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The Effect Of Weak Internal Control On The Financial Audit Process And The Auditor 's Opinion Essay

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The purpose of this paper is to discuss whether having a strong vs. weak internal control would affect the financial audit process and the auditor’s opinion. As part of the audit process, auditors are required to understand and assess the strength of their client’s internal control environment even if they are not required to express an opinion in that regard. However, auditors are required to express an opinion on the internal control effectiveness and to disclose any material weaknesses. The existence of a strong internal control assures users of the reliability of information in an organization’s financial statements (Lehmann, 2010, p.741) and it helps auditors during their audit process as it reduces the amount of substantive testing they need to perform.
Understanding internal control components Whittington & Delaney (2011) stated the definition of internal control as published by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) as, a process-effected by an entity’s board of directors [those charged by governance], management, and other personnel- designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of objectives in the following categories: reliability of financial reporting, effectiveness and efficiency of operations, and compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
The reliability of financial reporting is most relevant to the audit while the other two categories may or may not be related depending on its materiality and

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