What is the greatest challenge an auditor faces?
Individual auditors often differ in the aspects of the career field that each considers extremely problematic. Interestingly, the reasons that auditors give for these dislikes fluctuate depending upon the level of education, experience, and in rare cases the weather on the day the individual was asked for his/her view on troublesome areas of the profession. Certainly, this is not uncommon in comparison with similar or related accounting and auditing career fields, in fact this is a common result amongst all professions. Incidentally, the same group of people had numerous aspects found to be favorable in the field which warranted further research on the subject matter and expanded the demographic to include accounting students. Although the majority of students feel the toughest challenge an auditor faces is the responsibility of issuing a report; alternately the crucial challenges for an auditor are the liabilities, and presentation of the opinions.
Reports an auditor can issue. Initially, defining the five types of reports an auditor has the option of issuing should assist in the comprehension of the severity of the tasks. Namely, the five are the unqualified or unmodified, modified, qualified, adverse opinion, and disclaimer reports; the definitions follow. (1) Unqualified/unmodified audit reports are defined as “clean audit reports, indicating the auditor’s opinion that a client’s financial statements are fairly presented
The Auditor, an instructional novella written by James K. Loebbecke, tells the story of Jack Butler, a man from the San Francisco Bay area, who goes to college, majors in accounting, and goes to work for a large accounting firm referred to as “The Firm.” The story is loosely based upon the real world experiences of the author, and is written to give students a look into the world of public accounting that goes beyond a textbook. The Auditor not only gives students a chance to follow Jack Butler’s journey up the company ladder at The Firm, but also reiterates the relative importance of conventional lessons learned in school.
The goal in the life of a college student is graduating and getting the dream job in the career field that is chosen. To achieve this goal takes more than just having the knowledge and heart for the career; it also takes technical skills to be able to perform the tasks. The Auditor: An Instructional Novella stretches beyond the standard textbooks to reveal the principles and practices of auditing as they are in the real world. The book consists of a few key aspects such as: targets students’ natural curiosity about the field of accounting, supports traditional teaching tools, shapes the potential challenges that awaits public accountants.
Auditor, an instructional novella written by James K. Loebbecke, tells the story of Jack Butler, a man from the San Francisco Bay area, who goes to college, majors in accounting, and goes to work for a large accounting firm referred to as “The Firm.” The story is loosely based upon the real world experiences of the author, and is written to give students a look into the world of public accounting that goes beyond a textbook. The Auditor not only gives students a chance to follow Jack Butler’s journey up the company ladder at The Firm, but also reiterates the relative importance of conventional lessons learned in school.
The auditor’s report is a major source of information that officially evaluations an entity's financial status. In conjunction with the auditor’s official evaluation of the entity’s financial status, the auditor provides an assessment of the firm’s monetary position and future. Auditors can provide four types of reports: unqualified opinion, qualified opinion, adverse opinion, and a disclaimer of an opinion. An unqualified opinion (clean report) which is issued in most cases expresses the opinion that financial statements are presented in accordance with general accepted accounting principles and is void of misrepresentations. The unqualified
If You Need Love, Get a Puppy: A Case Study on Professional Skepticism and Auditor Independence
Legitimacy in accounting practices is ensured by the check and balance of having independent auditors from registered public accountant firms reviewing financial practices. The report features eleven sections and these sections pertain to accounting overview, independence of auditors to reduce interest conflicts, corporate responsibility, financial disclosures, tax returns, criminal fraud and various elements of white collar criminal activity (107th Congress
Accountants are relied upon to be trustworthy and maintain high ethical standards. It is because of the nature of the profession that puts them in a position of trust with people who rely on their professional judgment and guidance in making decisions. These decisions are extremely important in accounting and more so that companies that have high ethical standard or main good ethical culture spend enormous time to train the staffs about the conduct that is expected of them.
On Sophomore Career Day I got the opportunity to better comprehend the accounting aspect and how it connect to a variety of career for instance real estate, supply chain management, and even leadership coaching. Accountancy is a great portion of a business because if it is based on numbers and rules that determine if a business is in line. I have been told that accounting is the safest routine in business because they will always be needed. Throughout the presentation I got to learn the insight of what it really means to be an accountant in distinct careers.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2014).Accountants and Auditors. Occupational Outlook Handbook (2014-15 ed.). Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/accountants-and-auditors.htm
It highlights the importance of auditors applying sensitive and ethical judgments in all their engagements. Members have the responsibility to collaborate with each other to improve the art of accounting, as well as to maintain the public’s confidence. The auditor’s responsibilities are essential to an effective audit process because through planning, auditors should to communicate with each other, be very organized and discuss what and how to do things in order to serve the public. One of the most important parts in auditing is planning, for that reason responsibility is a must.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes policies and procedures that pertain to the maintaining records accurately and fairly, provide reasonable assurance that the transactions are recorded according to the accepted accounting principles and the receipt and expenditures of the company being carried out with the authorization from management and directors of the company. The auditors also express an unqualified opinion for the consolidated financial statements which means that the auditor's opinion of the financial statement, was given without any reservations. Such an opinion basically states that the auditor feels the company followed all accounting principles appropriately and that the financial reports are an accurate representation of the company's financial condition.
As the investors and general public have had the chance to witness the response by public accounting, the audit profession has began its climb into becoming a prestigious profession again. Public accountants are once again perceived as the protector of the investors and general public by performing audits to gain reasonable assurance that the financial statements are fairly stated.
Accounting has become a more interesting and attractive position among the millennials due to the high demand in the industry after the Enron fraud scheme in the early 2000’s. It has also become a more interesting field due to the how the profession’s involvement and characteristics have changed since the incident as well. Accountants used to be known to be bean counters, characterised to be introverts, simply keeping track of companies’ financials. In recent years, there has been a shift from profession in which accountants
This frequently puts the auditor in the position, in effect, of deciding whether a company is able to obtain the funds it needs to continue operating. Thus, the auditor’s qualification tends to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. The auditor’s expression of uncertainty about the company’s ability to continue may contribute to making it a certainty.
Accounting is the language of business. It is a profession that is being guided by principles, concepts, conventions, laws, etc. All these fundamental building blocks serve as common and general compasses to all practitioners of the profession. In some cases, they are nation-wide tailored, while in other cases, they are universally tailored. Accounting as a living, practical, dynamic and realistic profession covers so many areas of social, economic (business), and governmental activities. Surely, any endeavour that involves monetary and material activities create a room for the services of Accounting. Many of the human endeavours for which the accounting profession plays significant (some times inevitable) roles include; Banking, Insurance, Manufacturing, Farming Contracting, Oil and Gas, Mining, Transportation (Air, Land and Sea), Educational Institutions, Churches, Ministries, ICT, Hire Purchase, Local Government Authorities, Estate Businesses, Export and Import Businesses, Bill of Exchange Transactions, Royalties Transactions, Consignment Transactions, Stock Market Transactions, Sports, Entertainment, Hospitals and Hospitality Industry, etc.