American economist J.K. Robertson draws attention to the fact that there are two ethical aspects in the professional sphere - general ethics (spiritual aspect) and professional ethics (practical aspect). Mautz and Scharaf defined general and professional ethics as follows: “The ethics of conduct for auditors and representatives of any other profession is nothing more than a narrow application of general concepts of ethics of conduct developed by philosophers for all people. General theory of ethics is the source of ethical standards for auditors. "

To resolve issues, the International Federation of Accountants has developed and adopted Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (Auditors).

The basis of the methodology and organization of the audit is determined by its concepts and postulates. The concepts establish the main directions of the theory of audit and its development, improvement. The audit postulate is understood as a certain provision, assumption, statement, taken without proof until proven otherwise and is used to build a system of standards and norms (rules, instructions, etc.) that regulate the sphere.

Any Code of Ethics first of all defines the fundamental principles of professional conduct of auditors, which express the basic tenets of professional conduct. While the principles define a specific purpose and express the general ideals that auditors should strive for, then the rules of professional conduct establish a minimum level of acceptable behavior. In addition to the rules, additions can be developed that concretize or expand them, as well as ethical standards. Auditors should comply with the rules and ethical standards as much as possible, and if they deviate from them, they should argue and explain their actions and decisions.

General Principles of Auditing Ethics are:

1. independence;
2. objectivity;
3. competence;
4. confidentiality;
5. honesty;
6. professional behavior;
7. professional norms and technical standards;
8. proper (reasonable) thoroughness.

In addition to the fundamental principles of professional ethics of auditors, there are general ones, that is, the rules for the provision of audit services and performance, which are formed on the basis of the requirements of International Auditing Standards and National Auditing Standards. The National Auditing Regulations No. 2 “Basic Requirements for Auditing” states that the basic requirements governing auditing are divided into two main groups: ethical and methodological.

TO basic methodological principles of audit include the following:

1. assessment of significance and reliability;
2. system reliability assessment and;
3. selection of methods and techniques of audit, its methods and techniques;
4. determination of criteria for materiality and reliability;
5. adherence to the assessment methodology;
6. implementation rules;
7. application of evaluation criteria by the auditor;
8. analysis of information, its generalization and formulation of conclusions.

The basic principles of organizing an audit are:

1. planning;
2. documentation;
3. responsibility for the conclusions drawn;
4. interaction of auditors;
5. involvement of experts;
6. complete and objective informing of clients;
7. quality control of the auditor's work;
8. contractual relationship;
9. interaction with the client during the verification process;
10. compliance with the principles of professional ethics of auditors;
11. adherence to the sequence of the audit process.

In addition to the basic principles of the organization of audit, there are also such as:

• rationality;
• scientific character;
• profitability;
• completeness;
• efficiency;
• expediency.

The relevance, reliability and sufficiency of audit evidence depend on the amount of verified information and on the readiness of the company's management to organize an effective one. Professional adherence by auditors to generally accepted auditing standards ensures proper audit quality and unambiguous understanding of the results by users. Audit evidence must be sufficient and competent to express an opinion on the reliability of the financial statements.

Independence... This principle is one of the fundamental in the audit. The provisions of the Auditing Act and the International Federation of Accountants' Code of Ethics, which state that “professional accountants in public practice must be free and appear free from any interest that may be deemed (regardless of its actual consequences) incompatible with principles of decency, objectivity and independence ”.

The principle of objectivity imposes on the auditor the duty to be impartial, honest, free from conflicts and personal interests.

Competence determines the obligatory possession of the auditor with sufficient professional knowledge and skills that would enable him to perform his work with high quality.

According to the codes of professional ethics (international and national), professional competence should be divided into two phases:

1. achieving the level of professional competence;
2. maintaining professional competence at an appropriate level.

Confidentiality principle provides for the non-disclosure by the auditor without the client's consent of the information obtained during the audit (except for cases provided for by law) and the inadmissibility of its use for their own selfish purposes or a third party.

The principle of honesty lies in the presence of such traits as fairness, truthfulness, decency in the performance of their professional duties.

Professional conduct- an important principle of audit ethics, which requires the auditor to comply with the provisions of the current legislation, to be benevolent, conscientious, attentive to clients and colleagues, to protect the interests of the owners of the business entity and society as a whole; provide necessary assistance and advice to clients, not create unfair competition for clients; not use trickery, deception or any coercive methods of signing a contract, obtaining information or paying a fee against clients.

Professional norms and technical standards... This principle stipulates that the auditor provides his services in accordance with established technical and professional standards (International Standards on Auditing, National Auditing Standards, Code of Professional Ethics, corporate standards).

Proper (reasonable) thoroughness... The need for this principle is explained by the specifics of the profession: individual errors and inaccuracies in the reporting may remain undetected by the auditor for objective reasons, therefore there is an audit risk. It should be assumed that the auditor does not have to certify the absolute accuracy of the reports he has checked. In this regard, the auditor must exercise proper (reasonable) thoroughness in his work, that is, such that is within the limits of common sense.

The auditor in the course of planning and conducting the audit must show professional skepticism and understand that there may be circumstances that lead to a material misstatement of the financial (accounting) statements.

Manifestation professional skepticism means that the auditor critically evaluates the weight of the audit evidence obtained and carefully examines audit evidence that conflicts with any documents or statements by management, or casts doubt on the reliability of such documents or statements. During the audit, the auditor should exercise professional skepticism in order, in particular, not to lose sight of suspicious circumstances, not to make unwarranted generalizations when drawing conclusions, not to use erroneous assumptions in determining the nature, timing and scope, as well as in assessing their results.

When planning and performing an audit, the auditor should not assume that the management of the auditee is dishonest, but should not assume that the management is unconditionally honest. Oral and written representations from management are not a substitute for the auditor to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to draw reasonable conclusions on which to base the auditor's opinion.

The founders of the audit postulates were H.A. Sharaf and R.K. Mauz, who formulated eight main audit postulates:

1. Financial statements and financial performance can be verified.
2. A conflict of interest between the auditor and the administration is not inevitable.
3. The financial statements and other information subject to verification are free of conspiracy errors or other unusual misstatements.
4. A satisfactory internal control system eliminates the possibility of inconsistencies (violations of the rules of work).
5. Constant observance allows you to create an objective view of and the results of economic activities.
6. What was true for the enterprise in the past will be true in the future, if there is no evidence to the contrary.
7. If the audit of financial information is carried out for the purpose of expressing an independent opinion, then the activities of the auditor are regulated exclusively by his powers.
8. The professional status of an independent auditor is adequate to his professional duties.

Professor Ya.V. Sokolov in his article "Ten postulates of audit" proposed a new system of postulates:

1. The report must be verified.
2. An unverified report is not trustworthy.
3. Each subsequent check can reduce the value of the previous ones and is always less informative.
4. When checking, it is assumed that the report was drawn up incorrectly.
5. The auditor's opinion depends on his interests (professional, moral and material).
6. No one is immune from false conclusions.
7. The interests of the administration of the client company, its owners and creditors should not coincide.
8. The more conflicts within the client firm, the more reliable its reporting.
9. The fewer conflicts within the client firm, the less reliable its reporting (this postulate is the reverse of the previous one).
10. Each auditor's statement (audit evidence) should have a certain degree of certainty (reliability).

The Ukrainian scientist V.S. Rudnitsky, exploring the essence and significance of the audit postulates, proposed two own formulations of the audit postulates:

1. If the company complies with its economic policy and does not contradict the current legislation, the auditor can perceive the financial statements with a high level of confidence.
2. Independent audit procedures should be consistent with the interests of the client and should comply with national auditing regulations.

Thus, the basis of the system for regulating the professional activity of auditors is formed by the fundamental concepts and postulates of audit, the general ethics of auditors and the requirements of society for audit, which are concretized and acquire legal (legislative) significance in the Code of Professional Conduct, national and international auditing standards.

2.1 Principles for external quality control of an organization and audit

The general principles governing the audit of financial statements are defined both by the International Standard on Auditing ISA 200 and by the Russian Federal Rule on Auditing Activity No. I "The Purpose and Basic Principles of Auditing Financial Statements". Auditing organizations in the course of their activities are obliged to observe and use the following professional ethical principles as a basis for making any decisions of a professional nature: independence; honesty; objectivity; professional competence; conscientiousness; confidentiality; professional behavior. Independence is the obligation that the auditor, when forming his opinion, has no financial, property, kinship or any other interest in the affairs of the audited economic entity, which exceeds the relationship under the contract for the implementation of audit services, as well as any dependence on third parties. The requirements for the auditor in terms of ensuring independence and the criteria that the auditor is not dependent are regulated by the regulatory documents on auditing, as well as the ethical codes of auditors. Independence is the key to public confidence.

Honesty is the auditor's mandatory commitment to professional duty and adherence to general moral standards.

Objectivity is the obligation to be impartial, impartial and not subject to any influence when considering any professional issues and forming judgments, conclusions and conclusions.

Professional competence is the compulsory possession of the necessary amount of knowledge and skills that allows the auditor to provide professional services in a qualified and high-quality manner. The audit organization should attract trained, professionally competent professionals and monitor the quality of their work to ensure a qualified audit.

Conscientiousness is the obligation for the auditor to provide professional services with due diligence, care, promptness and proper use of their abilities. The principle of good faith implies a diligent and responsible attitude of the auditor to his work, but should not be interpreted as a guarantee of error-free in the audit activity.

Confidentiality is the duty of auditors and audit organizations to ensure the safety of documents received or drawn up by them during the audit, not to transfer these documents or their copies (either in whole or in part) to any third parties and not to disclose the information contained in them without the consent of the owner (manager) of the economic entity, except for the cases provided for by the legislative acts of the Russian Federation. Compliance with the principle of confidentiality is mandatory regardless of the continuation or termination of the relationship with the client and has no time limit.

Professional behavior is the observance of the priority of public interests and the duty of the auditor to maintain a high reputation of his profession, refraining from committing acts that are incompatible with the provision of audit services and that can reduce respect and trust in the auditing profession and damage its public image.

The auditor in the course of planning and conducting the audit must show professional skepticism and understand that there may be circumstances that lead to a material misstatement of the financial (accounting) statements. Demonstration of professional skepticism means that the auditor critically evaluates the weight of the audit evidence obtained and carefully examines audit evidence that conflicts with any documents or statements by management, or casts doubt on the reliability of such documents or statements. When planning and performing an audit, the auditor should not assume that the management of the auditee is dishonest, but should not assume that the management is unconditionally honest. Oral and written representations from management are not a substitute for the auditor to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to draw reasonable conclusions on which to base the auditor's opinion. The main principles of external quality control of the work of audit organizations, individual auditors are:

a) implementation of external quality control of the work of audit organizations in relation to all audit organizations, individual auditors;

b) the independence of external quality control of the work of audit organizations;

c) provision with financial, material and labor resources;

d) the appropriate level of professional competence of employees exercising external quality control of the work of audit organizations;

e) transparency of the procedure for appointing controllers for conducting external quality control of the work of the object of external quality control of the work of audit organizations;

f) reporting on the status and results of external quality control of audit organizations;

g) publicity of the results of external quality control of the work of audit organizations;

h) ensuring that the verified object of external control of the quality of the work of audit organizations eliminates violations and shortcomings identified by the results of an external audit;

i) the accountability of the activities of the subjects of external quality control of the work of audit organizations for the implementation of external quality control of the work of audit organizations to the Council on Auditing, created in accordance with Article 16 of the Federal Law "On Auditing".

The principles of auditing can be divided into two groups:

1) the basic principles governing audit - ethical and professional standards that determine the relationship between the auditor (audit firm) and the client;

2) the basic principles of the audit, i.e. rules governing the stages and elements of the audit.

The principles governing the audit are defined in clause 3 of the Federal rule (standard) of auditing activity No. 1 "The purpose and basic principles of the audit of financial (accounting) statements" approved. Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of September 23, 2002 No. 696 (as amended by the Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of 07.10.2004 No. 532). When performing his professional duties, the auditor should be guided by the norms established by the professional audit associations of which he is a member (professional standards), as well as the ethical principles presented in table. 1.

Table 1 Fundamental Auditing Principles

Principles	Characteristic
Independence auditor	The auditor should be free from influence, pressure, control from both the audited entity and any third parties. Independence of the auditor - the absence of any financial or property interest of the auditor in the audited firm. An auditor cannot audit a firm of which he is one of the owners; cannot participate in the audit if he has a family relationship with the top officials of the client.
Auditor Integrity	The auditor must be committed to professional duty
Objectivity of the auditor	The auditor is obliged to be impartial when considering any professional issues, forming judgments, conclusions and conclusions.
Auditor competence	The auditor must have the necessary amount of knowledge and ability to skillfully apply this knowledge when considering specific situations.
Conscientiousness of the auditor	The auditor is obliged to provide professional services with due care, care, promptness and proper use of his abilities.
Auditor's professional conduct	The auditor should maintain a high profile of the profession and refrain from doing things that could undermine the respect and credibility of the auditing profession.
Confidentiality of information	Auditors (audit organizations) are obliged to ensure the safety of documents received or drawn up by them in the course of audit activities, and may not transfer these documents to any third parties or disclose orally the information contained therein without the consent of the audited entity.
Professional skepticism	The auditor should critically assess the weight of the audit evidence obtained and carefully consider audit evidence that conflicts with any management document or statement, or calls into question the reliability of such documents or statements.

One of the principles of the audit is its independence, which is expressed in the absence of the auditor, when forming his opinion, of any interest in the affairs of the audited entity, as well as in the absence of dependence on third parties. The current legislation establishes a number of measures to ensure the independence of the audit. Thus, the audit organization is independent in the choice of methods and procedures.

Thus, we can say that audit as a form of financial control is an independent verification of the financial statements of an organization, carried out by a special entity (firm), in accordance with the legislation on auditing on a commercial basis. During the audit, specific forms and methods of planning, conducting, documenting the audit are used, the general requirements for which are established by the Rules of Auditing.

2.2 Stages of an audit

Audits are conducted in accordance with Federal Law FZ - No. 307 of December 30, 2008 "On Auditing", federal rules (standards) of auditing approved by the Government of the Russian Federation, the Code of Ethics of Auditors of Russia, adopted by the Council on Auditing under the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation (Minutes No. 16 of August 28, 2003), internal standards of auditing and other regulatory documents. The audit procedures include four stages:

I - familiarization with the economic entity;

II - planning;

III - carrying out procedures on the merits;

IV - formation of test results.

At the first stage, an acquaintance with the economic entity is carried out. It includes collecting information on the activities of an economic entity before sending a letter of consent to conduct an audit and concluding an agreement for the provision of audit services. Before conducting an audit, it is necessary to obtain preliminary information about the economic entity by communicating auditors with the management of the audited entity on issues of interest, which can be seen in the following Figure 1:

government audit planning

Rice. 1. Communication with the leadership of the economic entity

In accordance with the Rule (standard) of auditing activities "Understanding the activities of an economic entity", as well as with the international Rule "Knowledge of business", the auditor needs to analyze information about the activities of an economic entity in order to rationally plan the audit. The collected information is grouped in the Audit Company Client Dossier.

Fig. 2. Collection of information about the audited person and the formation of the company's client dossier

Part of the information received is entered into the preliminary examination card. Based on the results of the analysis, the audit organization sends a letter of consent to the audit to the management of the economic entity. In the absence of disagreements between the audit organization and the management of the economic entity, an agreement is concluded for the provision of audit services.

According to the standard of auditing activities No. 15, the auditor must, before concluding an agreement for the provision of audit services and before the start of the audit, obtain information about the activities of an economic entity in an amount sufficient to identify and understand events, business transactions and working methods that, in accordance with the professional judgment of the auditor, may have a significant impact on the financial (accounting) statements and the nature of the auditor's report. Obtaining information on the activities of an economic entity before concluding an agreement is one of the necessary conditions for conducting a high-quality audit.

The auditing firm "Audit +" basically builds its work in accordance with federal auditing standards and also at the initial stage collects information about the audited person and forms the company's client dossier. Understanding the activities and proper use of information on the activities of the audited entity of the audit firm "Audit +" helps auditors:

correctly assess risks and identify problem areas;

effectively plan and conduct audits;

evaluate audit evidence;

ensure the high quality of the audit and the validity of the conclusions.

To form an opinion on the activities of an economic entity, the auditor of the audit firm "Audit +" uses the following information:

1. General economic factors:

The general level of development of the economy (for example, recession or growth);

Interest rates and availability of financial resources;

Inflation, devaluation or revaluation of the national currency;

The policy of the Government of the Russian Federation or the executive authorities of a foreign state in the territory of which the audited entity, its branches and representative offices operate (monetary, tax, tariff policy, trade restrictions, government assistance programs);

Foreign exchange rate and exchange control mechanisms.

Features of the industry affecting the activities of the audited entity:

market and industry competition;

cyclical or seasonal activities;

changes in production technology;

commercial risk (for example, new technology used in the production of products, easy access to the market for new competitors);

reduction or expansion of activities;

unfavorable operating conditions (for example, reduced demand, unused production capacity, severe price competition);

economic indicators in the industry;

industry problems and industry-specific features of accounting;

environmental requirements and concerns;

requirements of regulatory legal acts, including those regulating the scope of the audited entity;

specifics of the activity (for example, in relation to employment contracts, financing procedures, accounting procedures).

3. Management and ownership structure of the audited entity:

corporate and organizational structure (including any recent or planned changes);

shareholders and their affiliates (their business reputation and experience);

capital structure (including any recent or planned changes);

goals, principles, strategic management plans;

acquisitions of organizations, reorganization of the audited entity or liquidation of certain types of activities (planned or recent);

sources and methods of financing (current, initial);

board of directors (composition, business reputation and professional experience of individual members, independence, frequency of meetings, existence of an audit committee and the scope of its activities, facts of replacement of external consultants, for example, lawyers);

managers (work experience and goodwill, staff turnover, key financial personnel and their status in the organization, staffing of the accounting department, incentive plans or bonuses as elements of remuneration, for example, depending on the profit received, the use of forecasts and estimates, work style, course support shares of the audited entity, availability and quality of management information systems);

availability and quality of work of the internal audit unit;

the attitude of the audited entity's management to the internal control system.

4. Products, markets, suppliers, costs, production activities of the audited entity:

the nature of the business (e.g. manufacturing, trade, financial services, import / export);

location of production premises, warehouses, office premises;

characteristics of personnel (for example, by location, by the level of wages, features of the activities of trade unions, features of social security);

markets for products or services (for example, main customers and contracts, payment terms, profit margins, market share, competitors, exports, pricing policy, product reputation, guarantees, order portfolio, development trends, marketing strategy, production processes);

suppliers of goods and services (for example, long-term contracts, stability of supply, payment terms, imports, delivery methods);

inventory (e.g. location, quantity);

licenses, patents;

main types of expenses;

research and development;

assets, liabilities and transactions in foreign currency - by type of currency;

operating information systems;

features of the loans received.

5. Factors related to the financial position of the audited entity, including the main financial indicators and trends in their change.

6. The conditions in which the preparation of the financial (accounting) statements of the audited entity is carried out, including external factors influencing the management in the process of preparing the financial (accounting) statements.

7. Features of legislation:

requirements of regulatory legal acts applied in the course of the audited entity's activities, including in the field of taxation;

disclosure requirements specific to this type of activity;

requirements for the auditor's report;

possible users of financial (accounting) statements.

At the introductory stage (before concluding an agreement for the provision of audit services), the auditor does not always have the opportunity to obtain all the information about the activities of an economic entity, which is due to a number of reasons.

Firstly, not every economic entity will provide the auditor with information in full (on all issues of interest) before the conclusion of the contract.

Secondly, the nature, quantity and quality of the collected information depend not only on the desire of the economic entity to cooperate with the audit company, but also on the objective ability of the audit company itself to collect and analyze the available information in full. So, a small audit firm is not able to carry out such a collection and analysis of information before the conclusion of an agreement, since it does not have a large staff of auditors. Of course, this circumstance does not absolve auditors from performing an analysis. In any case, such an analysis is carried out, since it is on the basis of the information received that the audit company gives its consent to the audit. Thanks to this analysis, the number of employees is also formed, the need to attract customers, and the cost of services is determined.

Thirdly, the information provided is not always reliable.

Based on this, it is advisable to divide all the information obtained by auditors before the conclusion of the contract into two groups: basic information, i.e. information to be collected and analyzed by the auditor prior to the conclusion of the contract, and additional (which is desirable to collect and analyze, as it can assist the auditor throughout the audit). The main procedures of the introductory stage are presented in Figure 3:

Fig. 3. Basic introductory procedures

To agree on the terms of the audit, the auditor and the management of the audited entity must also agree on the terms of the audit. The agreed terms must be documented in the letter of consent and the contract for the provision of audit services. The letter of consent is very important and, in fact, is a guarantee of the auditor that the economic entity understands the essence of the audit. That is, the main purpose of the letter of consent is to inform the management of the audited entity and about all the objectively inherent audit limitations (random inspection, verification of significant aspects of activities, the possibility of the risk of not detecting even some significant distortions during the audit). The own Standards of the auditing firm "Audit +" are confidential information, since with their help this firm can carry out a high-quality audit with the least risk. The confidentiality of all information related to the Standards and data about the Customer is governed by the relevant external and internal rules, the observance of which is strict and monitored by the director.

At the second stage, audit planning is carried out in accordance with the general principles of auditing, as well as in accordance with the Federal Rule (standard) of auditing activity No. 3 "Audit planning". This standard establishes uniform requirements for planning an audit of financial (accounting) statements. Audit planning involves the development of an overall strategy and a detailed approach to the expected nature, timing and extent of the audit procedures.

The auditor's planning of his work is aimed at ensuring that the necessary attention is paid to important areas of the audit, potential problems are identified and the work is done at the best cost, quality and on time. Planning allows you to effectively distribute and coordinate work among the members of the audit team.

Planning includes several stages:

The first is a preliminary assessment of the internal control and accounting system;

The second is a preliminary assessment of audit risk and its components;

The third is a preliminary calculation of the volume of the audit sample;

Fourth - preliminary calculation of the level of materiality;

Fifth - justification of the need to involve an expert or another auditor in the audit;

Sixth - the formation of the composition of the audit team;

Seventh - calculation of the cost of audit services;

Eighth - preparation of a general plan and audit programs for sections of the audit.

The third stage is the process of conducting an audit itself and is the main one. During the main stage, the auditor adjusts the values ​​of the calculated indicators (if necessary) and determines the revised values ​​of the audit risk, the materiality level and the volume of the audit sample.

This stage includes the following stages:

performance of audit procedures on the merits;

correction of calculations made at the planning stage;

analysis of the information received and comparison of the identified errors with the level of materiality;

assessment of the financial condition of the organization.

Based on the results of the analysis, a summary table of the violations identified and recommendations for their elimination is compiled.

At the fourth stage, the verification results are generated. At this final stage, written information (report) is drawn up based on the results of the audit and an audit report is issued. Based on the results of the audit, the following documents are submitted to the management and accounting service of the audited entity:

Auditor's report on the accounting (financial) statements for the reporting year;

Written information (audit report), which is a detailed analytical document with all identified deficiencies and violations, as well as recommendations for correcting each of them;

A summary table based on the results of the audit (analytical note) on the most significant violations with all the necessary comments (tables, other audit records)

If during the audit process there is a need to revise certain provisions of the overall plan, then the audit team leader should coordinate this issue with the head of the audit organization.

From everything stated in this section, it can be concluded that, in addition to generally accepted standards, which include the rules for auditing certain areas of the financial and economic activities of enterprises, the phased regulation of audit procedures, the Code of Ethics, which determines the rules of conduct for the auditor in contact with the customer and the internal order of the Company , audit firms use separate internal standards that include some unique developments. Among them:

A wide base of archives of situations for each area of ​​the audit (access to practical materials allows you to unify the approach to complex issues);

Detailed developments on the analysis of the Customer's business scheme, as the most important element of the preparation of the audit, allowing to determine the key areas of analysis and identify significant business transactions, including those containing potential tax risks;

The standard for the formation of materials that make up the history of the Customer (this standard obliges all participants and, first of all, the head of the audit project to thoroughly study the history of the Customer's activities on the eve of the audit and "write" new pages into the history at the end of the audit).

2.3 Methodology for conducting individual procedures during the audit

The effectiveness of audit work largely depends not only on knowledge of the methods and techniques of audits, but also on their correct combination in accordance with the tasks set. Skillful application of various methods and techniques in practice contributes to the achievement of maximum results in the performance of auditors' functions.

Using the example of checking fixed assets, it can be noted that the purpose of the audit is to form a reasoned opinion on the reliability and completeness of information about fixed assets reflected in the accounting (financial) statements of the audited organization and explanations to it. Auditors can also consider related areas of accounting and reporting items: expenses for the repair of fixed assets, income from the lease of fixed assets and rental costs of fixed assets, income and expenses arising from the disposal of fixed assets, construction in progress, tax liabilities property, etc.

To achieve the goal, the auditor needs to:

evaluate the internal control system of the audited entity;

define verification methods;

develop a program of audit procedures on the merits.

To develop an effective approach to the audit of fixed assets at the planning stage, a preliminary assessment of the internal control system is carried out, which is confirmed or adjusted during the audit. Practice shows that audits of fixed assets are not always accompanied by an assessment of the internal control system, which deliberately reduces their effectiveness. This leads, in particular, to an increase in the time spent, since the preconditions not created in a timely manner to justify the selective method of verification increase the likelihood of misstatements in the assessment of audit risk. Adequate assessment of the internal control system allows to formulate the auditor's conclusions in the written information of the auditor to the management of the economic entity and in the analytical part of the auditor's report in a qualitative and more convincing manner.

When assessing the internal control system, the auditor must check the existence and operation of regulatory documents securing the methods of keeping records of transactions related to the movement of fixed assets, carry out an examination of the procedure for documenting the facts of economic activity, examine the approved schedules and workflow schemes, conduct an examination of the applied form of accounting, check the availability accounting and tax registers, to establish whether the established procedure for the preparation and presentation of internal financial statements is observed, to summarize information on the composition, scope and nature of transactions in the audited period.

With the help of audit procedures, the accuracy of accounting and reporting data is checked. If violations are found, the auditor determines their nature and essence, as well as the level of materiality. In this case, the auditor describes audit procedures or methods for detecting violations, the procedure for constructing an audit sample when applying it, i.e. substantiates the sufficiency of audit evidence. Based on the results of the audit procedures performed, the auditor can develop recommendations for eliminating errors in accounting and improving the accounting system.

If the auditor is conducting an audit of an organization for the first time, then he should obtain evidence that:

opening balances of fixed assets accounts do not contain distortions that could materially affect the financial statements of the audited period;

balances on accounts of fixed assets at the beginning of the current period were correctly transferred from the previous period (except for cases of changes in the opening balance as a result of revaluation of fixed assets);

the organization's accounting policies for the valuation and depreciation of property, plant and equipment have been applied consistently from period to period.

If this is not the first audit of the organization by this auditor, he needs to make sure that the balances on the accounts of fixed assets at the beginning of the reporting period correspond to the balances confirmed in the financial statements at the end of the reporting period. If the organization has carried out a revaluation of fixed assets and their book value at the beginning of the reporting period has been changed, the auditor needs to make sure that the revalued (replacement) value of fixed assets is correctly reflected in the reporting.

The sample size for checking the balance of the account of fixed assets and transactions with them is determined on the basis of the audit risk assessment carried out at the stage of planning the audit. During the audit, when the assessment of the internal control system and audit risk is refined, the sample size may be changed. In the case when an organization has a sufficiently large number of fixed assets, a representative sampling method can be used when checking the balance of fixed assets accounts. If the number of items of property, plant and equipment is not so large, then both representative and non-representative sampling methods are used.

In a sample check, the auditor must first subdivide (stratify) the entire set of fixed assets so that elements of all subsets can be selected for checking with equal probability. The set of fixed assets of the organization can be divided into sub-sets, for example, according to the following criteria:

territorial isolation: fixed assets located in various separate divisions of the audited organization should be included in the sample with equal probability;

production characteristics: for a spot check, it is necessary to select fixed assets used at various stages of the production process in the organization or in different industries if the organization is multidisciplinary;

classification in the reporting: if in the reporting fixed assets are classified into several groups, for example, land plots, buildings and structures, machinery and equipment, it is necessary that the sample includes fixed assets reflected under each item. The auditor may decide not to check the elements for any of the items of the classification of fixed assets if it is significantly less than the materiality level and possible violations will not affect the reliability of the financial statements of the organization as a whole;

classification by depreciation groups: if the fixed assets of the organization are divided into several depreciation groups, the sample should include fixed assets from different depreciation groups;

other classifications, depending on the characteristics of the audited organization.

During the audit, it is also necessary to check whether the fixed assets are insured against natural disasters, whether the amount of insurance coverage is sufficient, and whether it is periodically reviewed. This issue should be paid attention to in organizations that have expensive and specialized fixed assets in the regions and (or) in industries with high risks of natural disasters or other emergencies. The existence of an insurance program for assets valuable for the organization, regular assessment of the adequacy of insurance coverage testify to the reliability of internal control in the organization and the desire of its management to avoid possible losses in connection with the loss of production capacity and the corresponding reduction in production.

When checking operations for accounting for fixed assets, it is necessary to be guided by the regulation on accounting "Accounting for fixed assets" PBU 6/01, approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated March 30, 01, N 26n (as amended from 05/18/2002, No. 45n, dated 12.12 .2005 No. 147n, dated 18.09.2006 No. 116n, dated 27.11.2006 No. 156n, dated 25.10.2010 No. 132n, dated 24.12.2010 No. 186n) and Methodological instructions on accounting of fixed assets approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation on 13.10.2003 N 91n (as amended by the Orders of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation of 27.11.2006 N 156n, of 25.10.2010 N 132n, of 24.12.2010 N 186n), and for taxation purposes, the provisions Of the Tax Code (hereinafter - the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The procedure for reflecting transactions in the accounting accounts is regulated by the Chart of accounts of accounting and the Instructions for its application, approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation of October 31, 2000 N 94n.

For a detailed verification of operations with fixed assets, it seems to us, it is necessary to perform a number of sequential audit procedures:

1. Verification of the application of the methods of accounting and tax accounting of fixed assets declared in the accounting policy. The issues of checking the application of the methods of accounting and tax accounting of fixed assets declared in the accounting policy are related to significant areas of audit that have a significant impact on the reliability of financial (accounting) statements. When checking the accounting policy of the organization, it is necessary to be guided by the accounting regulation "Accounting policy of the organization" PBU 1/2008, approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 06.10.2008 No. 106n with amendments dated 11.03.2009 No. 22n, dated 25.10.2010 No. 132n, dated 08.11.2010, No. 144n, and for tax purposes - by the provisions of the Tax Code.

Carrying out the procedure for checking the application of the methods of accounting and tax accounting of fixed assets declared in the accounting policy, the auditor must answer the following questions:

Does the procedure for applying the declared methods of accounting for fixed assets comply with the provisions of the organization's accounting policy?

Does the procedure for applying the declared methods of tax accounting for fixed assets comply with the provisions of the organization's accounting policy?

Verification of the completeness of the application of the elements of accounting policy for accounting purposes is carried out by applying such a verification technique as the analysis of the completeness of the application, the declared methods of accounting and tax accounting of fixed assets, reflected in the accounting policy of the organization. In addition, at this stage it is necessary to form an opinion on the adequacy of the elements of the accounting policy for the purposes of accounting and tax accounting of fixed assets and their compliance with the specifics and scope of the audited entity's activities. In addition, it is necessary to assess the adequacy of information disclosure in the financial (accounting) statements and the impact of the applied accounting methods on the reliability of reporting indicators.

Verification of the completeness of the application of accounting policy elements for tax accounting purposes is reduced to the need to take into account the fact that the procedure for the formation of accounting policies for profit tax purposes is carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. According to Art. 313 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the tax accounting system is organized by the taxpayer independently based on the principle of consistency in the application of the rules and regulations of tax accounting, that is, it is applied sequentially from one tax period to another. The procedure for maintaining tax accounting is established by the taxpayer in the accounting policy for tax purposes, approved by the relevant order (decree) of the head.

In the process of applying such methods of conducting an audit, it is advisable to analyze the completeness of the application of the declared methods of maintaining tax accounting of fixed assets, reflected in the accounting policy of the organization. Such an analysis should be carried out taking into account the information on the specifics of the organization's activities obtained at the stage of preliminary acquaintance with the activities of the audited economic entity.

In addition, at this stage it is necessary to form an opinion on the adequacy of the elements of the accounting policy for the purposes of tax accounting of fixed assets and their compliance with the specifics and scope of the audited entity's activities.

the completeness of the application of the declared methods of accounting and tax accounting of fixed assets, reflected in the accounting policy of the organization;

the sufficiency of the elements of the accounting policy and their compliance with the specifics and scale of the activity of an economic entity;

the expediency of using these methods.

The procedure for auditing the correctness of the reflection of information about fixed assets in accounting and reporting, as we see it, includes a number of successive stages.

When conducting an audit, the firm obtains sufficient audit evidence to ensure that:

the final balances on the accounts of synthetic accounting of fixed assets of the previous reporting period were accordingly transferred to the beginning of the audited reporting period;

the corresponding indicators of the financial statements (form NN 1, 5) at the beginning and end of the reporting period correspond to the accounting data of the registers of synthetic and analytical accounting of fixed assets;

in the event of adjustments made to the initial and comparative indicators of the financial statements (for example, changes in the opening balance as a result of the revaluation of fixed assets), the results of the adjustments are accordingly disclosed in the explanations to the audited financial statements.

If the organization has carried out a revaluation of fixed assets and their book value at the beginning of the reporting period has been changed, the auditor needs to make sure that the revalued (replacement) value of fixed assets is correctly reflected in the reporting.

Testing of the correctness of the reflection of business transactions in accounting and tax accounting is carried out by the auditor, using the verification technique applicable to the entire volume of business transactions performed with fixed assets. Therefore, the most significant of them are selected (the selection criteria are the maximum amounts for the turnover and balance of accounting accounts 01, 02, 03, 07, 08), and according to how accounting and control is carried out in these largest and most important areas, the auditor forms his own opinion on the accounting system as a whole. To carry out this technique, you must:

select several accounting accounts of fixed assets (at least three to five accounts), for which the largest balance at the end of the study period;

select several accounts of fixed assets accounting for which the largest turnover for the period under study (at least three to five accounts);

conduct a survey of the chief accountant according to a predetermined plan in relation to the selected areas of accounting (for example, by testing);

analyze the received answers;

analyze the provisions of the accounting policy related to the procedure for recording transactions with property, plant and equipment;

make end-to-end tests to verify the correctness of the reflection of business transactions in accounting and tax accounting (starting with checking the correctness of the primary documents, ending with checking the correctness of the reflection of these transactions in analytical, synthetic and tax accounting, accounting and tax reporting);

identify those areas of accounting where the risk of errors or distortions is especially high, and reflect their presence in their working documents. Subsequently, when conducting an audit, investigate these areas with a more frequent sampling or "blanket" method.

Material information about fixed assets is subject to disclosure in an explanatory note and / or forms of financial statements. Auditors need to establish the completeness of the disclosure of information about fixed assets in the financial statements. Information to be disclosed is given in clause 32 of the Accounting Regulations "Accounting for Fixed Assets" PBU 6/01, approved by order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation No. 26n dated March 30, 2001 (dated December 24, 2010, No. 186n).

Based on the results of the audit, an auditor's opinion should be prepared on the following issues:

on the correspondence of the data of analytical accounting of fixed assets to turnovers and balances of synthetic accounting accounts: 01, 02, 03, 07, 08;

on the compliance of the accounting data of fixed assets with the corresponding accounting data;

on the correctness and completeness of the disclosure of information on fixed assets in the financial statements.

Based on the results of the audit, an auditor's opinion should be prepared on the following issues:

On the correspondence of the data of analytical accounting of fixed assets to turnovers and balances of synthetic accounting accounts: 01, 02, 03, 07, 08;

On the compliance of the accounting data of fixed assets with the corresponding accounting data;

On the correctness of the disclosure of information about fixed assets in the financial statements.

The issues of verification of transactions on receipt of fixed assets relate to significant areas of audit that have a significant impact on the reliability of financial (accounting) statements. In this regard, obtaining sufficient and appropriate audit evidence regarding transactions for the receipt of fixed assets and disclosure of information about them, as well as the impact of these transactions on the financial (accounting) statements of the audited entity, is subject to verification at all stages of the audit of financial (accounting) statements - from planning to forming a conclusion.

The sample size for checking the balance of the account of fixed assets and transactions with them is determined on the basis of the audit risk assessment carried out at the stage of planning the audit. During the audit, when the assessment of the internal control system and audit risk is refined, the sample size may be changed. When conducting an audit, it is necessary to establish whether the requirements of regulatory enactments are being met when recording operations on the receipt of fixed assets in accounting and tax accounting.

The main legal document that enshrines all the necessary conditions for the implementation of commercial plans of any organization is a contract, the significance of which in the financial and economic activities of the organization is enormous. The economic result of the transaction largely depends on how competently and clearly in the legal sense a particular agreement is drawn up and concluded.

Depending on the operations performed, upon receipt of fixed assets, the following types of contracts can be applied: purchase and sale, supply, commission, order, exchange, donation, gratuitous use, simple partnership, trust management, leasing, rent, etc.

When auditing contracts, it is necessary to check their existence and correctness of execution. The procedure for the formation of the initial cost and the reflection of transactions in accounting depends on the results of the performance of the listed procedures. When conducting an audit, it is necessary to establish whether the one-time conditions specified by regulatory enactments are met, which are necessary for the acceptance of property in accounting for fixed assets.

In doing so, you should pay attention to the following:

assets acquired after January 1, 2006, in respect of which the conditions stipulated above are met, and with a value within the limit established in the accounting policy of the organization, but not more than 40,000 rubles per unit, may be reflected in accounting and financial statements as part of inventories (clause 5 PBU 6/01);

fixed assets acquired after January 1, 2006, intended solely for the organization to provide for a fee for temporary possession and use or for temporary use in order to generate income, should be reflected in accounting and financial statements as part of income investments in tangible assets (balance sheet account 03).

When conducting an audit, it is also necessary to establish whether the one-time conditions specified by regulatory enactments necessary for the acceptance of property in the structure of fixed assets for tax accounting are fulfilled.

It is necessary to pay attention to the following: the limit of the value of the property is 40,000 rubles. applies to fixed assets purchased after January 1, 2011. Prior to this date, the limit was 20,000 rubles. Assets acquired after January 1, 2011, in respect of which the conditions stipulated above are met, and with a value within the limit established in the accounting policy of the organization, but not more than 40,000 rubles per unit, should be written off in tax accounting at a time to expenses ( Clause 1 of Article 256 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Checking cash transactions on bank accounts requires the auditor to have a heightened sense of responsibility. only inattention can lead in the future to undesirable consequences for the auditor and the auditee. All or any of the auditing methods may be used in the audit of cash transactions and bank account transactions. Very important should be given to checking the primary documents that served as the basis for making records of business transactions in accounting registers. In this case, special attention should be paid to the execution of primary documents, including:

inventory of the actual cash balance at the cash desk and its compliance with the accounting data on the cash book;

checking the completeness and timeliness of the posting and writing off of cash according to the receipt and expense orders of the completeness and timeliness of the cash book;

checking the availability of supporting documents for the receipt and expense orders on the basis of which they are issued (tickets, invoices, checks, the presence of an order - in the first stage);

verification of the legality of completed business transactions;

checking the actual availability of other valuables stored in the cash register, which, in accordance with the current regulatory documents, must be stored in the cash register (securities, strict reporting forms, precious gifts to the company);

checking the totals in the cash book and other accounting registers;

ensuring the safety of funds during their receipt, delivery from the bank (enterprise), storage and issuance at the enterprise in accordance with the requirements of the recommendations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation to ensure the safety of funds during their storage and transportation;

checking the existence of a written agreement on full liability with the cashier.

The sequence of checking cash transactions may be different at the discretion of the auditor. The main methods for verifying banking transactions include:

verification of the actual quantitative availability of settlement, current, currency accounts opened in the organization; completeness and the need to open them, in which banks they are open;

whether all the amounts given in the bank statements are confirmed by the presence of correctly executed supporting documents for the amounts indicated in them;

checking the timely crediting and debiting of funds on the organization's accounts with the bank.

If, during the audit, the auditor discovers the absence of a source bank voucher, or a photocopy is present as a voucher that is not certified by the seal of the discussing bank (not xerox), such an operation cannot be recognized as legal. The auditor is obliged to demand the submission of a document drawn up in the prescribed manner. When checking the payment of invoices for the purchase of material assets, you must make sure that they are received and posted in full. There are cases of illegal transactions when, under various pretexts, money is transferred, which is subsequently written off at the cost of production, or from other sources, but in reality these amounts are sent to the acquisition of various types of property, which is subsequently appropriated by certain officials. You should carefully check all reversal entries for bank accounts. There are cases when an accountant participating in the theft of funds transfers the stolen amounts to the appropriate accounts, and then, by reversing, makes new entries in other accounting registers in order to disguise the true state of affairs.

The methods of checking settlement relationships include a complete and selective inventory of accounts.

Depending on the number of organizations participating in the calculations, the auditor himself determines which of the above methods to apply to him. In the practice of conducting audits, the sampling method prevails, and if the accounting of calculations is in a state of disrepair - the continuous method. Before starting the check, it is necessary to find out whether the balances of the debt, the reasons for the formation of the debt, the prescription of its formation, through whose fault it was admitted, the reality of receiving the debt are correctly reflected in the corresponding articles of the balance; those. whether there are acts of reconciliation of settlements or letters of guarantee in which the debtors acknowledge their debt and whether the statute of limitations has been missed, what measures were taken by management to repay or recover the debt, whether the requirement to conduct an inventory of settlements before drawing up the annual report has been fulfilled. An inventory of settlements with buyers, suppliers, accountable persons, workers and employees, depositors and other debtors and creditors, as well as with banks for loans, consists in identifying balances according to the relevant documents and thoroughly checking the validity of the amounts on the accounts. The auditor and the members of the inventory commission establish the timing of the occurrence of debts on the accounts of debtors and creditors, its reality and the persons guilty of missing the limitation period.

During the inventory process, you must also establish:

identity of settlements with banks, divisions of the enterprise, which are on separate balance sheets, with tax authorities;

the correctness and validity of the amounts of deficiencies and theft debts on the balance sheets, and the measures taken to collect this debt;

the correctness and validity of the amounts of accounts receivable and payable and accounts payable on the balance sheet, as well as whether claims have been filed for compulsory collection of accounts receivable.

The results of the inventory of calculations are formalized in an act. The analysis of the materials of the inventory of calculations available at the audited enterprise or the conduct of the inventory by the auditor himself makes it possible to focus on a more thorough check of the calculations for which discrepancies, discrepancies, and ambiguities have been established.

When checking debts to suppliers and other creditors, such a technique is used, according to which it is necessary to find out whether the amounts for which the limitation period has expired are not on the balance sheet, and it is especially necessary to compare the facts when due to unclaimed accounts payable the receivables are paid off, and the received values ​​are assigned to accounts receivable. Controversial debts are especially scrutinized.

Controversial the debt of enterprises and organizations is considered if the document on its collection is submitted to the civil court for individuals or the arbitration court for legal entities. At the same time, debts of citizens for shortages, waste and embezzlement do not belong to the debts in dispute, even if they are transferred to the court for collection. The auditor must check how reasonably and legally the receivables have been written off for losses, establish whether the persons who caused these losses have been brought to responsibility, whether the transactions to write off receivables have been correctly reflected in the accounting records.

There are cases when clearly unfounded claims are transferred to the civil arbitration court for enforcement in order to use the refusal to satisfy it to write off unreal receivables at a loss.

Unreal accounts receivable - any bad accounts receivable for which there is a decision of a civil or arbitration court to dismiss a claim - is unrealistic.

When checking, it is necessary to find out the reasons for the refusal of the claim: whether the limitation period was missed, the claim was unreasonable, the paperwork was not properly drawn up, etc.

The analysis of settlements with depositors also requires great attention, first of all, it is necessary to establish whether the wages and scholarships not received in due time, as well as the amounts withheld from wages under orders of execution and other documents, are timely attributed to the deposit amounts. The payment of the deposited amounts to workers and employees should be carefully checked. When checking settlements with accountable persons, the auditor should conduct a complete check of the advance reports and the documents attached to them, comparing the entries in the cumulative statements with the data of the advance reports approved by the loan managers. First of all, the auditor finds out to whom the advances were issued; the auditor is obliged to carefully check the accuracy of the documents attached to the advance reports and the legality of payment for them. If necessary, counter checks are carried out.

Using the methodology for checking transactions on accountable amounts, you should find out:

whether the director of the enterprise has determined the circle of persons who are entitled to receive money on account of the report;

whether the accountable persons are not given advances in excess of the established amounts;

do not receive money on account of persons who have not reported on previously received amounts;

is it not allowed to pay through accountable persons of expenses that could be paid directly from the cash desk of the enterprise;

whether there is a mark of the director of the company on the advance reports on the expediency of the expenses incurred;

whether expenses from the reporting amounts are reflected in the accounting in a timely manner.

In market conditions, many organizations in their activities use borrowed funds from a bank, other credit organizations and enterprises.

Article 897 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation states that under the loan agreement, one party - the lender transfers the ownership of the other party - the borrower, money or other things defined by generic characteristics, and the borrower undertakes to return the same amount of money to the lender - the loan amount or an equal number of other things received by him of the same kind and quality. Thus, when checking, the auditor should pay attention to the form in which the loan was taken - in the form of money or a thing.

In the practice of conducting inspections, there are cases when, under the terms of an agreement, especially a long-term one, an organization receives money, and then, after a certain time, returns the loan with property or securities without changing the terms of the agreement, which is not allowed. Sometimes, considering the documents related to the return of the loan, the auditors make mistakes in terms of paying the lender %% for the use of the loan, although there are no such conditions in the agreement, they believe that if the agreement does not stipulate the payment of %% to the lender, then they should not be paid. At the same time, article 809 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation states that if the agreement does not contain conditions on the amount of %%, then their size is determined by the bank's %% rate existing at the location of the lender on the day the borrower pays the amount of the debt or its corresponding part. It must also be remembered that %% on a loan are not charged only in cases where this is directly stipulated in the contract, i.e. interest-free loan, or the borrower is transferred not money, but other things as a loan.

The auditor is obliged to make sure that:

drawing up and concluding a loan agreement;

organization of accounting of these transactions on accounts: 66 "Short-term loans", 67 "Long-term loans", with special attention paid to the organization of analytical accounting of these transactions by the lender and maturity;

reflection in the accounting of the repayment of a loan by selling securities at prices exceeding their value, reflection in the accounting of the %% accepted for payment for the use of the loan;

reflection in the accounting of exchange rate differences on loans provided in foreign currency;

reflection in the accounting of loans according to the directions of their use;

accounting for a loan received against a promissory note issued;

timeliness of loan repayment.

The metrics in the activity log are used to validate these questions.

The methodology for checking the credit relationships of an economic entity indicates that a credit agreement, in accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, can be concluded by an enterprise only with a bank or other creditor organization. The same rules apply to relations under a loan agreement as under a loan agreement. The methodology for auditing such transactions is basically the same as for auditing loan transactions. The rules for the issuance of loans are developed by creditors, and the issuance of loans is carried out on the basis of a concluded bilateral loan agreement. Unlike loans, verification of operations for obtaining and using loans is carried out on accounts 66 "Short-term loans from banks" and 67. The auditor needs to check:

confirmation of the intended use of the loan;

timeliness and completeness of repayment;

the correctness and legality of the attribution of accrued and paid %% to the corresponding expense accounts or sources of their coverage;

reliability of balances, unpaid loans;

collateral for a loan or the existence of guarantees presented in a timely manner for unpaid loan amounts;

objectivity of the reasons for the violation of the terms of the loan repayment.

Checking the issues of obtaining and using loans, the auditor must assess the effectiveness of the invested funds for the activities for which they were intended; what economic effect the company received as a whole from their use, or vice versa, calculate the losses that the company may incur in the event of improper use of the loan or untimely return to the creditor, as well as analyze the sources of coverage for the outstanding amounts of creditors and report them to the management of the audited organization.

The audit of the formation of financial results is carried out by applying the methodology for verifying the reliability of the final financial result: the auditor must establish the correspondence of the data of the financial results report to the records of the General Ledger, transaction logs, balance sheet. The process of auditing financial results can be divided into 3 objects:

audit of profit (loss) of the reporting period;

audit of taxable income;

net profit audit.

The check of the summarizing indicator of profit (loss) of the reporting period is carried out in order to establish the facts of the inclusion of unrelated costs in production costs, as well as the incorrect calculation of profit, which is the object of taxation.

There are 4 main groups of such distortions and the reasons for their occurrence:

distortion of profit, taken to determine the amount of payments to the budget due to unreasonable overestimation (understatement) of the amount of material costs included in the cost of goods, products, works, services, incorrect assessment for the compilation of the balance of work in progress and shipped goods, work performed, rendered at the end of the audited period services, shortages of material values, etc .;

inclusion in production costs of expenses covered in accordance with the current legislation at the expense of special sources reflected in the liabilities of the balance sheet;

distortion of the financial result accepted to determine payments to the budget by including in production costs or attribution to profit of expenses subject to reimbursement from net profit, as well as unreasonable overestimation of operating and non-operating income by including financial results from the sale of goods and products in their composition, other operations;

concealment of income by crediting proceeds from the sale of goods, products to other balance accounts.

To conduct an audit, you must use the following information base:

order of the enterprise on accounting policy for the reporting year,

forms of financial statements No. 2, 4;

Main book;

transaction logs, as well as analytical and synthetic accounting data, primary documents.

An audit of the formation of financial results begins with the analysis of documents on the application of accounting policies for the reporting year.

The second stage of verification is the verification of the indicator of the cost of goods sold (form No. 2). It is necessary to check compliance with the requirements of the provisions on the composition of costs for the production and sale of products and on the procedure for the formation of financial results, taking into account the latest changes and additions, to establish the validity of including costs in the cost price, as well as their write-off at the expense of the balance sheet profit and profit remaining at the disposal of the enterprise.

During the listening process, all the main parts of each financial result are monitored:

from the sale of products;

from the sale of fixed assets and other property;

from non-sales activities.

The profit auditing methodology model is presented in table 2.

In the course of checking the sales of products, special attention should be paid to checking the indicators of shipment according to invoices with similar indicators for export passes, because during such inspections, cases are revealed when a smaller (and sometimes more) quantity of products is exported by passes than indicated in the shipping bills and payment documents, however, the accounting records for the sale of products that are indicated in the shipping notes, and with a sudden check on its surplus is revealed in the warehouse. The auditor must carefully check the sale of products, which include components and parts, and, if violations are found, propose changes in the indicators for sales and profit.

The audit methodology provides for the need to pay attention to the correct documentation and legality of writing off accounts receivable, losses from natural disasters, uncompensated losses as a result of fires, accidents and other emergencies caused by extreme conditions; losses from embezzlement, the perpetrators of which have not been established by a court decision, fines for violations that do not relate to the fulfillment of conditions under business contracts, the amount of doubtful debts on settlements with other enterprises.

The practice of conducting audits of such descriptions shows that the documents are not of adequate quality and there are often cases when decisions to write off are made by the chief accountant and the head of the enterprise, while the reasons for the formation of such debts are not investigated, the debts of enterprises are not confirmed by reconciliation acts, and an in-depth check of such write-offs sometimes reveals cases of abuse, and sometimes theft of material assets, both by individual officials and by groups of individuals. Often, fines paid that are not related to business contracts or are imposed on specific officials are attributed to the financial results of the organization, and not to the profit remaining at the disposal of the enterprise or the perpetrators. When writing off losses from natural disasters or other extreme cases, an inventory of damaged property is not carried out, but losses are written off according to established acts, and, as a rule, with such write-offs, documents of the relevant local authorities are not attached as a justification, confirming the fact that a natural disaster has occurred in the area. ...

When checking the financial results, the auditor must also check the correctness of the calculation and timeliness of contributions to the income tax budget, the correct distribution of profits between the founders, the correctness of the formation of special funds. In addition to checking the accrual and payment of income tax, the check is carried out to verify compliance with the terms of its accrual and payment. The main thing in the auditor's work is to determine the reliability of the calculation of the taxable base, to confirm the correctness of the calculation of income tax and expenses incurred from profit after taxes and mandatory payments (see table 3).

Table 2 Methodology for auditing profits

	Cost of sales	Business expenses	Output volume	Volume of products sold	Revenues from sales
The purpose of the audit	Checking the reliability and reality of the costs incurred, the feasibility of writing them off in accordance with the method of accounting for production costs	Verification of the accuracy and reality of the expenses incurred	Verification of the reliability of the volume of manufactured products and the completeness of its posting to the warehouse to assess real stocks and forecasts for the formation of financial results	Verification of the reliability and completeness of the inclusion of data in the volume of products sold for the formation of financial results in accordance with the method of their reflection in the accounting accounts	Verification of the reliability and completeness of the reflection of funds in the accounting accounts received from the sale in a certain period of time
Information base	Business transactions on accounts 20, 23, 25, 26, 28, 29, 31, 89, grouping sheets of data, batch passports, purchase acts for raw materials, planned cost estimates by type of product, cards for analytical accounting of production, development tables 1, 6, 8 , 9, 13, 14, distribution sheets; Main book.		Acceptance certificates of raw materials, batch passports, invoices for the transfer of finished products from production to a warehouse, acts of inventory of balances of finished products, material reports, business transactions on accounts 20, 40	Business transactions on accounts 20, 40, 45, 90, 62, 72, accumulative statements No. 5, 11, 15, 16, consignment notes of the finished product warehouse and marketing department, consignment notes, pass for the export of products, material traffic reports products in the context of assortment, stock control cards f. No. M-17	Business transactions on accounts 50, 51, 57, 62, cash receipts, payment orders-orders, bills of exchange, order journals No. 1, 2, General ledger
Audit directions		Confirming tax	Spare	Confirming tax, spare	Confirming tax
Techniques and procedures	Control measurements, automated		Documentary research, computational, analytical, automated	Documentary research, computational, analytical, automated	Documentary research, computational, analytical, automated
Possible violations		Excessively written off expenses, violation of regulatory and legal legislation in terms of attributing expenses to accounting accounts, the application of cost norms is not justified	Delayed posting of finished products	Concealment of a part of sold products, incorrect reflection on the accounts of commodity exchange transactions	Hiding part of the proceeds
Auditor Decision Making	Reflected in the auditor's opinion, calculations are attached to working papers

Table 3 Methodology for auditing taxable income

Components of an audit methodology	Listening checkpoints
	Profit of the reporting period	Profit for the reporting period, adjusted for tax purposes	Profits and income taxed differently from the profit of the reporting period	Contributions to the reserve and other funds	Income tax incentives	Taxable profit
The purpose of the audit	Checking the reliability of the compiled calculations to determine the financial result	Verification of the reliability and completeness of calculations of indicators included in the taxable base	Verification of the reliability of the calculation of taxes for other types of activities and the procedure for their transfer	Verification of the reliability of the accrual of contributions to funds and the completeness of posting to the corresponding accounting accounts	Checking the reliability of the availability of benefits for the enterprise by category	Checking the correctness and reliability of the amount of taxable profit, the reality of calculating income tax and completeness of transferring it to the budget
Information base	income statement	F. No. 2, report on financial results, business transactions on accounts 90, 91, 99, etc.	Constituent documents and charter of the enterprise in terms of the types of activities permitted by law; cost accounting journals by type of activity	Constituent documents and charter of the enterprise, estimates for the formation of the targeted use of funds, operations on account 86	Tax legislation in terms of benefits provided; Appendix No. 8 "Calculation of Tax from Actual Profit"	Determined in different ways based on "Calculation of tax from actual profit", payment documents for advance payments, transactions on accounts 84, 99, 51, 68, transaction journals, General ledger
Audit directions	Organizational and legal, financial analytical, tax confirmation	confirming tax	tax	tax	tax	tax
Techniques and procedures	Comparisons, comparisons	Documentary research, regulation, calculation, comparison, collation, tracking	Documentary research, regulation, calculation, comparisons, comparisons	Documentary research, regulation, calculation, comparisons, comparisons	Legal regulation, calculation, comparisons, comparisons	Regulations, Calculations, Comparisons
Possible violations	Hiding part of the profit	Understatement of profits, concealment of certain types of income, inclusion of unreasonable expenses in production costs	Concealment of profits from other activities	Absence of entries in the accounting registers on the formation of these funds, or referred to other accounts	Lack of supporting documents of preferential taxation	Concealing part of taxable profit
Materiality assessment	essential	essential
Auditor Decision Making		Will be reflected in the auditor's opinion

At the stage of the audit, the financial and economic activities of a commercial enterprise or a budgetary organization are audited in accordance with the program developed at the stage of planning the audit. The program may provide for three options for conducting an audit: according to standard procedures; on standard questions; according to a typical classifier of violations.

The entire methodological part of the system is implemented in the form of a full-text database containing a list of standard procedures (about 200 procedures for checking commercial organizations and more than 40 procedures for checking budget organizations), covering accounting and taxation of financial and economic activities of commercial and budget organizations.

All procedures are distributed according to standard audit objects inherent in any organization (enterprise). Thus, forming an audit program by choosing from a general list of procedures, only those that are inherent in a given organization (enterprise) being audited, the work manager automatically generates a list of standard procedures that require mandatory control during the audit. In order to make the auditor's work as functional and productive as possible, in addition to the control procedure itself, the system stores a list of regulatory documents governing the requirements of Russian legislation for this procedure, as well as comments describing the audit methodology for this procedure.

In the course of the audit, the auditor consistently carries out procedures that require mandatory control in accordance with the personal program for checking the audit objects assigned to him. After reviewing the audit methodology given in the program for the selected procedures, the auditor needs to obtain appropriate audit evidence in order to formulate reasonable conclusions about the presence (absence) of certain violations of the current legislation in the financial and economic activities of the audited entity.

In the base organization - the auditing firm LLC "Audit +", the entire methodological part of the system is implemented in the form of a full-text database containing a list of standard procedures (about 130 procedures for checking commercial organizations and more than 40 procedures for checking budget organizations), covering accounting and financial taxation. -economic activities of commercial and budgetary organizations.

All procedures are distributed according to standard audit objects inherent in any organization (enterprise). Thus, forming the audit program by choosing from a general list of procedures, only those that are inherent in this audited organization (enterprise), the work manager automatically generates a list of standard procedures that require mandatory control during the audit. In order to make the auditor's work as functional and productive as possible, in addition to the control procedure itself, the system stores a list of regulatory documents governing the requirements of Russian legislation for this procedure, as well as comments describing the audit methodology for this procedure.

In the course of the audit, procedures are performed that require mandatory control in accordance with the personal program for checking the audit objects assigned to it. After reviewing the audit methodology, the auditor needs to obtain appropriate audit evidence in order to formulate reasonable conclusions about the presence (absence) of certain violations of the current legislation in the financial and economic activities of the audited entity. During the audit of the financial and economic activities of the organization (enterprise) according to control procedures, the auditor has the opportunity to make notes, thereby carrying out a systematic collection of audit evidence and consistently forming the working materials of the audit. The mechanism for collecting audit evidence provides an opportunity to include in the working materials for each procedure facts of violations, recommendations for eliminating violations, working records, the amount of violations identified that affected the accuracy of accounting and tax reporting. If necessary, it is always possible to switch to an audit on the issues listed in this procedure, or on a typical classifier of violations. The purpose of obtaining additional audit evidence, as well as the formation of working documentation, in addition to the automated procedure for conducting an audit according to the methodology, provides for the formation of analytical tables, transcripts and references (filling out forms). It is not necessary to fill in all of the above forms of documents. You should select and complete only those documents that will be necessary to obtain additional audit evidence on certain issues. In addition, the program provides for the possibility of filling out forms of analytical tables for analyzing the financial and economic activities of the audited organization (enterprise) on the basis of accounting data, for which the program provides a calculation module.

Thus, in the course of checking the financial and economic activities of the organization (enterprise) according to the control procedures provided for by the methods, the auditor has the opportunity to carry out a systematic collection of audit evidence and form consistently working materials of the audit. The mechanism for collecting audit evidence in accordance with the methods for each section of audits provides an opportunity to include in the working materials for each procedure facts of violations, recommendations for eliminating violations, working records, the amount of violations identified that affected the accuracy of accounting and tax reporting.

The basic principles of auditing can be divided into two groups:

1) the basic principles governing audit - ethical and professional standards that determine the relationship between the auditor (audit firm) and the client. These principles should be followed by auditors and audit firms in the provision of all audit services and taken into account in the development of regulations governing audit;

2) the basic principles of the audit, i.e. rules governing the stages and elements of the audit.

The principles governing the audit are defined in clause 3 of standard No. 1 "The purpose and basic principles of the audit of financial (accounting) statements". Thus, the standard determines that in the performance of his professional duties, the auditor should be guided by the norms established by the professional audit associations of which he is a member (professional standards), as well as by the following ethical principles:

1) independence;

2) honesty;

3) objectivity;

4) professional competence and integrity;

5) confidentiality;

6) professional behavior;

7) professional skepticism.

Auditor independence - assumes the freedom of the auditor from influence, pressure, control, both from the audited entity and from any third parties. Independence of the auditor - the absence of any financial or property interest of the auditor in the audited firm. Thus, an auditor cannot audit a firm, of which he is one of the owners, cannot participate in an audit if he is related to the client's top officials by family relations.

Auditor Integrity implies the auditor's commitment to professional duty.

Objectivity of the auditor - this is the impartiality of the auditor when considering any professional issues and forming judgments, conclusions and conclusions.

Professional competence auditor - This is the possession of the necessary amount of knowledge and the ability to skillfully apply this knowledge when considering specific situations.

Conscientiousness of the auditor Is the provision of professional services by the auditor with due care, attention, efficiency and proper use of their abilities.

Principle confidentiality of information lies in the fact that auditors (audit organizations) are obliged to ensure the safety of documents received or drawn up by them in the course of audit activities, and are not entitled to transfer these documents to any third parties or disclose orally the information contained in them without the consent of the audited entity

Auditor's professional conduct - maintaining a high reputation of the profession and refraining from committing acts that could undermine respect and trust in the auditing profession

Professional skepticism is expressed in the fact that the auditor critically evaluates the weight of the audit evidence obtained and carefully examines the audit

commercial evidence that conflicts with any management document or statement, or casts doubt on the veracity of such document or statement

The basic principles of auditing include:

1) determining the scope of the audit;

2) audit planning;

3) assessment of accounting and internal control systems;

4) audit evidence;

5) audit documentation;

6) auditor's report.

Determining the scope of the audit... According to clause 5 of the Federal Auditing Standard No. 1 "Objectives and Basic Principles of Auditing Financial (Accounting) Statements", the term "scope of audit" refers to audit procedures that are considered necessary to achieve the audit objective under these circumstances. The procedures required for conducting an audit should be determined by the auditor, taking into account federal rules (standards) of auditing, internal rules (standards) of auditing used in professional audit associations of which he is a member, as well as the rules (standards) of auditor's auditing. In addition to the rules (standards), the auditor, when determining the scope of the audit, must take into account federal laws, other regulatory legal acts and, if necessary, the terms of the audit engagement and the requirements for preparing the report.

The auditor must get a sufficient understanding of all aspects of the financial and economic activities of the audited entity, the organization of accounting and internal control at the enterprise in order to adequately plan the audit and obtain data sufficient to draw up an objective audit opinion.

Audit planning... In accordance with the standard of auditing activity No. 3 "Planning an audit" the auditing organization and the individual auditor are required to plan their work so that the audit is carried out effectively. Audit planning involves the development of an overall strategy and a detailed approach to the expected nature, timing and extent of the audit procedures.

When planning and conducting an audit, the auditor should not assume that the management of the auditee is dishonest, but should not assume that the management is unconditionally honest.

Oral and written representations from management are not a substitute for the auditor to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to draw reasonable conclusions on which to base the auditor's opinion.

The audit should be planned on the basis of a preliminary analysis of the auditee, an assessment of the scope of the work to be done and the internal control applied. It is necessary to determine the procedures to be used in the verification process, and also to establish whether it is necessary to involve other auditors, experts and support personnel, and plan their activities, having obtained the consent of the client.

Using the work of other professionals does not relieve the auditor of responsibility for the auditor's report,

Assessment of accounting and internal control systems... The auditor needs to assess the accounting and internal control systems of the auditee to determine the likelihood of errors that affect the accuracy of the financial statements. On the basis of such an assessment, the content, scope and number of audit procedures are determined.

Audit evidence... According to the requirements of the Federal Auditing Standard No. 5 "Audit Evidence", during the audit

The sponsor needs to gather evidence that the financial statements are in accordance with applicable laws and accounting regulations and are reliable.

Audit evidence is the information obtained by the auditor during the audit, and the result of the analysis of this information, on which the auditor's opinion is based. Audit evidence includes, in particular, primary documents and accounting records, which are the basis of financial (accounting) statements, as well as written explanations of authorized employees of the audited entity and information obtained from various sources (from third parties).

Audit documentation... Federal Auditing Standard No. 2 "Documenting an Audit" specifies that the most important audit evidence (audit data) must be documented. The term "documentation" refers to working documents and materials prepared by the auditor and for the auditor, or received and stored by the auditor in connection with the audit. Working papers can be presented in the form of data recorded on paper, photographic film, in electronic form or in another form.

The auditor shall reflect in the working papers information on the planning of the audit work, the nature, timing and extent of the audit procedures performed, their results, and the conclusions drawn from the audit evidence obtained. The working documents should contain the auditor's rationale for all important points on which it is necessary to express his professional judgment, together with the auditor's conclusions on them. In cases where the auditor has considered complex matters of principle or expressed professional judgment on any matters of importance to the audit, the working papers should include facts that were known to the auditor at the time of formulating the conclusions, and the necessary argumentation.

Working papers should be drafted and structured in such a way as to meet the circumstances of each specific audit and the needs of the auditor in the course of its conduct. If necessary, the auditor can draw up working documents that are necessary for audit procedures (statements, diagrams, etc.). The audit documentation is the property of the auditor, and the information contained in it is confidential and cannot be used and (or) disclosed without the client's consent.

Audit report... In accordance with the federal audit rule (standard) No. 6 "Auditor's report on financial (accounting) statements", the auditor's report is an official document intended for users of the financial (accounting) statements of audited entities, drawn up in accordance with this rule and containing the expression in the prescribed form the opinion of an auditing organization or an individual auditor on the reliability of the financial (accounting) statements of the audited entity and the compliance of the accounting procedure with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Under credibility in all material respects, the degree of accuracy of the data in financial (accounting) statements is understood, which allows users of these statements to draw correct conclusions about the results of economic activities, financial and property status of the audited entities and make informed decisions based on these conclusions. To assess the degree of compliance of financial (accounting) statements with the legislation of the Russian Federation, the auditor must establish the maximum allowable deviations by determining the materiality of accounting indicators for the purpose of the audit.

and financial (accounting) statements in accordance with the federal rule (standard) of auditing activity No. 4 "Materiality in audit".

1) the auditor critically evaluates the weight of the audit evidence obtained;

2) the auditor questions the authenticity of the documents or statements of the audited entity;

3) when planning and conducting an audit, the auditor assumes that the management of the audited entity is dishonest;

4) carefully examines audit evidence that contradicts any documents or statements of management or casts doubt on the reliability of such documents or statements.

8. Mandatory audit is:

1) monthly audit of accounting and financial (accounting) statements of an organization or an individual entrepreneur;

2) an audit conducted on the initiative of an organization or an individual entrepreneur;

3) an annual mandatory audit of the accounting and financial (accounting) statements of the organization; 4) quarterly audit, necessarily carried out on the initiative

government body.

9. Mandatory audit is carried out in the following cases:

1) the amount of proceeds of an organization or an individual entrepreneur from the sale of products (performance of work, rendering of services) for one year does not exceed 400 million rubles;

2) the organization is a credit, insurance, commodity or stock exchange;

3) the organization is a state unitary enterprise, a municipal unitary enterprise based on the right of economic management

4) the organization has the organizational and legal form of a closed joint stock company.

10. What is the main link of the system of organization of financial control audit activity belongs to:

1) state financial control; 2) public financial control;

3) independent, non-departmental financial control; 4) departmental financial control.

11. In carrying out his professional duties, the auditor should be guided by the following ethical principles:

1) continuity, independence, honesty, objectivity; professional competence and integrity,

confidentiality and professional conduct;

2) independence, frequency, objectivity, professional competence and integrity, confidentiality and professional behavior;

3) independence, honesty, objectivity, openness and integrity, confidentiality and behavior;

4) independence, honesty, objectivity, openness and conscientiousness, collegiality and behavior.

professional professional

12. What is the principle of the professional conduct of the auditor:

;

13. What is the principle of auditor independence: 1) honest business and truthfulness ;

2) exclusion of bias, conflicts of interest, influence on the objectivity of the auditor's professional judgments;

3) in the absence of any financial or property interest of the auditor in the audited firm;

4) complying with relevant laws and regulations and avoiding any actions that discredit or may discredit the auditing profession?

14. What is the principle of auditor objectivity:

1) honest business and truthfulness ;

2) exclusion of bias, conflicts of interest, influence on the objectivity of the auditor's professional judgments;

3) in the absence of any financial or property interest of the auditor in the audited firm;

4) complying with relevant laws and regulations and avoiding any actions that discredit or may discredit the auditing profession?

15. The auditor is:

1) an individual with a higher professional education in the field of accounting and auditing;

2) an individual who meets the qualification requirements established by the authorized federal body and has an auditor's qualification certificate;

3) an individual with experience in the field of accounting and auditing;

4) an individual who has received qualification certificate auditor and is a member of one of the self-regulatory organizations of auditors.

16. An audit organization is:

1) a commercial organization that is a member of one of the self-regulatory organizations of auditors;

2) a non-profit organization that is a member of one of the self-regulatory organizations of auditors;

3) a commercial organization licensed to conduct auditing activities;

4) a non-profit organization licensed to conduct auditing activities.

17. Other audit-related services include:

1) development and analysis of investment projects, drawing up business plans;

2) management consulting, including related

reorganization of organizations or their privatization, agreed

procedures;

3) carrying out research and experimental work in areas related to audit activities, and disseminating their results, including on paper and electronic media, overview checks;

4) automation of accounting and implementation of information technologies, .

18. Audit, being a method of financial control: 1) in some cases it replaces state financial control; 2) does not replace state financial control;

3) can completely replace state control;

4) usually replaces state financial control.

19. Types of quality control of the work of audit organizations, auditors:

1) discontinuous and continuous;

2) obligatory and proactive; 3) internal and external;

4) long-term and short-term.

20. The term “audit scope” refers to audit procedures:

1) that are considered acceptable to achieve the audit objective in all circumstances;

2) deemed necessary to achieve the audit objective under the circumstances;

3) which are considered acceptable to achieve the audit objective under the circumstances;

4) deemed necessary to achieve the audit objective in all circumstances.

21. In what case is an individual recognized as an auditor:

1) from the date of making an entry about him in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities;

2) from the date of entering information about him in the register of auditors and audit organizations of the self-regulatory organization of auditors;

3) from the date of obtaining a license to conduct auditing activities; 4) from the date of receipt of the auditor's qualification certificate?

22. According to the type of execution of audit services, the audit is divided into: 1) audit of annual financial statements and special audit;

2) initial and recurring; 3) external and internal;

23. According to the frequency of implementation, the audit is divided into: 1) audit of annual financial statements and special audit; 2) initial and recurring;

3) external and internal;

4) obligatory and proactive.

24. Select the functions performed by self-regulatory organizations of auditors:

1) independent verification of the accounting (financial) statements of the audited entity in order to express an opinion on the reliability of such statements;

2) tax consulting, staging, restoration and maintenance of tax accounting, preparation of tax calculations and declarations;

3) maintaining a register of auditors and audit organizations, improving the qualifications of auditors and monitoring the quality of work of auditors and audit organizations that are members of self-regulatory organizations;

4) survey checks, compilation of financial information, automation of accounting and implementation of information technologies in the activities of self-regulatory organizations.

Workshop number 2

Parameter name	Meaning
Topic of the article:	Audit principles
Rubric (thematic category)	Audit

Rule (standard) No. 1 “Purpose and basic principles of the audit of financial (accounting) statements” (approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 696 of 23.09.2002, as amended on 07.10.2004) discloses the general principles of audit.

In carrying out his professional duties, the auditor should be guided by the norms established by the professional audit associations of which he is a member (professional standards), as well as by the following ethical principles:

‣‣‣ independence;

‣‣‣ objectivity;

‣‣‣ confidentiality;

‣‣‣ professional competence and integrity;

‣‣‣ use of methods of statistics and economic analysis;

‣‣‣ application of new information technologies;

‣‣‣ manifestation of professional skepticism.

Independence the auditor is conditioned by the fact that he is not an employee of a state institution, is not subordinate to the control and audit bodies and does not work under their control, complies with the standards of a professional audit association (association), does not have any property or personal interests in the audited enterprises (Art .12 of the Law "On Auditing Activity").

Objectivity provided with high professional training of the auditor, great practical experience, knowledge of the latest methodological literature.

Confidentiality- the most important requirement in the implementation of audit activities. The auditor should not provide any information to any body about the economic activities of the object he inspected. For the disclosure of the secrets of his clients, he must bear responsibility under the law, as well as moral, and if provided by the contract, then material responsibility.

The auditor must have an extremely important professional competence and integrity, take care of maintaining it at the proper level, comply with the requirements of regulatory documents. The auditor should not provide services to the client in those areas of the economy in which he does not have sufficient professional knowledge.

Using methods statistics and economic analysis allows you to organize the analysis of the checks carried out at a high scientific level, to obtain more objective and reliable data for decision-making.

Application new information technologies is mainly in the use of computer technology for the organization of audit activities. This also applies to checking and analyzing reporting, maintaining and restoring accounting.

The auditor, in the course of planning and performing the audit͵, must show professional skepticism and understand that there may be circumstances leading to a material misstatement of the financial (accounting) statements.

Demonstration of professional skepticism means that the auditor critically evaluates the weight of the audit evidence obtained and carefully examines audit evidence that conflicts with any documents or statements by management, or casts doubt on the reliability of such documents or statements. Professional skepticism should be exercised during the audit͵ so as not to lose sight of suspicious circumstances, not to make unwarranted generalizations when drawing conclusions, not to use erroneous assumptions in determining the nature, timing and extent of audit procedures, as well as in evaluating their results.

When planning and performing an audit, the auditor should not assume that the management of the auditee is dishonest, but should not assume that management is unconditionally honest. Oral and written representations from management are not a substitute for the auditor's imperative to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to draw reasonable conclusions on which to base the auditor's opinion.

It should be borne in mind that the concept of "reasonable assurance" defined by the same standard applies to the audit process as a whole. This concept is related to the limitations when auditors detect distortions of financial (accounting) statements.

Factors limiting the effectiveness of an audit include:

‣‣‣ applying procedures such as sampling and testing during the audit;

‣‣‣ imperfection of any accounting and control systems;

‣‣‣ Providing only arguments in support of a certain conclusion on the part of the overwhelming majority of audit evidence, and not forming a comprehensive opinion;

‣‣‣ the presence of professional judgment in audit work, incl. when determining the scope, focus and schedule of audit procedures, as well as when summarizing the results of the work performed.

6 The difference between audit and other forms of financial control: audit, forensic accounting

Audit is one of the forms of financial control and is carried out along with its other types: state financial control, audit, forensic accounting expertise.

State financial control by the decree of the President of the Russian Federation of July 25, 1996 No. 1095 "On Measures to Ensure State Financial Control in the Russian Federation" (as amended on July 18, 2001) is assigned to:

- the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation; Central Bank of the Russian Federation;

- Federal Treasury; Ministry of Finance of Russia; Federal Tax Service of Russia;

- State Customs Committee of the Russian Federation;

- Central Bank of the Russian Federation;

- other bodies exercising control over the receipt and expenditure of funds from the federal budget and federal extra-budgetary funds.

The methods of financial control are: documentary and desk audit, economic analysis, survey, audit. In the opinion of the absolute majority of experts, the first place belongs to the audit.

Revision is a system of mandatory control actions for documentary and actual verification of transactions with federal budget and state extra-budgetary funds, for the use of federal property and the implementation of financial and economic activities performed by the audited object in a certain period, as well as checking their reflection in accounting and reporting.

The purpose of the audit- determination of the legality, completeness and timeliness of mutual payments and settlements of the audited object and the federal budget͵ of the budgets of state extra-budgetary funds, as well as the effectiveness and targeted use of public funds.

Revision objects- all state bodies (including their offices) and institutions in the Russian Federation, state extra-budgetary funds, as well as local government bodies, enterprises, organizations, banks, insurance companies and other financial and credit institutions, unions, associations and other associations - entities (regardless of types and forms of ownership), if they receive, transfer and use funds from the federal budget or use federal property, or manage it, and also have tax, customs and other benefits provided by federal legislation or federal government authorities and benefits.

The main objectives of the audit are:

‣‣‣ exercising control over the observance of state financial discipline and the economical use of state funds;

‣‣‣ ensuring the safety of material and financial resources;

‣‣‣ correctness of accounting;

‣‣‣ suppression of economic offenses.

The auditor is appointed by the auditing organization and reports to it. She also pays for his work. Based on the results of the audit, an act is drawn up, on the basis of which organizational conclusions are made in relation to the management of the audited organization and its accounting staff͵ penalties are imposed.

Audit (audit activity) is an entrepreneurial activity for independent verification accounting and financial (accounting) statements of organizations and individual entrepreneurs (hereinafter referred to as audited entities).

The purpose of the audit- express an opinion:

‣‣‣ on the reliability of the financial (accounting) statements of the audited entities;

‣‣‣ on the compliance of the accounting procedure of audited entities with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Τᴀᴋᴎᴍ ᴏϬᴩᴀᴈᴏᴍ, audit is different from revision for a variety of reasons:

‣‣‣ by the purposes for which they are directed:

The audit identifies and fixes the shortcomings of the economic activity of the organization;

The audit not only reveals shortcomings, but also contributes to their elimination and punishment of those responsible;

‣‣‣ on legal regulation:

Relations in the field of audit are governed by civil law (on the basis of business contracts);

Revision relations are governed by administrative law (based on laws, orders);

‣‣‣ by objects of control:

The object of the audit is something that worsens the solvency of the organization, its financial condition;

The object of the audit is something that violates the legislation of the Russian Federation and the accounting policy of an organization (state);

‣‣‣ by type of management:

There are horizontal (voluntary) links in the audit;

During the audit - vertical (based on administrative order and coercion);

‣‣‣ on the practical tasks being solved:

An audit helps to attract new liabilities, as well as strengthen solvency;

The audit is aimed at preserving the assets of the organization, as well as suppressing various abuses (offenses);

‣‣‣ on the results achieved:

The audit compiles auditor's report as well as various recommendations for the auditee;

During revision - audit report are made organizational conclusions, penalties, mandatory instructions.

Audit is a method of exercising independent non-departmental control, but it does not replace the State Financial Control.

Although there are many differences between audit and revision, nevertheless, a number of auditing methods, techniques, approaches to verification can and should be rationally used in audit.

The difference between audit and forensic accounting is, in fact, that the SES is carried out by decision of the judicial authorities and is aimed at obtaining a source of evidence in the presence of a criminal or arbitration case.

The general provisions on forensic examination, enshrined in the Federal Law of 31.05.2001 No. 73-FZ "On State Forensic Expert Activity in the Russian Federation", apply to all types of forensic examinations, including forensic accounting.

Forensic examination- a procedural action, consisting of conducting research and preparing an opinion by an expert on issues, the resolution of which requires special knowledge in the field of science, technology, art or craft, and which are put before the expert by the court, judge, body of inquiry, person conducting the inquiry, investigator or a prosecutor in order to establish the circumstances to be proven in a particular case.

The specificity of forensic accounting is manifested, firstly, in the fact that it requires special knowledge in the field of accounting and related disciplines (economic analysis of economic activity, taxation, finance, audit, etc.), and, secondly, in the fact that the object of investigation and legal proceedings are business transactions reflected in documents or in accounting registers.

The legal basis for conducting forensic accounting expertise is the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Civil Procedure Code of the RSFSR, the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, the Customs Code of the Russian Federation, the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and other federal laws, as well as regulations of federal executive bodies.

Forensic accounting expertise does not belong to the number of mandatory examinations, but is appointed in case of extremely important. For each specific case, the person conducting the inquiry, the investigator and the court must resolve this issue on the basis of specific circumstances. In some cases stipulated by law, an examination must be ordered without fail (for example, if the results of the audit do not correspond to the materials of the investigation, if the disagreements are not resolved during the second audit, or if the accused disputes the results of the audit, stating that the auditor did not accept the documents for credit charged against him by the accused).

The audit acts as a service that is paid by the client, and which is performed using the norms of civil law, business contracts and is aimed at improving the financial situation of the client - attracting liabilities (investors, creditors), helping and advising the client.

Audit principles - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Audit Principles" 2017, 2018.