Auditing Standards Update & Best Practices 2024

In every audit, the auditor must identify and assess the risks of material misstatement in the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. This process includes understanding the entity and its environment, including its internal control, thereby providing a basis for designing and implementing responses to the assessed risks of material misstatement. This program explores efficient ways to conduct audits (primarily for private companies), including discussing the applicable standards and their requirements.

Objectives

• Are there identifiable controls that exist, and if so, are they documented?
• Is the lack of segregation of duties a major internal control weakness?
• Is there evidence of management override of existing controls?
• Does ownership/management determine estimated amounts in the financial statements without bias?
• Does ownership/management perform the required procedures to determine if a going concern exists?
• Do those charged with governance take responsibility for internal control over financial reporting?

Highlights

• Designing and performing sufficient audit procedures required for all audits, particularly when auditing privately-owned companies
• Identify controls that exist, especially when those controls are not clearly identified or formalized
• Evaluate if those controls prevent or detect material misstatements in the financial statements
• Design effective audit procedures (including testing of controls where appropriate) in response to the auditor's assessed risk of the potential material misstatements in the financial statements

Who Will Benefit

CPAs performing audits of privately-owned companies will be able to plan their audit to perform effective risk assessment procedures, evaluate the control environment, and provide a platform to design appropriate additional audit procedures that respond to the assessed risks of material misstatement.

Credits