...A project audit provides an opportunity to uncover the issues, concerns and challenges encountered in the execution of a project. It affords the project manager, project sponsor and project team an interim view of what has gone well and what needs to be improved with the project to successfully complete it. If done at the close of a project, a project audit can be used to develop success criteria for future projects by providing a forensic review. This review will provide an opportunity to learn what elements of the project were successfully managed and which ones presented some challenges. This will help the organization identify what it needs to do so that mistakes are not repeated on future projects. Regardless of whether the project audit is conducted mid-term on a project or at its conclusion, the process is similar. It is generally recommended that an outside facilitator conduct the project audit. This ensures confidentiality but also provides the team members and other stakeholders with the opportunity to be candid. They know that their input will be valued and the final report will not identify individual names, rather it will only include facts. It is common that individuals interviewed during the project audit of a particularly badly managed project will find speaking with an outside facilitator provides them with the opportunity to express their emotions and feelings about their involvement in the project and/or the impact the project has had on them. This “venting”...
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...Project Audit Checklist Project Name: ______________________________________________Audit Date(s): _____________________________ Project Manager: ______________________________ Project Auditor: __________________________________________ Project ManagementKnowledge Areas | Successes | Shortcomings | Comments and Recommendations | | | | | 1. Project Integration Management | | | | 2. Project Scope Management | | | | 3. Project Time Management | | | | 4. Project Cost Management | | | | 5. Project Quality Management | | | | 6. Project Human Resource Management | | | | 7. Project Communications Management | | | | 8. Project Risk Management | | | | 9. Project Procurement Management | | | | 10. Other Matters | | | | PROJECT MANAGEMENT KNOWLEDGE AREAS Knowledge areas provide for a comprehensive checklist. PROJECT INTEGRATION MANAGEMENT A subset of project management that includes the processes required to ensure that the various elements of the project are properly coordinated. It consists of: * Project plan development—integrating and coordinating all project plans to create a consistent, coherent document. * Project plan execution—carrying out the project plan by performing the activities included therein. * Integrated change control—coordinating changes across the entire project. PROJECT SCOPE MANAGEMENT A subset of project management...
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...Auditing and Assurance Services Table of Contents Meet the Audit Team 3 Partner Summary 5 Introduction 6 Part 1.1 a) Advanced Analytics in Professional Standards 6 Part 1.1 b) Academic Research on Advanced Analytical 6 Part 1.3 Simple Trend-line Regression 7 Part 2.1 Specific Risk of Material Misstatement 11 Part 2.2 An Appropriate Audit Program 12 Appendix 15 References 16 List of Key Audlish terms 17 Partner Summary In order to better understand the audit reports, we have documented academic research and existing audit standards relevant to planning stage APRs. This background information will provide a summary of professional standards and guidance directly related to APRs. First and foremost, every auditor must follow the standards called the Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS) which are set by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). Important sections within the standards required to know include: Independence, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit, and Communications about Control Deficiencies in Financial Statements, which includes nine rules that deal with identifying and reporting deficiencies found in financial statements. In the second part of our report, we prepared basic ARP’s and identified some key red flags for the Chevron Company. To access client viability, we used vertical and horizontal analysis, where we found...
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...Audit Group Project 1a. The transition between predecessor auditor and successor auditor is governed by AU Section 315. It details a list of responsibilities on each side prior to the acceptance of the audit. The predecessor auditor is considered the one who reported on the most recent audited financial statements or was engaged to perform this audit but did not complete it. The successor is an auditor who is considering accepting an engagement to audit financial statements. (AU 315.02) The successor auditor is required to communicate with the predecessor auditor prior to accepting an audit engagement, though they can make a proposal prior to communications and inform the client that acceptance is conditional on evaluating this communication. (AU 315.03) If there is more than one auditor bidding for the engagement, the predecessor auditor is not required to communicate until the engagement has been accepted subject to review of the communications. (AU 315.05) Responsibility for initiating communication rests on the successor auditor. (AU 315.06) The successor auditor requests permission from the client to communicate with the predecessor auditor. This is required as the predecessor auditor cannot discuss confidential information from the engagement without consent of the client. If the client does not give this information or does not allow full disclosure the successor auditor needs to inquire as to the reason and consider this when deciding to accept an engagement...
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...Audit Strategy and Audit Program 1) Inspection of Records and Documents a. Nature: To examine the various records (called Documentary Evidence) that support the activities of a business and its accounting information system. b. Purpose: To determine if records are to be considered reliable and if so, whether to use them in the audit. c. Engagement risk is increased: The auditor would want to want to place a heavier reliance on documents prepared or reviewed by those outside of the business (ex: the bank associated with the business). d. Inherent risk is increased: The determination of reliability must be done with a much greater deal of care, as there is now a higher chance of material misstatement. e. Control risk is decreased: The auditor would be able to place a heavier reliance on documents created and used internally (i.e. not reviewed by outsiders). 2) Inquiry of knowledgeable persons within or outside the entity a. Nature: To obtain sources of information (ex: personnel, attorneys, customers, etc.) upon which the auditor may make inquiries pertaining to various aspects of the audit engagement. b. Purpose: To gain insight on the material upon which a business is being audited. c. Engagement risk is increased: The need for written representation from clients becomes much higher. As there is an increased risk of liability, oral representation would not provide the evidence needed to prove innocence. d. Inherent risk is increased: The auditor would pay special...
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...Question #1 What was the nature of the fraud and how was it executed? In this section, describe the company and key characteristics of the fraud including but not limited to… - Describe the company Monster Worldwide, Inc. is the parent company of the well-known employment solutions website. The website serves as an intermediary between individuals seeking employment and employers seeking employees. They offer an array of services from their original “job board” to career management and employee recruitment services (Monster Worldwide, Inc.). In addition to their services Monster generates revenue by selling advertisement space on their websites. Some of Monster’s competitors include Adecco S.A., CareerBuilder, LLC and SnagAJob.com (Hoovers 2013). - The cumulative amount of the fraud and its financial statement effects and the length of its perpetration/criminal activity Monster reported “materially misleading” financial statements regarding the real grant date and exercise price of certain employee benefit stock option plans in all SEC filed documents during the years 1997-2005 (U.S.D.J. 2007). This included falsely stating the fair market value of the options further inflating their value. Monster accounted for these stock options as “in-the-money” options which is permissible under U.S. GAAP. However in doing so they forged the actual date the stocks were granted on thus recording no compensation expense for the interim days which is not an acceptable accounting...
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...Risk factors from Item 1a of Form 10K Item 1A. | Risk Factors | Starbucks is including this Cautionary Statement to make applicable and take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”) for forward-looking statements. This 10-K includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Act. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They often include words such as “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “intends,” “plans,” “seeks” or words of similar meaning, or future or conditional verbs, such as “will,” “should,” “could,” “may,” “aims,” “intends,” or “projects.” A forward-looking statement is neither a prediction nor a guarantee of future events or circumstances, and those future events or circumstances may not occur. Investors should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Report. These forward-looking statements are all based on currently available operating, financial and competitive information and are subject to various risks and uncertainties. The Company’s actual future results and trends may differ materially depending on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties discussed below. If any of the risks and uncertainties described in the cautionary factors described below actually occurs, Starbucks business...
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...Sales were so good last year that the sisters opened a boutique division named Best Boy Gourmet, specializing in freshly manufactured, one-serving packages meant for consumption no later than 3 days after production. They sell this product at three times the cost of their other products and by special order only through their new website. Demand is high, but waste has been an issue. Sarah is the president and general manager of the operation. Sarah has been very proactive in growing the business. She has met with her banker to discuss expanding the facilities and equipment with another $150,000 loan. Their first loan for $150,000 was secured by the industrial-size food production equipment purchased with the loan. The banker now demands an audit of the corporate financial statements before releasing another loan to the company. Sarah has offered to place the corporate account receivables up as collateral to secure the second loan. Based on revenue projections by her sister Jillian’s sales team, Sarah believes that the company will not have...
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...The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Presented by: Ibrahim M. Conteh; Ruby Proctor Garcia; Kathleen M. Parry; Joseph M. Schmerling; Jaime Ulloa Auditing Theory and Practice 0902 ACCT422 4021 Due: April 29, 2009 Table of Contents Page Number What is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002? 3 Why was SOX established? 4 When did SOX take effect? 5 What companies were affected and how? 6 What does SOX compliance require? 9 Conclusion 11 References 13 What is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002? The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 – its official name being “Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002” – is recognized to be the most significant U.S. federal disclosure and corporate governance legislation since the Securities Act of 1933 (the Securities Act) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act), and, the provisions of the Act are significant enough that it is considered by many to be the most significant change to federal securities laws in the U.S. since the New Deal. It is best understood, however, not as a piece of legislation centered on a new concept of regulation, but as a process which mandated that many major reforms be implemented as soon as possible (in some cases, within 30 days) on the precise schedule specified by Congress. In that sense, the Enron and WorldCom debacles provided the impetus of public outrage that...
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...International Accounting Ch 13. 1. A strategy indicates the general direction in which a firm plans to move to attain its goals. The strategies of any business organization, whether purely domestic or multinational, are determined by matching two key ingredients: core competencies and available opportunities. Internal factors relate to the identification of core competencies of a firm focusing on strengths and weaknesses with regard to the expertise available within the firm in the areas of technology, manufacturing, distribution, and logistics. 2. A strategy indicates the general direction in which a firm plans to move to attain its goals. The strategies of any business organization, whether purely domestic or multinational, are determined by matching two key ingredients: core competencies and available opportunities. The external factors relate to the identification of the opportunities available to the firm, the second key ingredient in formulating strategy. Identification of opportunities also includes the threats facing the firm in the areas of competitors, customers, suppliers, regulatory bodies, as well as socio-political circumstances. 3. Accounting provides the skills necessary to quantify in financial terms the factors that influence strategy formulation -- strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats --, and to develop projections of costs and benefits as financial expressions of strategy. Capital budgets are a prime example of the contribution...
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...Section 5 Audit Process: Audit Planning To Fieldwork Section 5 documents how the Office of the City Auditor complies with standards related to reasonable assurance, significance, audit risk, and planning. This section provides guidance on the how to apply those standards in conducting audits based on the Citywide Risk Assessment model or requested audits. Specifically, this section will cover the initial planning phase of the audit (preliminary survey) that begins with start the audit, preliminary survey and risk assessment, and development of the audit program. The purpose of audit planning process is to generate information and ideas to better understand the audit subject, determine the audit objective, and to develop the audit field work program. Planning also involves estimating the time and resources necessary to complete the audit. The evidence gathered in background research and later fieldwork is documented in the working papers. Key outputs of audit planning include an audit background memorandum; audit scope statement; risk and vulnerability assessment document; and field work audit program. AUDIT PLANNING PROCESS The audit planning process can be divided into the following three phases: 1) starting the project, 2) preliminary survey (planning the audit and conducting risk assessment), and 3) developing the audit program. These steps are followed by fieldwork and reporting. Details of each of the steps are noted below. Audit Start City Auditor assigns staff to audit. City...
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...SKILLS AUDITS “A key piece of information an organisation needs to improve is to know what skills and knowledge the organisation requires and what skills and knowledge the organisation currently has’ (www.cognology.biz/sawhatis.htm). 1. Introduction What is a Skills Audit? A skills audit is essentially a process for measuring and recording the skills of an individual or group. The main purpose for conducting a skills audit in an organisation is to identify the skills and knowledge that the organisation requires, as well as the skills and knowledge that the organisation currently has. Skills audits are also usually done to determine training needs so an organisation can improve its skills and knowledge. However skills audits are also completed for other reasons such as restructuring and deployment. A skills audit gathers more information than simply your current qualifications level. It firstly identifies the skills matrices for the organisation and then delves into what the current competencies are of each individual against this predefined set of skills required to fulfill a specific role. The outcome of the skills audit process is a skills gap analysis. This information will enable the organisation to improve by providing the appropriate training and development to individuals to cater for the identified skill gaps. The skills audit process will also provide information which can be used for purposes such as internal employee selection and to ensure...
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...Project Title: HR Audit INDEX SR NO. | TOPIC | PAGE NO. | 1 | Acknowledgement | 3 | 2 | Executive Summary | 4 | 3 | Introduction to HR Audit | 6 | 4 | Qualitative & Quantitative Indicators for HR Audit | 8 | 5 | Types of Audit | 13 | 6 | HR Audit Process | 17 | 7 | Human Resource Management v/s Performance | 21 | 8 | Approaches to Human Resources Audit | 25 | 9 | HR Audit Tools | 30 | 10 | Checklist for HR Audit | 33 | 11 | Audit Report | 35 | 12 | Audit of HR Results | 36 | 13 | HR Audit in India | 37 | 14 | Conclusion | 40 | 15 | Bibliography | 49 | s ACKNOWLEDGEMENT “For any successful work, it owes its thanks to many” Presentation of this project gives us the feeling of fulfillment. It has taken an exhaustive effort in preparing this project. It took several hours, several days, and several meetings amongst us to make this project work up to its expectations. The faculty members of our college have provided us with great source of inspiration and have provided great help in pursuing this project. Many individuals have contributed in preparation of his project. We take this opportunity to thank few people without whom this project would not have been possible. We would like to thank our faculties for their kind support. Our sincere thanks go to our project guide Prof.Anjali Saida, who helped us through many aspects and whose friendly guidance on many issues helped us for the betterment of our project. Without her support...
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...United States], which sets auditing standards for nonpublicly traded entities, has launched the Clarity Project in an effort to make U.S. Generally Accepted Audited Standards (GAAS) easier to read, understand, and apply. The Clarity Project includes the goal of working toward convergence of U.S. auditing standards with International Standards on Auditing (ISA). This convergence project is attempting to make auditing standards coordinated or comparable throughout the world. Additionally, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) adopted a suite of eight auditing standards related to the auditor’s assessment of, and response to, risk in an audit. The eight new risk assessment standards address the audit procedures from the initial planning stages through the final evaluation of audit procedures and results. As a result, the PCAOB auditing standards and ISAs have more similarities than ever before. 2. Describe the five key differences between ISA’s and US Auditing Standards. Even so, there are still some differences between ISA’s and U.S. Auditing Standards. The five key differences between ISA’s and US Auditing Standards are: documentation of audit procedures; going-concern considerations; assessing and reporting on internal control over financial reporting; risk-assessment and responses to assessed risks; and the use of another auditor for part of an audit. The first key difference is that the documentation of U.S. auditing standards and ISAs differ: AICPA auditing...
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...SUBMITTED BY: ANERI SHAH ROLL NO - 88 PROJECT GUIDE: PROF. SONALI DEOGIRIKAR K.J SOMAIYA COLLEGE OF ARTS,& COMMERCE, VIDYAVIHAR (EAST), MUMBAI-400077 K.J.SOMAIYA COLLEGE OF ARTS, & COMMERCE, VIDYAVIHAR (EAST), MUMBAI – 400077 PROJECT ON: “A STUDY ON BANK AUDITING” BACHELOR OF COMMERCE (B&I) SEMISTER V (2013-2014) Submitted In Partial Fulfillment of the requirements For the Award of the Degree of Bachelor of Commerce- Banking & Insurance By Ms. ANERI SHAH ROLL NO.88 K.J.SOMAIYA COLLEGE OF ARTS, & COMMERCE, VIDYAVIHAR (EAST), MUMBAI-400077 CERTIFICATE This is to certify that Ms.ANERI SHAH of B.com. Banking & Insurance Semester V (Academic Year) 2012-2013 has successfully Completed Project on “A STUDY ON BANK AUDITING” under the guidance of PROF.SONALI DEOGIRIKAR (Mrs.SMITA DAYAL) (Dr.SUDHA VYAS) Course co-ordinator Principal INTERNAL EXAMINER EXTERNAL EXAMINER (Mrs. SONALI DEOGIRIKAR) Project Guide DECLARATION I, Ms. ANERI SHAH the student of B.com - Banking & Insurance - Semester V (2013-2014) hereby declares that I have completed Project on “A STUDY ON BANK AUDITING”. Wherever the data/information has been taken from any book or other sources have been mentioned in bibliography. The information submitted is true and original to the best of my knowledge. Student’s Signature Ms. ANERI SHAH (ROLL NO.88) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT On the event of completion of my project “A STUDY ON BANK AUDITING”. I take...
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