Auditing

“ Of all the follies the greatest is that, which formerly was practised and is still continued in some great families, that of having some considerable lawyer or some eminent man of business at a considerable salary to audit your accounts. There is a family whose fortune was entirely made by the father's auditing the accounts of different estates, which many of the owners were infinitely more capable of auditing. ”

“ The corporation shall have an annual independent audit made of its financial statements by an independent public accountant in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. `` (2) In conducting an audit under this subsection, the independent public accountant shall determine and report on whether the financial statements of the corporation (A) are presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and (B) to the extent determined necessary by the Director, comply with any disclosure requirements imposed under subsection (k) (2) (B) . ”

“ The average audit consists of counting the cash and seeing if the vouchers to the cash account are correct, but a proper audit is something different. The Council should expect, as a result of the audit, a clear statement of the status of the Exchange together with recommendations for improvement and reports of any irregularities, etc. An auditing officer who spends his time finding out whether or not the books contain any mistakes in addition is not performing his proper functions as auditor. ”

“ A decision or action taken by the auditing Party as a result of the audit shall be supported by objective evidence and data that can be verified, taking into account the auditing Party’s knowledge of, relevant experience with, and confidence in, the audited Party. ”

“ The term `generally accepted government auditing standards' means the generally accepted government auditing standards of the Comptroller General of the United States. " (5) The term `numeric materiality standard' means a dollar amount of misstatements, including omissions, contained in an incurred cost audit that would be material if the misstatements, individually or in the aggregate, could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of the Government made on the basis of the incurred cost audit. ”

“ Annual report Not later than March 31 of each year, the Librarian of Congress shall prepare and submit to Congress an audited financial statement for the revolving fund for the preceding fiscal year. The audit shall be conducted in accordance with Government Auditing Standards for financial audits issued by the Comptroller General of the United States. ”

“ In practically all European countries there is a department of the administration, charged with the auditing of the public accounts, as the cour des comptes in France, the Rechnungshof des deutschen Reiches in Germany, &c. All local boards, large cities, corporations, and other bodies have official auditors for the purpose of examining and checking their accounts and looking after their expenditure. ”

“ In 1961 the current billing and concurrent audit procedure was developed and authorized. This concept permitted those States using electronic data processing equipment to make a single consolidated monthly claim for reimbursement of the Federal share of all project earnings. Under this procedure, BPR auditors utilized a “system audit” or concurrent audit concept in lieu of a voucher and record audit. It constituted an audit of the State’s total accounting system, including the flow of source data and the State’s own auditing processes rather than an audit of individual projects. ”

“ No bank shall appoint the same auditor continuously for a period of more than 5 years
without an exemption granted by the CBI.
5. In accordance with internationally-recognized auditing standards and any standards issued
by regulation of the CBI, the auditor shall audit the bank’s operations on a consolidated basis
and:
a. issue a statement to the bank indicating whether the auditor or any member of the
audit firm: (i) holds an ownership interest in the bank; and (ii) complies with the
provision of paragraph (3) ”

“ This auditing of checks thus provides a positive check upon the amount of cash received by each individual cashier, furnishes an accurate account of the exact amount of business done by each department, and the total daily business done by the house, besides showing the exact amount of goods sold by each [Pg 59] individual salesperson, which may be made use of to estimate their value as compared with each other, and largely governs the individual wages paid. ”

“ The state examiner who has not discovered many an old-fashioned county where many such illegal payments have been made is rare indeed.
But such post-mortem checking of illegal payments is, for the most part, but a sad business. Modern standards of auditing organization and practice aim to insure more completely that the authority for payment shall be established before payment. The auditor should certainly be wholly independent of the disbursing officer and some authorities would also insist, of the appropriating body. ”

“ The Auditor-General shall audit and report on all the accounts and financial statements of any local government, board, fund, institution, company, corporation or other organisation established or constituted by or under any law and of which the accounts and financial statements are required in terms of a law to be audited by the Auditor-General, and the accounts and financial statements of all persons in the employment of such a body who have been entrusted by it with its assets, or any other assets. ”

“ The representative of the General Accounting Office shall have access to all books, accounts, records, reports, files, and all other papers, things, or property belonging to or in use by the Corporation pertaining to its financial transactions and necessary to facilitate the audit, and they shall be afforded full facilities for verifying transactions with the balances or securities held by depositories, fiscal agents, and custodians. All such books, accounts, records, reports, files, papers and property of the corporation shall remain in possession and custody of the Corporation. ”

“ Article 39
⁠Where an audit institution considers that the rules made by a competent organ or entity at a higher level governing the relevant revenue and expenditure, which are followed by an auditee, are against the laws or administrative regulations, the audit institution shall recommend the relevant organ or entity to revise such rules. If the said organ or entity fails to do so, the audit institution shall refer the matter to the organ or entity with the authority over such matters to handle it in accordance with law. ”

“ There is a double process of audit by means of a special Audit Department of the Civil Service, which is, of course, a part of the permanent organization of the administration, having it in charge "to examine the accounts and vouchers of the entire expenditure," and a special committee nominated each year by the House "to audit the Audit Department." This committee is usually made up of the most experienced business men in the Commons, and before it "all the accounts of the completed financial year are passed in review." ”

“ Yet, as an honest man, I am bound to say that I believe it's a grievous sin to hide anything from my fellow-citizens; therefore say that it's my private opinion, publicly expressed, that I'll make the best auditor ever in the United States. 'Tis not for honour I wish to be auditor; for in my own county I was offered an office that was all honour—coroner, which I respectfully declined. The auditor's office is worth some 5000 dollars a year, and I am in for it like a thousand of brick. To shew my goodness of heart, I'll make this offer to my competitor. ”

“ Before each audit the auditor gives notice of the time and place appointed, and the council publish the appointment by advertisement. A copy of the accounts has to be deposited for public inspection for seven days before the audit. The auditor has the fullest powers of investigation; he may require the production of any books or papers, and he may require the attendance before him of any person accountable. ”

“ The Auditor shall make an annual report on the regularity of the accounting operations and of the financial management of the various institutions. He shall make this report within six months following the end of the fiscal year to which the accounts pertain, and shall communicate it to the Commission of Presidents. ”

“ He occupies the position of auditor and is the real systematizer of the business. He creates all systems of commercial accounting, cost accounting, departmental records, time keeping, and pay rolls, reports of superintendent, perpetual inventory, sales statistics, and, in fact, all records of the business. He prepares all balance sheets, comparative statements, trading, manufacturing, and profit and loss statements, and reports to the general manager or executive committee, or both, on the condition of finances, materials, and finished goods. ”

“ In these circumstances, in the cases of large concerns with wide ramifications and numerous transactions, it is necessary that auditors should have the help of trained assistants, and thus the personal examination of details by the auditor himself is, to a large extent, rendered unnecessary and the cost of audit materially reduced. ”

“ The audit of expenditure shall be carried out on the basis both of commitments undertaken and payments made. These audits may be carried out before the closure of accounts for the financial year in question. 3. The audit shall be based on records and, if necessary, performed on the spot in other institutions of the Community and in the Member States. In the Member States the audit shall be carried out in liaison with the national audit bodies or, if these do not have the necessary powers, with the competent national departments. ”

“ With each report of the auditor is a 'statement of differences,' purporting to show in what particulars the amount stated by the auditor differs from that rendered by the collector. It begins by setting down 'the balance due the United States per his account ending' at such date, and this balance is increased by the addition of such sums as the collector has taken credit for, but which the auditor has refused to allow. ”

“ For this purpose, the Parliament elects the State auditors from among its members. (2) An independent body, the State Audit Office, exists to audit the financial management of the State and compliance with the budget. More detailed provisions on the duties of the State Audit Office are laid down by an Act. (3) The State auditors and the State Audit Office have the right to receive information needed for the performance of their duties from public authorities and other entities that are subject to their control. ”

“ If at the centers of management there is a running audit, which makes work intelligible to those who do it, and those who superintend it, issues when they arise are not the mere collisions of the blind. ”

“ The Public Auditor shall be free from any control or influence by any person or organization.The Public Auditor shall inspect and audit accounts in every branch, department, agency, or statutory authority of the national government, and in all other public legal entities or nonprofit organizations receiving public funds from the national government. ”

“ Why, the accounting department is going to be absorbed by the operating department. From the ashes of the ruins there will arise a department of inspection or efficiency which will do the things that the so-called auditors are now helpless to accomplish. Some of the men in this new department will be recruited from the earnest officials and clerks of the accounting department of to-day. These men fail to attain the result they so loyally desire, not from their own limitations, but from the fallacy of the system under which they work. ”

“ Five members of the Society are annually elected auditors, who are by their office to inspect every transaction of the Society, to examine all vouchers for receipts and payments, and upon oath to lay before the quarterly and annual general courts, the quarterly and annual accounts of the Society: and on the day before the holding each court of directors, the auditors are to state and enter in the directors minute book a balance of the cash of the Society. ”

“ In Britain the public accounts are audited by the Exchequer and Audit Department, Somerset House, at the head of it being a comptroller and auditor-general, and an assistant-comptroller and auditor, with a large staff of clerks. In Scotland there is an auditor attached to the Court of Session appointed to tax costs in litigation. ”

“ The auditor general upon direction by the legislature may employ independent accounting firms or legal counsel and may make investigations pertinent to the conduct of audits. He shall report annually to the legislature and to the governor and at such other times as he deems necessary or as required by the legislature. ”

“ The efficiency, in most cases, of audits conducted by skilled accountants has led the public to attach exceptional value to their audit certificates, and to demand extensive knowledge and ability in the conduct of the audit of the accounts of public companies. ”

“ The accounts of local boards, poor-law unions, &c., must be passed in a similar manner by an official auditor. It is the duty of the auditor to disallow all illegal payments, and surcharge them upon the person making or authorising them ; but such disallow ances may be removed by ccrtiorari into the Court of Queen s Bench, or an appeal may be made to the local Government Board. In municipal corporations two burgesses must be chosen annually as auditors of the accounts. ”