As an auditor, your main aim is to assess, evaluate and RECORD. Your hard work and analysis become moot without the correct documentation and record. This is why every auditor comes with working papers to keep track of everything.
If you are a financial expert, you already know about these papers and their work. If not, our website is the right place to provide all relevant information about audit working papers and their importance. Also, there is a bonus section about the content involved in these papers.
Let’s find out about the auditing work papers you might need in your career.
What Are Auditing Work Papers?
Auditing work papers are the documents vigilantly prepared by auditors. These documents include everything from your client’s information — what they do, the nature of business, and business structure. These papers also cover your program, procedures applied in the process, what you obtained, and a verdict attached to the work papers to seal the deal.
Auditors also refer to these work papers as documents or records. Remember, they are among the most critical parts of the audit process.
Auditors keep their working papers as evidence to attach with the final verdict on your financial statements. It assures that everything is according to the accounting standards and does not violate the laws.
Let’s take an example.
The auditor obtains their information and expectations from the process to audit a client. Plus, it’s also mandatory to assess whether the company is worth evaluation. From documents to lists, there are different ways to present these reports.
More than one person reviews these working papers to confirm their accuracy. Usually, audit managers and audit partners are responsible for a detailed review of the audit working papers. You need to file them properly with labels for adequate storage.
You can look at audit working papers examples at Auditnet or AICPA websites. While big 4 audit working papers are private and proprietary and they don’t share these online, another place to get access to sample audit working papers is here.
What Auditing Work Papers Depend On?
There are many consideration factors involved in creating audit working papers:
Size
Audit working papers are directly linked to your company’s size. The complexity of any business depends on its nature which directly correlates to the size of working documents. The larger the entity, the larger the sample sizes and, ultimately, more audit working papers.
Nature
Another factor to remember is the nature of your working papers. The audit papers are simple if your business is straightforward with one product and an easy accounting system. Contrarily, complex companies might result in detailed audit working documents.
Evidence
The audit working papers will be thorough and detailed if the auditor finds any material misstatement in the client’s record. They contain a significant amount of audit evidence.
What Is the Importance of Auditing Working Papers?
Auditing papers are significant because of multiple reasons.
Audit Quality Control
They help control your audit quality. Working papers make it easier to compare and review the entire process. So, when other audit parties check the process, they won’t need to conduct everything again. Quality control ensures whether you have carried out effectively.
Confirm Completion
Another reason why audit working papers are essential is that they confirm the completion of the process. The seniors can judge whether other delegates performed their tasks correctly or not.
Increase Effectiveness
Whether an auditor is looking to review his work or present it to the seniors or ensure that all the tasks are carried out effectively, documentation helps one achieve that. You will save time and record future needs with increased efficiency and effectiveness.
What is the Content Involved in Auditing Work Papers?
Typically, you will find the following things in your auditing work papers:
Client Details
This section includes everything from the name of the business, client requirements, and what type of company they are running.
Subject
The subject includes the things that require an audit. This helps determine auditors what type of procedures to imply and to what intensity.
Other Details
Audit papers also include things like references, dates, and signatures. They might seem simple but are incredibly important to assess when this process was conducted and by whom. We can call it a stamp of confirmation and proof.
Can We Avoid Unnecessary Papers?
Unnecessary documentation and records also mean that you are burdening yourself. We don’t want to go through so many details. This is why the auditor needs to avoid unnecessary papers by:
Think About Mandatory Needs
You need to cover information that can impact a business’s statutory and regulatory setup. Include all the material things that can affect your audit reports.
Exclude Non-Practical Needs
Although it is mandatory for the clients to provide an auditor with all types of information, it is impractical to include everything in your working papers.
What Are the Signs You Produced Good Auditing Work Papers?
To ensure you produced an excellent audit working paper, compare your work with these requirements:
Clear Objective
Your working papers should mention the agenda of the process. Confirm that you will evaluate and present reports based on complete evidence and information. Plus, your job is also to meet the goals in complete transparency.
Time
Since audit processes are performed annually, you must mention the exact period of when you got the project, starting date, the ending date, and the complete review.
Sufficient Information
When someone reviews your working papers, it should have enough information to inform other readers what and where to find evidence. This simplifies the task and makes the entire process much more manageable.
What Are the Auditing Standards of the Working Papers?
According to ISA 230, an auditor is bound to prepare auditing work papers that provide:
● Sufficient appropriate record of the report.
● Evidence that audit working papers are performed according to the legal requirements and regulatory laws and following the ISAs.
● A professional with no previous connection with the company must create the reports promptly.
● All the significant matters are mentioned and judged after a thorough investigation and details.
When to prepare audit working papers?
An IS Auditor is obliged to prepare auditing work papers when they determine that it will help complement their opinion, assertion, exception, and final audit report. Working papers may also be required to be created as part of regulatory/statutory purposes.
An auditor may be required to prepare audit working papers when copying huge volumes of data/paper as evidence appears impractical. Therefore, in such a situation, the auditor may opt to prepare a working paper on client documentation.
And, of course, an auditor may be obliged to prepare all those working papers which are needed as part of the audit program and required for the supervisory reviews as per the practices of the auditing firm.
Objectives of Audit Documentation
There are several objectives of audit documentation, and here are a few top reasons for this:
- Audit work papers/documentation provide the underlying basis for the conclusions and assertions of the auditor, whether these appear in the final audit report or not.
- Audit working papers are also important in facilitating and recording all aspects of the audit engagement, which include planning, execution, reporting, and supervision because these provide the written justification/basis for conclusions drawn by the auditor after their work.
- It provides a detailed record of the planning and execution of audit work, including the audit procedures that the auditor performed, the evidence they obtained, and the conclusions drawn based on this information.
- Should have proper
How to Avoid unnecessary auditing work papers
To keep the working papers managed, the auditor must be satisfied with two conditions before they decide to create an audit working paper:
- that it is necessary because it will be important to support the auditor’s report or that it is otherwise required as part of a statutory or regulatory obligation.
- The client does not have the documentation in the form that the auditor needs and the client staff have not prepared such working papers as part of their regular yearly work.
What are the characteristics of a good working paper?
A good working paper should meet the requirements set by ISA 230, which discusses the important characteristics of a good working paper as under:
- The working paper should clearly state the audit objective it relates to. For example, in the case of an IS audit engagement, it may be “to ensure that backups are regularly tested”.
- It should clearly state the period which the working paper covers. For example, financial year xxxx.
- It should clearly state the audit procedures that were performed and how the conclusions were drawn, and also discuss the evidence and sample selection for the audit procedure. The purpose is to ensure that audit evidence is sufficient.
- Any references to related work papers must be clearly mentioned.
- It should be clearly referenced so that it can be tracked later on
- The name of the preparer and reviewers, if any, should be clearly written and they should sign it
Key Takeaways
● Audit working papers are created to record the efficiency of the process.
● They should be according to ISA 230.
● Presented timely with sufficient appropriate evidence
● Auditing work papers should cover all the material details, signatures, and details of the parties involved.
