The Importance of Data Base to Audit Work

amend and supplement appropriate internal control procedures and regulations. Consistent with the requirements and operating principles of the internal control system, Circular No. 44/2011/TT-NHNN also specifies that the scope of internal audit is not limited to compliance audit but includes auditing all operations, business processes and units, departments of credit institutions and ad hoc audits, consulting at the request of the Board of Directors, Board of Supervisors and General Director.

In particular, Article 17 of Circular 44 of 2011 mentions the risk-oriented internal audit method, which requires internal audit to identify potential risks at least once a year, assess the impact and likelihood of risks; classify risks at high, medium or low levels and develop risk profiles for each activity of the credit institution. This is a convergence point with international practice on modern risk-oriented internal audit methods that are widely applied in the world today (Griffiths, 2015). However, in reality, Vietnamese commercial banks face many obstacles in applying the risk-oriented audit approach, stemming from the lack of full understanding of the risk-oriented audit process and especially the failure to identify, measure and quantify the main risks arising in banking activities.

Thus, the issuance of 02 Decisions No. 36/2006/QD-NHNN and Decision No. 37/2006/QD-NHNN in 2006 and then the issuance of Circular 44/2011/TT-NHNN in 2011 replacing the above 02 Decisions has revealed clear progress with the separation and clear distinction between the internal control function and the internal audit function of credit institutions, demonstrating the trend of integration with international practices on the internal control system. However, in the coming time, in order for the internal control and internal audit system to truly promote its effectiveness in the operations of credit institutions, the State Bank and other functional management agencies need to continue to amend, supplement, and issue more detailed guidance documents on the contents related to the internal control and internal audit systems in a risk-oriented manner to meet the needs of credit institutions.

Please tell me what factors affect the bank's internal control system?

CHAPTER 3. BASIC CONCEPTS USED IN AUDITING

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3.1. Data base

The Importance of Data Base to Audit Work

3.1.1. Concept

Assertion is one of the basic concepts of great importance in auditing. Assertion is closely related to the objectives of each component of the financial statements as well as the overall audit objectives of this report. Understanding the assertion is important for the stages of the audit process as well as for monitoring and evaluation after the audit.

Specifically, the auditor will have to consider whether the information presented in the financial statements is true or not? How is it calculated and evaluated? How is it recorded (updated) and summarized (cumulated) during the processing of transactions? The bases for the auditor's comments are called data bases.

Thus, the data base is the entire source of documents used as the basis for collecting audit evidence to help auditors give opinions and comments. [6]

If management is responsible for fraud and errors in the financial statements, the auditor is responsible for detecting such fraud and errors. Therefore, the auditor will rely on the management's assertions (direct or implied) to collect audit evidence. In other words, these assertions are the auditor's basis for data.

For example: To verify whether the unit's inventory actually exists on December 31, the auditor will examine whether the raw materials, tools, unfinished products, finished products, etc. are as declared through their techniques.

3.1.2. Contents of the data base

Thus, the auditor's basis of data in financial auditing is the board of directors' explanations for the implicit affirmation of the information presented in the financial statements.

Financial statement assertions can be divided into the following groups:

- Group 1: Real

The auditor will examine whether the information about assets, capital sources and liabilities presented by the manager on the balance sheet, as well as the revenue, expenses and profits presented on the income statement, are truthful and reasonable.

Existence : Assets and capital reflected in financial statements actually exist at the time of reporting.

The auditor can use a variety of techniques to confirm this assertion.

For example:

+ Auditors use inventory techniques for cash on hand, inventory and fixed assets.

+ Use the technique of sending confirmation letters for bank deposits, goods on consignment, or receivables and payables.

+ Auditors can examine original documents, or indirect correspondence, to examine revenue and expenses.

Take the following typical example: To prove whether inventory actually exists at the unit or not, the auditor must conduct an inventory count. Once inventory data is available, it is not certain that all of the inventory belongs to the unit because it may be goods from other units deposited at the unit or goods that the unit is consigning for sale... Therefore, during the audit, the auditor needs to compare with the books, related transactions and check the original accounting documents...

Occurrence: All transactions recorded in the accounting books actually occurred and arose in relation to the reporting period.

To prove this data base, the auditor must conduct a reverse comparison from the accounting books to the original documents because the documents are simulations and copies of arising economic transactions.

For example: To prove whether cash transactions actually occurred, the auditor will check the accounting books (cash book, cash receipt journal, cash payment journal, ledger account 111, ledger account 112...) with original documents (payment vouchers, receipt vouchers, VAT invoices and related documents).

Rights: Assets recorded on the balance sheet must be owned or controlled by the entity in the long term and their value must be measurable.

To determine the company's rights to assets, the auditor must verify documents combined with observation and investigation. For example:

+ For bank deposits and receivables, the auditor sends a confirmation letter.

+ For inventories and fixed assets, in addition to the inventory method, auditors also need to compare VAT invoices, fixed asset handover records, asset lease contracts, land use right certificates, etc.

Obligations: Liabilities are reflected in the fact that there is an obligation to pay debts of the unit to other entities such as banks, credit institutions, suppliers and employees. In other words, liabilities represent the legal responsibility that the unit must pay to creditors.

To obtain audit evidence for this confirmation, the auditor should conduct an examination of:

+ For banks, suppliers, and customers: auditors send debt confirmation letters, check debt reconciliation records, check original documents and accompanying books.

+ For employees: auditors review salary payment tables, social insurance...

- Group 2: Measurement (calculation) and Evaluation

Measurement (calculation): Transactions are recorded according to the actual quantity and amount that has occurred.

For this assertion, the auditor needs to recalculate and re-evaluate.

For example:

+ For inventory, check the actual quantity received in the warehouse against the quantity on the invoice to check and measure the amount or quantity of an economic transaction.

+ For salaries, salary grades and timesheets that have been approved with the payroll, the auditor will recalculate to check whether the payroll is recorded correctly or not.

Evaluation: Consider whether the sources of funds, income, expenses, and assets are evaluated according to generally accepted accounting principles.

The auditor should perform the following audit procedures on this assertion:

+ Review whether the accounting policies and methods applied at the unit are consistent with current accounting standards and are consistent over time.

+ The auditor proceeds to select samples for inspection and re-evaluation.

For example, an auditor reviews a company's depreciation methods over time.

- Group 3: Record fully and cumulatively

Completeness: All economic activities arising from assets and capital sources are fully recorded in accounting books and without omission.

To prove the basis of the occurrence, the auditor must trace back from the books to the vouchers. If the data is reflected in the accounting books but there are no accompanying vouchers, it proves that the transaction did not occur. Conversely, to check the completeness of the records, we need to compare the vouchers with the data in the accounting books. If there are vouchers, but the data is not reflected in the accounting books, it violates the basis of the completeness of the data.

In practice, to prove this data base, auditors are required to use many auditing techniques. For example:

+ Use analytical procedures to detect unusual cases and plan the direction of testing (increase or reduce basic testing). For example, an unusual decrease in gross profit ratio may have come from hiding revenue.

+ Through the sales department's documents, the auditor will check whether the receivables are fully recorded.

+ Based on observation and inventory to detect assets outside the accounting books

maths.

Cumulative: Each item presented on the financial statements is a figure.

summary of economic transactions

To check, the auditor must compare the summary accounting and detailed accounting.

Correctness of period: In order to collect audit evidence, in practice, auditors often use the cut-off procedure to check the correctness of transactions, especially transactions related to revenue and expenses. Because close to the time of preparing financial statements, enterprises often tend to transfer costs or revenues from this year to the next year or vice versa to increase profits to improve financial situation or reduce profits to evade corporate income tax.

- Group 4: Presentation and announcement

The manager confirms whether the indicators presented, classified and declared in the financial statements comply with current accounting standards.

For example, the auditor considers whether customer advances are presented in the Liabilities section.

Example exercises:

Lesson 1. Due to wrong time

In the process of accounting , the value of goods should be fully accounted for .

published in the period . Knowing that this mistake has caused the business to suffer

reduced by 20 million dong.

Accounting : Debit account 632/Credit account 156: X+ 20

Mode: Debit account 632/Credit account 156: X

State the affected items and the related item basis ?

Prize

- Affected items: 632, 156

dose

affected by the

- Population base

dose

scent :

+ Total cost and price ( 632,156 )

+ Proclamation and announcement ( 632,156 )

+ Venerable

ghost (156 )

Lesson 2. On December 20, N units shipped one product.

The shipment was sent to agent B with the value

22 million

VND (including 10% VAT). Agent B informs the multi - person

ok

daily goods

So the accountant has recorded revenue for this shipment ( the enterprise uses account 157) .

Know the business declaration and payment

VAT by deduction method, accounting

Inventory accounting by perpetual inventory method. The cost of the goods is 15

morning

copper.

Accounting : a. Debit account 157/Credit account 156: 15

b.Debit account 632/Credit account 157: 15

c. Debit account 131-B: 22/Credit account 511: 20/Credit account 3331: 2

Mode: Debit account 157/Credit account 156: 15

State the affected items and the related item basis ?

Prize

dose

affected by the accounts

Impact on population

material:

- Affected items: 632, 511, 3331, 157

- Population base

dose

scent :

+ Total cost and price ( 632,511,3331,157 )

+ Seventh and final announcement ( 632,511,3331,157 )

+ Venerable

ghost (157 )

+ Rights and duties

case (632,511,3331)

3.1.3. The significance of the data base to audit work

Thus, through the above analysis, we can see that the data bases are important to all stages of the audit process, it is the basis for the auditor to perform the work. Specifically:

- During the audit planning phase:

+ Assess the risk potential before conducting an audit.

+ Identify key control measures.

+ Select key audit topics and determine appropriate audit procedures.

- During the audit phase:

Auditors must exploit, evaluate and collect authentic evidence from data bases, and at the same time require managers to provide full explanations related to the audit subject.

- During the audit completion phase:

Based on the data and audit evidence collected, the auditor conducts assessments, comments, draws conclusions and prepares an audit report.

- During the post-audit follow-up phase:

The audited unit presents data proving that it has corrected management work, corrected errors in accounting for arising economic transactions, or provides data proving that a certain conclusion of the auditor is inappropriate and therefore cannot be implemented.

3.2. Fraud and Errors

3.2.1. Concept

3.2.1.1. Fraud

Fraud is an intentional act of falsifying financial economic information by one or more people in the Board of Directors, Management, employees or third parties, affecting financial statements. [1]

For example, employees use company funds for personal purposes through the following tricks:

- Forging documents by recording increased expenses.

- Record less cash than the customer pays or remove the cash collection transaction from the accounting books.

- Increase payroll by adding "ghost" employees to the payroll list.

- Using money in the unit's safe for personal purposes and then returning it to the unit.

The cause of fraud can be subjective or due to objective circumstances, but fraud is always an intentional act related to embezzlement, misappropriation of assets, public funds...

Thus, from the above concept we can see some basic factors related to fraudulent behavior:

- Regarding the motive for implementation: Fraud is the act of intentionally deceiving, concealing, and distorting the truth for the purpose of personal gain in order to distort information in financial reports.

For example: Forging documents, embezzling assets, concealing or intentionally omitting the results of transactions, recording false transactions, or intentionally applying incorrect accounting regimes...

- Regarding the subject of implementation: performed by one or more people in the Board of Directors, Management Board, employees or a third party. The third party here can be understood as one or more people outside the enterprise performing the same act.

For example: Company A and Company B did not conduct any business transactions in 2014. However, the two companies agreed to commit a fraudulent act by trading documents with each other. At this time, when auditing company C

When auditing company A, company B is the third party that commits the fraud.

- Regarding the consequences of the behavior: Seriously affects the financial statements and the decisions of information users. Because the financial statements reflect the main financial information of the enterprise.

Fraud can manifest itself in the following general form:

- Modifying, distorting, falsifying documents and papers related to financial reports.

Forging documents is a serious act of fraud because documents are copies, evidence of economic transactions that have occurred. The unit's accountant will commit this fraud by creating fake documents or creating documents with incorrect content, time, location of economic transactions that have occurred, forging signatures or arbitrarily creating documents to replace lost original documents.

Example: Buying and selling documents to increase costs.

- Modifying accounting documents and records to distort financial statements.

The act of altering accounting documents and records to falsify financial statements with the aim of increasing profits to improve the financial situation of the unit, to gain prestige for the Board of Directors, to borrow bank credit or to increase costs, to create fake losses to evade taxes. This fraudulent behavior is often carried out by many people under the direction of the Board of Directors.

- Embezzlement of property and money.

This behavior is often done with assets that are easy to move and steal, such as money or small tools. As for assets such as vehicles, machinery, furniture, etc., because they are difficult to move and bulky, fraud is difficult to occur.

Regarding money: Money is a potentially high-risk asset because it is easily stolen. In fact, embezzlement occurs in most units, for example: Using money in the unit's safe for personal purposes, recording increased expenses or collecting money from customers but not recording it in the accounting books.

In fact, the subjects who commit this fraud are mainly: Cashiers, sales staff, cashiers...

- Concealing information and economic transactions that distort financial reports.

This fraudulent act is actually quite common, especially for motorbike businesses, and is carried out by simultaneously maintaining two sets of accounting books. One set reflects the actual situation of the business, while the other set reflects false information to benefit the business.

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