scholarly journals A Top-Down Approach to Identification and Documentation of Critical Accounting Application Controls

2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. A12-A20
Author(s):  
Jerry L. Turner
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Financial Data ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Flow Paths ◽  
Data Repositories ◽  
Critical Data ◽  
Reporting Process ◽  
Audit Approach

SUMMARY: PCAOB Auditing Standard No. 5 prescribes assessing internal controls over financial reporting using a “top-down” approach. This paper describes a method for documenting internal controls that aligns the documentation for application controls to the overall top-down audit approach. This method identifies critical data flow paths by beginning with the general ledger and tracing data backward (down) through the system to its origin, effectively focusing on the critical data repositories in the financial reporting process. It also directs attention to the processes that affect critical financial data and to where controls related to those processes should exist based on management assertions about financial statement account balances. The approach is both more efficient and effective than traditional bottom-up documentation approaches.

scholarly journals Integration of Internal Control and Financial Statement Audits: Are Two Audits Better than One?

2018 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori Shefchik Bhaskar ◽  
Joseph H. Schroeder ◽  
Marcy L. Shepardson
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Auditor Judgment ◽  
Public Company ◽  
Better Than

ABSTRACT The quality of financial statement (FS) audits integrated with audits of internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) depends upon the quality of ICFR information used in, and its integration into, FS audits. Recent research and PCAOB inspections find auditors underreport existing ICFR weaknesses and perform insufficient testing to address identified risks, suggesting integrated audits—in which substantial ICFR testing is required—may result in lower FS audit quality than FS-only audits. We compare a 2007–2013 sample of small U.S. public company firm-years receiving integrated audits (accelerated filers) to firm-years receiving FS-only audits (non-accelerated filers) and find integrated audits are associated with higher likelihood of material misstatements and discretionary accruals, consistent with lower FS audit quality. We also find evidence of (1) auditor judgment-based integration issues, and (2) low-quality ICFR audits harming FS audit quality. Overall, results suggest an important potential consequence of integrated audits is lower FS audit quality. Data Availability: Data are publicly available from the sources identified in the text.

PENERAPAN APLIKASI SAIBA UNTUK PENYUSUNAN LAPORAN KEUANGAN

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Arieffin Dian Permana
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Government Accounting ◽  
Reporting Process ◽  
Accrual Basis ◽  
The Government ◽  
Cash Basis

ABSTRACT Information technology (IT) have a great impact to all over environmental society, especially for bussines and accounting. Nowdays, information technology is already used in government sectors. Society are prosecute government sektors works efficiently and effectively to give a excellent public services, because the objectives of government sectors is to produce better pulic services. One of government sectors responsibility for society is to produce financial statement. Financial statement represent the performance of government sectors. Financial statement is arranged according to goverment standards and laws. Implementation of good governance in government sectors, makes a great revolution on government accounting basis. Prior the implementation of good governance, accounting basis for government sectors is a cash basis. Now the standards requires accrual basis to be used in addition to report financial statement. This differences makes a adjustments are needed on the government financial reporting process. Then, government launch SAIBA (Sistem Akuntansi Instansi Berbasis Accrual) to accommodate this conditions.  The writer main focussed is to describe the characteristic, advantages, and disadvantages of application but not how to this applications works. Keywords : Information Technology, Good Governance, SAIBA, Financial Statement, Cash Basis, Accrual Basis.

scholarly journals FAR Research Project: The effects of multiple team memberships on individual auditors' performance

2017 ◽  
Vol 91 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 282-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reggy Hooghiemstra ◽  
Floor Rink ◽  
Dennis Veltrop
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Crucial Importance ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Reporting Process

Auditing involves a process in which an engagement team, consisting of assistants, seniors, managers, and one or more audit partners, applies a series of sequentially performed procedures and decisions with the aim to collect sufficient competent evidence regarding the client's financial reporting process and financial statement assertions (e.g., Trotman, Bauer & Humphreys, 2015; Knechel, Vanstraelen & Zerni, 2015; Francis, 2011; Bik, 2010; Pierce & Sweeney, 2005). Teamwork, or how individuals within engagement teams carry out their work, is therefore of crucial importance for audit quality.

SOX 404(b) Audits: Evidence from Auditing the Financial Close Process of the Accounting System

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 77-103
Author(s):  
Diane J. Janvrin ◽  
Maureen Francis Mascha ◽  
Melvin A. Lamboy-Ruiz
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Accounting System ◽  
Audit Process ◽  
Financial Statement Audit ◽  
Multiple Method ◽  
Access Controls

ABSTRACT Auditing Standard No. 5 requires that auditors integrate their evaluation of large issuers' internal control over financial reporting (ICFR) into their financial statement audit process, but the PCAOB warns that auditors may not adequately test related manual and systems internal controls. We use a multiple method approach to examine how auditors evaluate one important component of ICFR, the financial close process, and whether they evaluate it differently when conducting a SOX 404(b) integrated versus a financial statement audit. Interviewees relied heavily on walkthroughs, and tended to perform only cursory reviews of entity-level controls related to the financial close process. In addition, they often failed to test the link between the general ledger and supporting systems, including evaluating related access controls. Financial statement-only auditors were more likely to re-perform key controls than rely on cursory walkthroughs. Auditors performing integrated audits appeared to over-rely on ICFR findings when conducting financial statement audits. Data Availability: Interview data are available from the first author. PCAOB inspection reports are publicly available.

The Joint Influence of the Extent and Nature of Audit Evidence, Materiality Thresholds, and Misstatement Type on Achieved Audit Risk

2012 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
David V. Budescu ◽  
Mark E. Peecher ◽  
Ira Solomon
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Audit Risk ◽  
Joint Influence ◽  
Materiality Thresholds ◽  
External Auditor ◽  
Audit Effectiveness

SUMMARY We use simulation to investigate the joint effects of materiality, evidence extent, evidence nature, and misstatement type on achieved audit risk, i.e., the risk of undetected material financial statement misstatement due to error or fraud. Our primary results are fourfold. First, contrary to conventional audit wisdom, we show that elevating the extent of testing decreases achieved audit risk only under certain conditions and may well increase it. Second, reducing materiality (attempting to perform a more precise audit) can either enhance or jeopardize audit effectiveness. Third, learning about the quality of the internal controls over financial reporting not only can help the auditor to perform an integrated audit, but also helps the auditor to reach better judgments about the extent to which and how evidence from the auditee organization's management and/or information systems may be distorted as a result of misstatement, reducing the risk that the auditor would be misled by such evidence. Fourth, when financial statements are biased intentionally due to fraud, it is especially important for the external auditor to supplement more traditional audit tests with tests that produce evidence that is less likely to be biased by management. Auditors who do not understand these four results run a heightened risk of compromising audit effectiveness.

scholarly journals Bringing Darkness to Light: The Influence of Auditor Quality and Audit Committee Expertise on the Timeliness of Financial Statement Restatement Disclosures

2012 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 221-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime Schmidt ◽  
Michael S. Wilkins
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Dark Period ◽  
Financial Data ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Big 4 ◽  
Auditor Quality ◽  
Financial Expertise

SUMMARY: This study investigates whether auditor quality and audit committee expertise are associated with improved financial reporting timeliness as measured by the duration of a financial statement restatement's “dark period.” The restatement dark period represents the length of time between a company's discovery that it will need to restate financial data and the subsequent disclosure of the restatement's effect on earnings. For a sample of dark restatements disclosed between 2004 and 2009, we find that companies that engage Big 4 auditors have shorter dark periods than companies that do not engage Big 4 auditors. We also find that companies with more financial experts on the audit committee have shorter dark periods, but only when such financial expertise relates specifically to accounting. Finally, companies with audit committee chairs that have accounting financial expertise provide the most timely disclosures, as the dark periods for these firms are reduced by approximately 38 percent. Our results suggest that both auditor and audit committee expertise are associated with the timely disclosure of restatement details. Data Availability: All data are publicly available from sources identified in the paper.

The Strategic Effects of Auditing Standard No. 5 in a Multi-Location Setting

2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyn R. Patterson ◽  
J. Reed Smith
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Private Information ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Control Strength ◽  
Financial Statement Audit ◽  
Financial Misstatement ◽  
Strategic Effects

SUMMARY Auditing Standard No. (AS) 5 provides guidance in the required audit of internal control over financial reporting and its integration into the financial statement audit. AS 5 advocates a “top-down” approach, in which control testing helps the auditor assess the risk of financial misstatement across multiple locations. We consider a manager who oversees two locations and who has private information about internal control strength in each location. Only when controls are weak can the manager commit fraud. We show how the manager's opportunity to commit fraud and informational characteristics of internal control tests impact the manager's probability choice of fraud and the auditor's choice of substantive test effort.

scholarly journals Discrepancies in Hospital Financial Information: Comparison of Financial Data in State Data Repositories and the Healthcare Cost Reporting Information System

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 19-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melvin A. Lamboy-Ruiz ◽  
Won G. No ◽  
Olena V. Watanabe
Keyword(s):  
Information Quality ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Financial Data ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Data Repositories ◽  
Computational Errors ◽  
Quality Dimensions ◽  
Missing Items

ABSTRACT High-quality financial data are important to stakeholders in the healthcare sector but are difficult to obtain. The two data sources most often used are hospital financial statements (HFSs) and Medicare Cost Reports (MCRs). Applying an analytical framework of data information quality dimensions, we compare a sample of 34,728 instances of 12 financial statement items extracted from HFSs and MCRs filed from 2007 through 2011. Our comparison shows a nontrivial frequency of missing items, widespread discrepancies across financial items, and a materiality of discrepancies that is significant in both sources. We also find many avoidable computational errors and significant absolute relative discrepancies between the sources. Additionally, we perform replications of two prior studies to test the believability of HFS and MCR data. Although we cannot conclude which source is more accurate, we do alert users of hospital financial data to the comparative potentials and limitations of these two major sources.

The Severity of Internal Controls over Financial Reporting Deficiencies: Differences among Types and Industries

2014 ◽  
pp. 55-77
Author(s):  
Tatiana Mazza ◽  
Stefano Azzali
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Service Industry ◽  
Listed Companies ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Service Companies ◽  
Finance Industry ◽  
Material Weaknesses ◽  
Fixed Assets

This study analyzes the severity of Internal Control over Financial Reporting deficiencies (Deficiencies, Significant Deficiencies and Material Weaknesses) in a sample of Italian listed companies, in the period 2007- 2012. Using proprietary data the severity of the deficiencies is tested for account-specific, entity level and information technology controls and for industries (manufacturing and services vs finance industries). The results on ICD severity is compared with one of the most frequent ICD (Acc_Period End/Accounting Policies): for account-specific, ICD in revenues, purchase, fixed assets and intangible, loans and insurance are more severe while ICD in Inventory are less severe. Differences in ICD severity have been found in the characteristic account: ICD in loan and insurance for finance industry and ICD in revenue, purchase for manufacturing and service industry are more severe. Finally, we found that ICD in entity level and information technology controls are less severe than account specific ICD in all industries. However, the results on entity level and information technology deficiencies could also mean that the importance of these types of control are under-evaluated by the manufacturing and service companies.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document