How to improve the quality of audit work

Making a good audit implementation plan can play its leading role in audit quality control, effectively control the whole audit process of each project, ensure the smooth progress of audit work and achieve the expected results. In order to improve audit quality, prevent audit risks and improve the standardization and scientific level of audit work, we must strengthen the quality control of audit scheme and give full play to its role. The audit plan should be scientifically compiled and seriously implemented.

I. Problems existing in the preparation and implementation of the audit implementation plan

(1) The pre-trial investigation is not thorough enough. Audit institutions and audit teams shall arrange appropriate personnel and time to conduct pre-trial investigation on the relevant situation of the audited entity according to the scale and nature of the audit project before compiling the audit implementation plan. The main problems in practice are as follows:

1. Insufficient preparation for pre-trial investigation. At present, the staff of grass-roots audit institutions lack mobility, and many auditors have been working in the same position for a long time and know more about the audited units, which leads some auditors to think that they are familiar with the units and projects that have been audited many times in recent years and there is no need to investigate. Before the pre-trial investigation, they had not fully collected the basic information related to the project, and their understanding of the project was limited to the contents of the plan provided by their superiors, and they could not collect the relevant information of the audited project in a targeted manner, resulting in a simple and extensive audit implementation plan.

2. Pre-trial investigation is stereotyped and a mere formality. Pre-trial investigation should be carried out in various ways, such as going to the audited entity to investigate the situation, conducting court hearings on the audited entity, consulting relevant materials, and visiting higher authorities, relevant regulatory authorities, organization and personnel departments and other relevant departments. However, in practice, auditors do not have a clear investigation implementation plan, and some just fill in the basic information form of the audited entity, making unreasonable arrangements for the investigation focus, the amount of audit funds and the scope of audit extension. There is no in-depth study on the audit objectives and methods required by different audit matters such as routine audit, special audit and benefit audit, so that the objectives in the audit implementation stage are unclear, the results of pre-trial investigation are not prominent and underutilized.

3. Ignoring the application of computer-aided audit in the pre-trial investigation stage. Auditors did not collect and convert the financial data and business data of the audited entity in the pre-trial investigation stage. Computer-aided audit is often used only when the audit team officially enters the site, which can not achieve the expected effect and is not conducive to finding suspicious clues and determining the focus of work.

(B) The audit implementation plan is not standardized.

The implementation plan is compiled on the basis of pre-trial investigation, so as to better guide the implementation of formal audit. Therefore, we should closely combine pre-trial investigation, clarify audit objectives and highlight audit priorities. However, the current audit implementation plan mainly has the following problems:

1. The implementation scheme is too simple to be instructive. The main reason is that the pre-trial investigation is not sufficient and thorough, and there is a lack of comprehensive understanding of the basic situation and possible main problems of the audited unit, which leads to copying the work plan, transplanting the previous model, copying the audit model, and even relying on experience, behind closed doors, without combining the actual situation of the audited project, lacking substantive content, not to mention the audit focus.

2. The implementation plan is too complicated and the focus is not prominent. Some auditors overemphasize the preparation process of audit implementation plan, fail to understand the main objectives of work plan and project plan, and take implementation plan as the audit operation guide. Every audit project is written in detail and pursued in all aspects. Although the formulation is comprehensive, it ignores the key points and is not easy to be targeted.

3. The determination of materiality level and audit risk assessment are not in place. Because this job is professional, and there are different evaluation methods for finance, finance, enterprises, administrative institutions and investment projects. Most audit teams failed to implement analytical review and internal control system evaluation according to the requirements of the standards, ignoring the determination of importance level and the evaluation of audit risk, and compiled the implementation plan only based on experience judgment, resulting in the determination of importance level of different projects and the same evaluation of audit risk.

(C) the implementation of the audit implementation plan is not serious enough.

1. The implementation of the audit implementation plan is inconsistent with the preparation. In audit practice, the implementation plan is often shelved after the formal start of the audit, and the auditors act entirely by experience and work in combination with the specific conditions of the audit site. Audit focus selection, division of labor, time arrangement and other aspects are in a state of improvisation, and sometimes even deviate from the theme, trying to pick up watermelon and sesame seeds. As a result, the focus is not prominent, the work is blind, and the set goals cannot be achieved well. The implementation plan is just a dead letter, and there is no real guidance and guidance. This phenomenon of disconnection between formulation and implementation is related to the uncertainty of the audited object and the flexibility of audit work, and also to the lack of focus, operability and guidance of the implementation plan, but the fundamental reason is that auditors, especially audit team leaders, have no awareness of implementing the plan.

2. Program adjustment is arbitrary. The implementation plan was compiled on the basis of pre-trial investigation. Compared with the formal audit process, there must be some new situations that have not been taken into account. The Audit Quality Control Measures also stipulates specific adjustment procedures, requiring the audit team to explain the reasons for the adjustment to the department heads and put forward adjustment opinions. General matters shall be implemented after the approval of the department heads, and important matters shall be implemented after the approval of the competent leaders of audit institutions. Under special circumstances, the audit implementation plan can be adjusted and implemented after verbally seeking the consent of the department head or the competent leader of the audit institution, and the examination and approval procedures can be handled in time at the end of the audit. However, in actual audit practice, auditors often adjust audit ideas, audit focuses, audit methods and audit division of labor at any time only according to the objective and actual situation of audit projects. The specific adjustment process and content were not reflected in the implementation plan in time, nor were they recorded in the audit diary. In the audit process, the implementation plan is basically ignored, and the plan will not be revised in time according to the procedural requirements and implemented seriously. The formulation and revision of the plan is out of touch with the actual audit work. Only after the audit, the implementation plan is adjusted according to the final audit report, without any approval procedures, and even the original plan is directly replaced by the adjusted audit implementation plan, making the audit implementation plan a mere formality. Some small projects even have the phenomenon of "reviewing before planning". The audit implementation plan is seriously lacking in seriousness.

Second, ways and means to improve the quality of audit projects

(1) Conduct in-depth and detailed pre-trial investigation.

First, take the pre-trial investigation seriously and avoid going through the motions. Pre-trial investigation and formal audit should be distinguished in procedure, but they should be treated equally in attitude. On the one hand, we must find out the overall situation, on the other hand, we must do it in depth and detail. In the pre-trial investigation stage, we should initially grasp the main problems existing in the audit project to lay a good foundation for improving the efficiency of formal implementation of the audit. Second, the proportion of workload used in pre-trial investigation in the whole audit project can be appropriately increased. Only by full pre-trial investigation can we make a practical and focused implementation plan; Third, it is necessary to closely combine the preparation of the implementation plan with the pre-trial investigation and highlight the audit focus. It is necessary to briefly and emphatically introduce the basic situation of the audited entity related to the audit objectives and audit matters, so that non-pre-trial investigators can see at a glance; It is also necessary to integrate the key issues, doubtful clues and the situation that should be paid attention to in the next step in the pre-trial investigation into the audit implementation plan, so as to form a direction that formal audit needs to focus on and be targeted.

We should give full play to the application of computer-aided audit in the pre-trial investigation stage. Auditors should not only understand the computer system of the audited object, but also understand the corresponding business processes, correspond the actual business situation with the data structure of the computer system, select the required data tables, and conduct accurate data collection, transformation and analysis, thus helping to find suspicious clues and determine the focus of work.

(two) the scientific preparation of the audit implementation plan, enhance the guidance of the audit implementation plan.

1. Reasonably determine the importance and audit risk. According to the requirements of audit quality control measures, we should learn the technical methods to determine the importance level and evaluate audit risks, overcome the traditional thinking mode, improve our understanding of the importance of avoiding audit risks, scientifically and reasonably determine the importance level and evaluate audit risks in the process of compiling audit implementation plans, and provide scientific basis for determining audit priorities and conducting audit sampling in the next step.

2. The implementation plan should highlight the key points. In order to effectively improve the guidance and operability of the audit implementation plan, we must correctly distinguish between "audit content" and "audit focus". "Audit content" is the requirement of completing "comprehensive audit", the need of mastering the overall situation of an audit project and preventing audit risks, and a step that needs to be completed in accordance with audit procedures in the audit process. Therefore, the scope of "audit content" is wider. When preparing the implementation plan, it can be determined around the main contents stipulated in the audit work plan, which can briefly reflect the contents of all links directly related to the realization of the audit objectives. All important audit matters must be guaranteed by clear and specific audit steps and methods, so as to effectively guide auditors to audit and minimize the blindness and randomness of audit. Not only what to investigate, but also how to investigate, so as to enhance the operability of the scheme.

3. Strictly review the audit implementation plan. All audit implementation plans shall be audited by department heads, full-time audit by the Legal Department, and audit by competent leaders. The audit implementation plan of important audit projects shall also be reviewed and approved by the audit business meeting of audit institutions. In the audit of these three levels, * * * pays attention to the following key control points: whether the pre-trial investigation is fully carried out and recorded; Whether the audit objectives are clear, specific and targeted; Whether the determination of materiality level and audit risk assessment are reasonable; Whether the audit content is specific; Whether the audit focus is outstanding; Whether the steps and methods of audit are clear; Whether the audit division of labor is reasonable and clear, and whether the responsibility lies with people.

4. Prepare the computer audit plan. In recent years, with the further development of audit work and the popularization of "golden audit project", the hardware facilities of audit departments have been greatly improved, and most audit institutions have reached the equipment of a notebook computer. We should make full use of these equipment resources to improve the efficiency of audit work. Computer audit should be carried out to improve the efficiency and quality of audit work, and a computer audit scheme should be studied and worked out.

(3) Strictly implement the audit implementation plan.

Any planned measures should focus on implementation. Even if a comprehensive and focused audit plan is formulated, it is meaningless if it is not carefully implemented in the formal audit process.

Once the implementation plan is formulated and approved, there is no special need for adjustment, so it should be strictly implemented in order to achieve the scheduled audit objectives within the prescribed time limit and avoid detours or getting caught in some irrelevant things. In the formal audit stage, the work should be carried out in strict accordance with the objectives, contents, key points, methods, steps and time arrangements determined in the audit plan. Of course, after all, the audit implementation plan was only formed on the basis of pre-trial investigation, and the work has not been fully rolled out in a short time. The determined audit focus is also predictive. However, the diversity and complexity of the audit environment determine that the audit work has great uncertainty, and we should constantly adjust our work ideas and priorities according to the actual situation of on-site audit. Therefore, in the formal audit work, the audit implementation plan must not be put aside as a decoration. The leader of the audit team should adjust the implementation plan in time according to the adjustment of the working ideas and priorities of the audit team and the prescribed procedures, and issue it to the members of the audit team in time after approval, so as to give full play to the role of the plan in highlighting the audit priorities and guiding the audit practice. The audit team leader should check the implementation of the audit plan on time and keep abreast of the completion progress of the audit project.

Through the above measures, we can really solve the "two skins" phenomenon in the implementation of audit implementation plan, so as to better play the "leading" role of audit implementation plan.