Auditing activities. Types of audit, etc. The amount of monetary remuneration of the auditor is determined

Audits are carried out by independent organizations and private auditors. They contain several mandatory stages, including collection, analysis and evaluation of the information received. And this, in turn, helps to increase the efficiency of the company, the tax and administrative security of the organization, and, as a result, stabilize its financial position.

Auditing activity is the provision of financial audit services and related services; such activities can be carried out by associations of auditors, private specialists - Law of December 30, 2008 No. 307-FZ “On Auditing Activities”, Article 1, Clause 2.

For the positive dynamics of the enterprise, audits should be periodically carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of its management and the correct distribution of internal resources and material resources. One of the most common methods of collecting information and analyzing disparate information about the work of an organization is to carry out financial audits.

The very concept of “audit” means a verification of reporting, which is completely independent and examines all the internal processes of the organization, manufactured products and projects. By definition of the law, such an audit is called accounting or financial (No. 307-FZ, Art. 1, clause 3; N 402-FZ).

The auditor carrying out the inspection expresses his opinion based on its results. Audit reporting must be documented and constitute an audit report.

Regulation in Russia

The main official document establishing audit standards in the Russian Federation is Law 307-FZ “On Auditing Activities”. It provides a comprehensive definition of audit, audit organization, rights, duties, responsibilities, and also discloses the conditions for certification and obtaining the right to operate.

It also defines the bodies that are obliged to control such companies and monitor their compliance with the law of the Russian Federation. Such bodies include:

Ministry of Finance;
accredited self-regulatory organizations (SROs).

The Ministry of Finance has several departments, between which the areas of control over financial reporting are distributed:

Department for regulation of state control of auditing and accounting activities. This institution carries out rule-making work, registration and accounting of auditors, SROs, etc.
Audit Council: this body reviews draft laws, makes proposals, and controls quality. This institution acts as an expert and analyst (Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 29, 2009 N 146n (as amended on July 26, 2017) “On the creation of an audit council and its working body”).
A special working body under the Council to manage document flow and make decisions.

As you can see, government regulation in this area is carried out at several levels.

Who can engage in auditing activities

Individuals (private specialists) and legal entities (firms) have the right to carry out financial inspections (audits) on the territory of the Russian Federation. In this case, legal entities are called firms, regardless of the type of ownership.

Firms can be of domestic or foreign origin. Joint activities of Russian organizations with individuals, legal entities of other states and domestic companies are allowed. They are registered as organizations for audit purposes.

When creating, they can choose almost any type of organizational and legal form, but they cannot register as an OJSC.

How to become an auditor

In order to obtain the status of an independent auditor, an applicant will need the following grounds:

Higher specialized education from an accredited educational institution.
Work experience in the specialty. In this case, education can be in a related profession, but in this case, work experience must be at least three years, and it must be worked in an audit company.
Passing a special exam of the Ministry of Finance.

The exam is conducted by special educational institutions included in the register of the Ministry of Finance. It consists of testing, written work, and oral questioning. The candidate being examined is required to score a certain number of points at each stage.

The entire procedure takes no more than three working days. The results of submitted work are sent for verification to the Ministry of Finance. If the exam result is positive, certificates are issued, but they have established validity periods, that is, they need to be periodically updated and extended.

What is an audit organization

An audit organization is a commercial association that carries out audits and provides related services.

Inspection associations primarily cover the private economic sector. They work on a reimbursable basis after the conclusion of the contract. However, the verification process can be carried out at the request of any customer who has signed an agreement with the organization.

The firm's clients can be individuals and legal entities. If during the audit of control objects the company discovers violations of the law, then it is obliged to inform the customer about this, as well as warn about possible punishment.

Rights and obligations

The rights and obligations of firms and private auditors are determined by Art. 13 of Law 307-FZ. Auditors have the right :

choose the form and methodology of the audit;
carry out an inventory, obtain information in full;
demand the elimination of shortcomings in accounting and reporting;
receive information from third parties, involve government agencies for this in certain cases;
involve other companies, private auditors, and other specialists in the audit on a contractual basis;
refuse an inspection if the necessary documentation is not available or if there is a safety hazard;
receive monetary compensation for work performed;
other rights that arise from the very essence of the provision of services, but do not contradict the law.

In addition to the rights when conducting financial audits, individuals and companies that carry them out are subject to obligations established by law. The main ones include:

carrying out an audit in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation and Federal Law No. 307;
at the request of the employer, confirm claims to documentation with laws;
carrying out inspections within the time limits specified in the inspection agreement, timely transfer of the conclusion on the results to the customer;
non-disclosure of confidential information, except in cases prescribed by law, ensuring the safety of documentation.

In the absence of a license, as well as in the presence of family, financial, and official connections between the members of the company and the customer, the company is obliged to refuse to check it.

If the help of other employees is required, for example, due to a high volume of work, and an agreement with the customer has already been signed, the company management is obliged to inform him about this.

Purpose and types

The main purpose of a financial inspection is to collect objective, real, accurate information about the object under investigation. An analysis of existing shortcomings is also carried out, preparation for an audit by government bodies is carried out. The private economic sector conducts such an inspection in order to identify unscrupulous team members, optimize work, and analyze employee performance.

A financial audit helps to establish the correctness of the balance sheet, loss report, profit, and the reliability of the explanatory note data. The main objectives of the audit are:

analytics of work and economic condition;
calculation of work optimization;
development of an activity plan;
establishing accounting rules.

Based on the nature of their activities, audit companies are divided into the following categories:

general – this is an audit of the entire structure of the enterprise;
banking;
insurance audit;
exchange audit;
investment – research into the feasibility of planned cash investments;
audit of extra-budgetary funds.

Methods and standards

When methods and techniques are meant, they mean tactics or a system of actions used for financial verification. In general, audit methods can be divided into two areas:

organization of audit;
obtaining evidence.

The audit organization, in turn, is divided into the following verification methods:

continuous – this is a thorough study of all primary documentation and reporting;
selective is a type of incomplete observation;
mixed - a combination of continuous and random checks;
documentary – this is the establishment of the presence of certain papers and the correctness of their execution;
actual is an inventory of valuables and stock balances (goods, raw materials and supplies).

Evidence for drawing conclusions about the state of affairs is obtained using:

request (search for information from persons who have it, located inside or outside the object under study);
confirmations (response to a request for information from accounting documentation);
recalculation (examination of source documents, as well as accounting records for correctness);
observation (monitoring a process or procedure performed by others);
analytical procedures (information analytics), etc.

The methods of financial audit are described in more detail in the minutes of the Council under the Ministry of Finance No. 41 dated December 22, 2005. Each company applies methods at its own discretion.

Auditing standards are unified algorithms that all employees in this field are required to adhere to during their work. They are used to train employees within the organization and to protect the company’s interests in court.

There are four groups of standards:

national;
internal – regulate the work of the team within one company;
international.

The standards, as well as their classification, are described in detail in Article 7 of Law 307-FZ and the Accounting Law 402-FZ.

In the field of auditing, standards are very important. They regulate the behavior of the auditor in specific situations. Their execution guarantees high quality audits. They contribute to the inclusion of scientific achievements and new technologies in employee practice.

The procedure for conducting the inspection and reporting the results

To obtain accurate financial reporting information, proper planning of the process is required. Therefore, the audit is divided into stages, carried out strictly in order:

Preparatory – collection and analysis of information about the employer, determination of the scope of the inspection, areas of activity, etc.
Planning – developing an inspection plan.
Carrying out – collecting papers, studying document flow.
The audit report is an assessment of the correctness of the documentation. It can be unmodified (no comments), modified (defects found).

benefits lost by the employer due to erroneous actions of the auditor;
additional costs (legal costs, costs of additional inspection).

The grounds for the administrative responsibility of the auditor are:

false documents, thanks to which the right to work was obtained;
constant disregard for the requirements of the license conditions;
illegality of issuing a license.

Administrative punishment for companies is expressed in the deprivation of a license or its suspension. Carrying out activities without this document is prohibited. Violation of this type will entail a fine in accordance with Art. 14.1 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

The period of license suspension cannot exceed 6 months, and the decision is communicated to the company three days before entry. If claims are not resolved within the required period, the license will be revoked.

Criminal liability arises for the disclosure of confidential information by private auditors and abuse of power for the purpose of obtaining benefits, Art. 202 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The punishment may be as follows.

When disclosing secret information for the purpose of obtaining benefit or causing harm, a private specialist may receive:

monetary penalty – it is calculated based on subsistence minimums;
arrest up to 6 months;
restriction of freedom for up to 3 years (with a ban on work in this area for another three years).

If the crime is repeated, the punishment will be increased:

monetary penalty – the amount of payment increases;
arrest up to 5 years with disqualification.

The financial review specialist, in performing his functions, must be responsible for all aspects of his own activities. He is responsible for the timeliness and quality of services.

More details about conducting inspections of different types of companies are described in the story.

Auditor independence is one of the audit principles, which consists in the mandatory absence of the auditor, when forming his opinion, from a financial, property, related or any other interest in the audited economic entity, exceeding the relationship under the contract for the provision of audit services, as well as any dependence on third party, owners or managers of the audit organization in which the auditor works.

Requirements for the auditor in terms of ensuring independence and the criteria for determining that the auditor is not dependent are regulated by the regulatory framework of auditing activities.

In particular, according to Article 8 of the Federal Law “On Auditing Activities” dated December 31, 2008 No. 307-FZ, the following criteria for the independence of audit organizations and auditors are regulated:

1. Audit cannot be carried out:

1) audit organizations, the managers and other officials of which are the founders (participants) of the audited entities, their officials, accountants and other persons responsible for organizing and maintaining accounting records and drawing up accounting (financial) statements;

2) audit organizations whose managers and other officials are closely related (parents, spouses, brothers, sisters, children, as well as brothers, sisters, parents and children of spouses) with the founders (participants) of the audited entities, their officials, accountants and other persons responsible for organizing and maintaining accounting records and preparing accounting (financial) statements;

3) audit organizations in relation to audited entities that are their founders (participants), in relation to audited entities for which these audit organizations are founders (participants), in relation to subsidiaries, branches and representative offices of the specified audited entities, as well as in relation to organizations, having founders (participants) in common with this audit organization;

4) audit organizations, individual auditors, who, during the three years immediately preceding the audit, provided services for the restoration and maintenance of accounting, as well as for the preparation of accounting (financial) statements to individuals and legal entities, in relation to these persons;

5) auditors who are the founders (participants) of the audited entities, their managers, accountants and other persons responsible for organizing and maintaining accounting records and preparing accounting (financial) statements;

6) auditors who are closely related to the founders (participants) of the audited entities, their officials, accountants and other persons responsible for organizing and maintaining accounting records and drawing up accounting (financial) statements (parents, spouses, brothers, sisters, children, as well as brothers, sisters, parents and children of spouses).

2. The procedure for payment and the amount of monetary remuneration to audit organizations,individual auditors for conducting an audit(including mandatory) and the provision of related services is determined by contracts for the provision of audit services and cannot be made dependent on the fulfillment of any requirements of the audited entities regarding the content of conclusions that can be drawn as a result of the audit.

3. Auditing organizations and individual auditors do not have the right to carry out actions that entail a conflict of interest or create a threat of such a conflict.For the purposes of this Federal Law, a conflict of interest is understood as a situation in which the interest of an audit organization or an individual auditor may influence the opinion of such an audit organization or individual auditor about the reliability of the accounting (financial) statements of the audited entity. Cases where an audit organization or individual auditor has an interest that leads or may lead to a conflict of interest, as well as measures to prevent or resolve conflicts of interest are established by the code of professional ethics for auditors.

In addition, paragraph 8.2 of Section 8 of the Code of Ethics for Auditors of Russia, approved by the Council on Auditing Activities under the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation (Minutes No. 56 dated May 31, 2007), stipulates that the Auditor providing audit services must be independent of the Client for the audit.When providing services, independence of thought and behavior are requiredthat enable the auditor to express an impartial opinion without conflict of interest or negative influence from others; and, moreover, express it in such a way that there is no doubt about its objectivity from the outside.

Section 9 of the Russian Code of Ethics for Auditors provides specific rules for maintaining the independence of auditors when performing an audit engagement.

The concept of independence implies independence of thought and independence of behavior.

Independent thinking is a way of thinking that allows the expression of an opinion that is independent of the influence of factors that could compromise it, and allows the auditor to act with integrity, objectivity and professional skepticism.

Independence of conduct is a course of conduct that avoids facts and circumstances that are so significant that a reasonable and well-informed third party, having all the necessary information, including the precautions applied, could reasonably believe that honesty, integrity or professionalism skepticism of the audit organization or member of the audit team has been compromised.

Using the concept of “independence” without filling it with specific content can lead to a misunderstanding of it. If this concept is used out of context, an outside observer may conclude that the person making the professional judgment should be completely free from all economic, financial and other connections. This is impossible, since each member of society is connected by relationships with others. Consequently, the materiality of economic, financial and other relationships must be assessed in the light of what a reasonable and informed third party, having all the necessary information, would reasonably consider unacceptable.

In practice, many situations and combinations of circumstances may occur. Accordingly, it is impossible to describe all possible situations that create threats to independence and determine the necessary countermeasures. In addition, the nature of the audit task may change, creating different threats that require different precautions. Such a conceptual model, which requires audit organizations and audit team members to identify, assess and respond to threats to independence rather than simply following an established set of rules that may be arbitrary, is in the public interest.

Members of inspection teams and employees of audit organizations must apply the model of behavior of the auditor and the audit organization to the specific circumstances under consideration. In addition, in addition to determining the nature of the relationship between employees of the audit organization, members of the audit team and the audit client, it is necessary to consider whether the relationship between persons not included in the audit team and the client may also pose a threat to independence.

Accordingly, it is not enough for a member of the audit team or an employee of the audit organization to simply follow the examples presented, but it is necessary to apply this model directly to the circumstances of the current work.

The nature of the threats to independence and the corresponding safeguards applied to eliminate the threat or reduce it to an acceptable level differs due to the nature of the specific assurance engagement, depending on whether the engagement is an audit engagement to review financial statements or another type of audit engagement. checking the reliability of financial information; and, in addition, in the latter case, also depends on the purpose of the audit, information about the subject of the audit and the intended users of the final report.

Consequently, when considering the acceptance or continuation of an engagement, the safeguards required, or whether a particular individual is a member of the engagement team, the firm must evaluate all surrounding circumstances, the nature of the engagement, and threats to independence.

1. An audit cannot be carried out:

1) audit organizations, the managers and other officials of which are the founders (participants) of the audited entity, its director, chief accountant or other official entrusted with accounting, including the preparation of accounting (financial) statements;

2) audit organizations whose managers and other officials are close relatives (parents, brothers, sisters, children), as well as spouses, parents and children of spouses of the founders (participants) of the audited entity, its manager, chief accountant or other official, on which is entrusted with maintaining accounting records, including the preparation of accounting (financial) statements;
(Clause as amended, entered into force on December 2, 2014 by Federal Law of December 1, 2014 N 403-FZ.

5) auditors who are the founders (participants) of the audited entity, its director, chief accountant or other official entrusted with accounting, including the preparation of accounting (financial) statements;
(Clause as amended, entered into force on December 2, 2014 by Federal Law of December 1, 2014 N 403-FZ.

6) auditors who are the founders (participants) of the audited entity, its managers, chief accountant or other official entrusted with accounting, including the preparation of accounting (financial) statements, close relatives (parents, brothers, sisters, children) , as well as spouses, parents and children of spouses;
(Clause as amended, entered into force on December 2, 2014 by Federal Law of December 1, 2014 N 403-FZ.

7) audit organizations in relation to audited entities that are insurance organizations with which liability insurance contracts have been concluded for these audit organizations (the clause was additionally included from July 6, 2010 by Federal Law of July 1, 2010 N 136-FZ).

8) audit organizations, individual auditors in relation to the accounting (financial) statements of audited entities that are credit organizations, with which they have entered into loan agreements or guarantee agreements, or by which they have been issued a bank guarantee, or with which such agreements have been concluded by the heads of these audit organizations, or with whom such agreements are concluded on conditions significantly different from the terms of similar transactions, by persons who are close relatives (parents, brothers, sisters, children), as well as spouses, parents and children of spouses of the heads of these audit organizations, individual auditors, or if the specified persons are beneficiaries under such agreements;

9) employees of audit organizations who are members of audit teams, the audited entities of which are credit organizations, with which they have entered into loan agreements or guarantee agreements on terms that are significantly different from the terms of similar transactions, or who have received bank guarantees from these credit organizations, or with whom such agreements are concluded by persons who are close relatives (parents, brothers, sisters, children), as well as spouses, parents and children of auditors’ spouses, or if these persons are beneficiaries under such agreements.
(The paragraph was additionally included from December 2, 2014 by Federal Law of December 1, 2014 N 403-FZ)

2. The procedure for payment and the amount of monetary remuneration to audit organizations, individual auditors for conducting an audit (including mandatory) and providing related services are determined by contracts for the provision of audit services and cannot be made dependent on the fulfillment of any requirements of the audited entities for the content of conclusions that can be drawn as a result of the audit.

2_1. Each self-regulatory organization of auditors adopts rules for the independence of auditors and audit organizations approved by the audit council. A self-regulatory organization of auditors has the right to include additional requirements in the rules of independence of auditors and audit organizations it adopts (part additionally included from July 6, 2010 by Federal Law of July 1, 2010 N 136-FZ).

3. Auditing organizations and individual auditors do not have the right to carry out actions that entail a conflict of interest or create a threat of such a conflict. For the purposes of this Federal Law, a conflict of interest is understood as a situation in which the interest of an audit organization or an individual auditor may influence the opinion of such an audit organization or individual auditor about the reliability of the accounting (financial) statements of the audited entity. Cases where an audit organization or individual auditor has an interest that leads or may lead to a conflict of interest, as well as measures to prevent or resolve conflicts of interest are established by the code of professional ethics for auditors.

Auditor independence is one of the audit principles, which consists in the mandatory absence, when forming the auditor’s opinion, of his financial, property, related or any other interest in the audited entity, exceeding the contractual relationship for the provision of audit services, as well as any dependence on a third party: owners or managers of the audit organization in which the auditor works. In the report or other document resulting from the professional services rendered, the auditor must consciously and without any reservation declare his independence in relation to the client, both in formal and factual circumstances.

Requirements for the auditor in terms of ensuring independence and the criteria defining it are regulated by the regulatory framework of auditing activities.

In accordance with Art. 8 of the Law on Auditing Activities, an audit cannot be carried out:

1) audit organizations, the managers and other officials of which are the founders (participants) of the audited entities, their officials, accountants and other persons responsible for organizing and maintaining accounting records and drawing up accounting (financial) statements;
2) audit organizations whose managers and other officials are closely related (parents, spouses, brothers, sisters, children, as well as brothers, sisters, parents and children of spouses) with the founders (participants) of the audited entities, their officials, accountants and other persons responsible for organizing and maintaining accounting records and preparing accounting (financial) statements;
3) audit organizations in relation to audited entities that are their founders (participants); in relation to audited entities for which these audit organizations are founders (participants); in relation to subsidiaries, branches and representative offices of the specified audited entities, as well as in relation to organizations that have founders (participants) in common with this audit organization;
4) audit organizations, individual auditors, who, during the three years immediately preceding the audit, provided services for the restoration and maintenance of accounting, as well as for the preparation of accounting (financial) statements to individuals and legal entities, in relation to these persons;
5) auditors who are the founders (participants) of the audited entities, their managers, accountants and other persons responsible for organizing and maintaining accounting records and preparing accounting (financial) statements;
6) auditors who are closely related to the founders (participants) of the audited entities, their officials, accountants and other persons responsible for organizing and maintaining accounting records and drawing up accounting (financial) statements (parents, spouses, brothers, sisters, children, as well as brothers, sisters, parents and children of spouses).

If we systematize the given reasons for not allowing an audit, then when carrying out a mandatory audit, auditors must be free from the following dependencies regarding the audited entity:

– financial (material);
– related (relating to persons responsible for organizing and maintaining accounting records and preparing financial statements);
- official.

The procedure for payment and the amount of monetary remuneration to audit organizations and individual auditors for conducting an audit (including mandatory) and providing related services are determined by contracts for the provision of audit services and cannot be made dependent on the fulfillment of any requirements of the audited entities regarding the content of the conclusions that may be made as a result of the audit.

In some countries (for example, in the UK) it is customary to assess the degree of objectivity and independence of the auditor from the public. To protect their objectivity and independence in the public eye, statutory auditors must consider certain issues before deciding whether to accept a new contract or continue with their current assignment.

The auditor is obliged to carefully ensure that the principle of independence is not violated at all stages of the audit, and to take the necessary measures to eliminate negative circumstances that arise. If facts are established that indicate a loss of independence and it is impossible to eliminate the relevant circumstances, further audit should be abandoned.

The Council on Auditing under the Ministry of Finance of Russia approved the Rules for the Independence of Auditors of Russia, which were developed in accordance with the Code of Ethics for Auditors of Russia and the Recommendations of the Commission of the European Community, enshrined in the Regulation on the independence of auditors in the EU. These rules define a set of fundamental principles, compliance with which is necessary to ensure the independence of auditors in the exercise of their professional activities.

This document contains 28 rules of independence and an appendix with a list of situations that impair the independence of auditors. In this case, independence means independent thinking and behavior of auditors. This style is considered as one of the fundamental principles of auditing, which presupposes that the auditor, when forming his opinion on the reliability of the financial (accounting) statements of the audited economic entity, has no interest in the results of the entity’s work, as well as dependence on the owners, managers of the audited organization or on a third party associated with the subject being checked.