We are still working through how to perform an audit, step by step. We are on step 7 – the control risk assessment. To see previous posts on the steps of performing an audit, please see Steps 1-3 and Steps 4-6. The 14 Steps of Performing an Audit Receive vague audit assignment Gather information about audit […]
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Defining inherent risks: audit steps 4-6
Staying on track on an audit is mighty tough! Especially when you are using tools created by someone else who isn’t on your audit. Keep this list of the steps of performing an audit handy so that you know where you are and what you need to do next. The 14 Steps of Performing an […]
The Implementation Date of the 2018 Yellow Book is Near
The implementation date of the 2018 Yellow Book is near for performance auditors – audits beginning after July 1 this year! Check out this quote from the introductory letter of the 2018 Yellow Book: The 2018 revision of Government Auditing Standards is effective for financial audits, attestation engagements, and reviews of financial statements for periods […]
How to do an audit in 14 steps
Auditing can get complicated, especially when you are using audit tools developed by someone else. Sometimes you get so hung up in checking all the boxes and filling in all the blanks, that you lose sight of the big picture. Here is how to do an audit in 14 steps so that you know where […]
Audit Interview Skill: Listening
How can you learn anything if you are talking? My PawPaw always told his grandchildren that if our mouths were moving, we weren’t learning. If your mouth is moving, you aren’t conducting an audit interview; you are making a presentation! 90% of the sound should be coming from the interviewee, not you! Assess your audit […]
Focus on a narrow audit objective
The 2018 version of the Yellow Book mentions audit objectives 163 times in one chapter on performance audits! That tells me that objectives run the show! And you know, the broader your audit objective, the longer your audit becomes and the harder your audit report is to write. A few years ago, I created […]
Two Approaches to Audit Risk Assessment
I have always harbored a bit of uneasiness about auditing. It started on my very first audit. I remember being 23 years old, walking in to a client’s office, asking questions, and then passing judgment on their systems and procedures. What a precarious place for me to be. How could I, an outsider, quickly understand […]
The elements of an audit finding
The elements of an audit finding are so core to planning, performing, and reporting on an audit, one newsletter can only scratch the surface on all that needs to be said! In this newsletter, we will just get a sense of what the elements of an audit finding are. What are the elements of a […]
Audit Report Writing Tip: The Three Stages of Editing
The editing hierarchy for audit reports When I first began my role as editor of audit reports in a large audit office, I edited in the silliest way possible. I wasted so much time and caused so much animosity, it is surprising they kept me on the payroll. Here is what I would do: I […]