The auditors' assessments and suggestions regarding the risks of errors and fraud in the financial statements are fundamental to the quality of the audit. Risk assessments in today's environment are unlike any other, customers are dealing with significant changes to their business, work environment and the wider economy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the additional complexities, auditors focus on process audit of high quality that fully meet the standards of objectivity and professional skepticism.
To assess risk in a process audit, auditors understand the client's industry, operations and capital structure. Many auditors are still not face-to-face with clients and access to documents has changed, along with the ability to talk to the client's accounting team, requiring more robust and upfront planning.
The transition to remote work was made possible thanks to the use of technology, and companies of all sizes are investing in transformation tools and innovation technologies, which even facilitate the process audit. Auditors are using technology to extract business data and perform analysis remotely, they can also examine large amounts of data and relationships, filter data for identification and focus on high-risk transactions, creating responsive audit steps.
Still, customer technology capabilities can be a significant challenge for process audit. Some clients have sophisticated systems and professionals, but many have not yet invested heavily in new technologies, in addition to changes in operations and branch closures as a result of the pandemic, which significantly affect controls and risk assessments.
In a normal environment, auditors would reassess audit risks if there were changes in the company during the year, but with the pandemic many changes were driven and companies recognize some situations that should be evaluated and discussed as unexpected. One of the goals of process audit has been to instill ongoing confidence in customers and regulators, without abandoning the need to assess the supply chain, but adapting the work accordingly.
With good auditors and continuous verification of critical processes, process audit can help companies a lot to make significant quality improvements. One process audit robust, which goes beyond basic verification, proves that quality is a top priority for leaders and the organization as a whole.
Get in touch with TATICCA – ALLINIAL GLOBAL, which works with integrated auditing services, internal audit, accounting, tax, corporate finance, financial advisory, risk advisory, technology, business consulting and training, for more information, visit www.taticca.com.br or e-mail taticca@taticca.com.br and learn more. Our company has certified methodologies for carrying out activities.