to submit an audit report (part 4 of article 4.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).
The maximum fine can be 550 rubles.
"Economy and life"
In order to confirm the data reflected in the reporting, an economic entity may invite independent experts who, after studying all the necessary information, give their assessment of the reports drawn up. The initiators of the implementation of such activities can be both the owners of the company and external recipients of reporting. There is also an audit of financial statements.
An audit is an independent expert evaluation of financial and economic activity data using the information provided in accounting documents and reports.
The audit of financial statements takes place in several stages - the collection, evaluation and analysis of the information provided. The main purpose of performing an audit is to express the extent to which the data in the financial statements can be trusted.
Based on the one who establishes the need for an audit procedure, the following types of it are determined:
- Mandatory - performed in cases specified by the legislation, from year to year. The conduct of a mandatory audit may be secured by a ruling or a court decision. It is carried out only by independent expert companies that have the appropriate accreditation. When performing the audit process, auditors should adhere to existing standards to ensure the independence of their opinion.
- Initiative audit- it is carried out on a voluntary basis at the initiative of the administration of the organization. It can be carried out in the volumes established by the company's management. Conducting a voluntary audit is aimed at providing assistance and advice to the customer company.
Attention! The implementation of the audit involves the creation of an audit opinion, in which the expert will establish whether the information indicated in the report can be considered reliable or not.
For what purpose is
The main purpose of the audit is to establish whether the information provided by the company can be trusted. Information is now the most important resource. After all, it allows you to make correct management decisions, comply with the law, etc.
Thus, the following objectives of the audit can be distinguished:
- Confirmation of the correctness and accuracy of the information contained in the company's accounts.
- Identification of violations in order to eliminate them in a timely manner.
- The ability to obtain information with a high degree of reliability.
Attention! Organizations should remember that performing an audit is beneficial to the company itself. After all, a positive audit report is an additional guarantee that the company is a bona fide partner.
Who should conduct a statutory audit
The list of business entities for which the performance of an audit is a mandatory procedure is established at the legislative level.
The law establishes the criteria, according to which, if the subject falls under them, he must send his reports for evaluation to an expert organization.
Audits should be performed annually by the following entities:
- Organizational and production form - joint-stock companies
- Type of economic activity - insurance, credit, clearing companies, credit history bureaus, professional participants in the securities market, mutual insurance companies, trade organizer, non-state pension funds, joint-stock investment funds, etc.
- Securities status - if the firm's securities are on the securities market.
- The amount of revenue of a business entity - an important criterion is the amount of annual income that the company receives. If it exceeds 400.00 million rubles, then the company is obliged to audit the financial statements.
- The size of the balance sheet at the end of the year - if the company's property is more than 60 million rubles, then the entity must perform an audit without fail.
- Disclosure of annual consolidated financial statements - if the enterprise discloses or publishes consolidated financial statements for the year.
Attention! These requirements are enshrined in the law on audit. However, other federal acts of legislation may establish other cases. For example, mandatory reporting checks need to be performed in self-regulatory companies, state corporations, developers, etc.
International Auditing Standards
The audit is carried out by specialized companies not only focusing on the norms and rules established by law, enshrined in special standards, but also taking into account the ISA.
There are types of audits of the enterprise, in which the involvement of external auditors is inevitable. But it is quite possible to carry out some types of audits on your own, thus saving on paying the bills of third-party audit firms. Internal audit allows you to protect your company from sudden inspections by regulatory authorities, as well as optimize work processes, identify weaknesses and identify growth areas.
The internal audit of the company is a check of the company's activities by its employees in accordance with its own regulations. In addition to saving on external specialists, an independent audit allows you to identify errors that may go unnoticed by the audit company due to ignorance of all the accounting subtleties of the processes within the enterprise.
Internal audit procedure
Each company develops its own regulations for conducting internal audits, in accordance with the objectives of the audit and the likely areas of the enterprise's activities in which there is a suspicion of errors. You can check all the accounts by selecting transactions in them at random, as auditors usually do. Or direct the main efforts to the audit of income tax expenses, since it is this expense item that the tax authorities are most interested in during the audit. If you are confident in the transparency and legitimacy of all documents, but admit the possibility of an error in some area, it is worth paying attention to its verification.
Often, an internal audit in a company is carried out by an audit team, which includes the chief accountant and management. This, in our opinion, is not the most rational way to organize an audit, since these employees during the audit are practically deprived of the opportunity to perform their professional duties. In any case, the quality of such a check also suffers due to the fact that one employee needs to check the data on accounting for different areas.
A very progressive internal audit scheme is the so-called horizontal cross-checking. With it, ordinary accounting employees from different areas exchange the results of their work among themselves, identifying errors from each other. At the same time, each employee participating in the audit improves his professional level, mastering new specializations. Employees from other departments or legal entities belonging to a group of companies may also be involved in the audit.
First you need to identify the goals of the audit, and what exactly we want to get as a result. When an area of work is defined, all reporting and documentation of this area, as well as the rest of the company's documentation related to the object of verification, is raised.
The amount of work to be done is distributed among the inspectors, after which the actual verification of the compliance of accounting and tax accounting with the internal standards adopted by the company and the norms of the law begins. Upon completion of the audit, reports are submitted to management or the chief accountant. The audit report should include identified violations and errors, as well as an assessment of the reliability of the raised reporting.
It is quite natural that for the first time it will be very difficult to check your colleagues without knowing the specifics of other areas, especially if the amount of work is large enough. But each time the experience of employees will accumulate, their area of competence will expand, and less and less time will be spent on cross-checks. We recommend starting with quarterly reviews. Often a mistake that cannot be detected for a long time is discovered with a fresh look. Such checks keep the team in good shape and encourage them to keep order in the conduct of their site.
As you can see, there is nothing complicated in conducting an independent audit. Good luck with business!
Enterprise Audit is a set of measures aimed at collecting information and analyzing it, followed by an assessment of the work and financial condition of the company (public, private or commercial). The results obtained allow us to make a decision about the correctness of accounting, as well as the correctness of information in the financial statements of the organization. Below we will consider in detail what an audit is, what types there are, and why it is carried out. Special attention is paid to the stages of control.
To understand the essence of the audit, it is enough to recall the definition of the term "audit". Audit - measures aimed at analyzing the company's reporting (financial and accounting) for the fact of its compliance with the current legislation of the Russian Federation, as well as the correctness of the requirements set forth in the text.
The task of the audit is to check the statements, to confirm or refute the veracity and correctness of the information contained in it. Employees of the audit company confirm or refute the statement that the information in the reporting allows you to make the right decisions and draw the right conclusions regarding the activities of the organization, its financial condition and future development prospects.
In fact, an audit is a control of the reliability of information in existing reports. The main condition for success in carrying out such work is the involvement of an independent auditor who is able to impartially perform checks.
The completion of the work of auditors is the issuance of a conclusion, which records the opinion of the auditing body regarding the correctness of the information in the company's financial statements. The audit report is drawn up in a special form and contains complete information on the results of the audit. Based on the available findings, it is easy to determine the competence of the company's accountants and identify attempts to deceive the controlling structures.
In practice, the audit, which is carried out by independent bodies, monitors compliance with laws and regulations, as well as the absence of violations of the law.
Types and purposes
Depending on the objectives of the audit, there are two types:
- Mandatory. The frequency of such control is once a year. During the audit, the auditors strictly adhere to the current legislation. Only audit companies act as executors, and the process itself is under the control of state bodies or is carried out on the basis of a decision of the judiciary.
- Voluntary (another name is initiative). The main difference is that the control of the organization's reporting (financial and accounting) is carried out by order of the owner. The task of the owner of the company is to make sure that the documents are kept correctly, as well as to assess the financial risks. The involvement of an audit company allows you to avoid fines from the Federal Tax Service and other regulatory authorities. The main difficulty lies in the choice of an audit company or a private trader providing such types of services. In the search process, you should focus on professionalism, reviews, reputation, time of activity and other factors. In addition, the reason for the audit is often the appointment of a new owner.
The main objectives of an audit in a company include:
- Verification and confirmation of the correctness of the information reflected in the financial statements of the organization.
- Identification of violations with subsequent indication of them (if necessary, they can be eliminated).
- Obtaining truthful information about the activities of the company, as well as the state of accounting, preparation of documentation.
As soon as the check is completed, the person being checked (the head of the company) receives the following papers:
- Conclusion (if we are talking about mandatory verification).
- Report. The document indicates the recommendations and conclusions of specialists regarding future actions to improve the company's operations and accounting. The report, as a rule, is issued during a voluntary audit, as well as other inspections.
It should be noted that the audit is conditionally divided into two types:
- External - is carried out upon the fact of an early decision between the head of the company and the auditing company. Such an audit belongs to the category of independent control and helps to identify real problems in financial and accounting reporting.
- Internal - a set of measures to verify documentation, which are assigned to the shoulders of the enterprise's personnel. In other words, the work is carried out with the involvement of the internal reserves of the organization. The goal is to control activities, improve financial and business performance, as well as receive advice on improving management processes.
Audit stages
The audit is carried out taking into account the rules in force in the legislation and the usual algorithm. Conventionally, the audit of the company's financial statements takes place in several stages:
- Preparatory work, as well as audit planning. At this step, the procedure for verification activities is thought out, taking into account the current laws of the Russian Federation and the terms of the agreement providing for the provision of such services. On the basis of a contract drawn up in advance, as well as an audit plan, employees of the audit company receive a package of papers for verification. In particular, they are provided with reports (tax, accounting) for analysis and getting an idea about the work of the analyzed enterprise. The documents provided should be sufficient to draw full conclusions regarding the economic and financial activities of the organization. Control and accounting systems are also subject to assessment and verification, the level of risk of a future audit is determined, and a plan for future work is formed.
- Implementation of procedures for the control of company documentation. At this stage, employees of the audit firm collect evidence, or more precisely, check the information in the papers for compliance, and also carry out other planned types of checks. Upon completion of this stage, the auditors form an opinion regarding the veracity of the information presented, as well as the compliance of the stated facts with the requirements of the current standards.
- The final stage. As soon as the auditor has completed the check and formed an opinion, it remains for him to prepare and issue working papers in accordance with all the rules, namely, a conclusion on the reliability of accounting. It also provides evidence to support the auditor's conclusions. The results of the audit are transferred to the head of the company for study.
The main subtlety of the audit is the presence of a time limit. That is why a clear organization of the process is important when doing this work. In order to avoid delays, a plan is formed and tasks for future work are set. In addition, objects that are subject to priority verification are determined. Methods that will be used in solving the problem are also selected.
During the audit, employees of the auditor company collect evidence, on the basis of which the final conclusion is formed. Before proceeding with the verification, an appeal is drawn up in writing (according to a special standard). The content and form of the document may vary, but the basic parameters remain unchanged - it indicates the goals of the work, as well as the planned volumes. In addition, the responsibility of the head of the audited company for the preparation and transfer of a complete package of papers is prescribed. As soon as the main issues have been agreed upon, a bilateral agreement is drawn up, which specifies the nuances and terms of the audit.
When is a mandatory audit required?
According to the requirements of the current legislation, an external audit must be carried out every year. OJSCs, insurance companies, participants in the securities market, credit companies and organizers of gambling are subject to control. In addition, enterprises that issue securities are checked, as well as organizations whose profits in the last reporting year exceeded 400 thousand rubles, and the amount of assets in the balance sheet exceeded 600 thousand rubles. The exceptions are agricultural unions, unitary and state enterprises.
Audit control is carried out according to the following scheme:
- Annual audit is one-stage.
- Checking for a quarter, 6 or nine months - in several stages.
In the latter case, the audit is faster, and there are no difficulties in identifying violations. As a result, it takes less time to write a report and perform other work. The manager has time left to correct existing errors that were made in the course of activities and identified by auditors.
Internal audit
The relevance of the internal audit is determined by the management of the enterprise. The main tasks of the internal audit include:
- Identification of shortcomings in the company's activities and search for solutions to increase work efficiency.
- Identification of inconsistencies between tax and accounting.
- Identification of risks related to inspections of the organization by various services and protection from fines, sanctions and reprimands. Therefore, the timely identification of gaps avoids the loss of money and image.
In addition, internal audit often becomes a preliminary stage in preparation for an external audit.