According to the law, audit activity- this is a business activity subject to independent verification accounting and reporting of organizations in order to express an opinion on the reliability of financial statements and the compliance of financial and business transactions with the law. However, in our practice, we constantly encounter the fact that today there is no unambiguous understanding of the principles, goals and objectives of audit among its customers, and this situation applies equally to accountants and to owners and management of companies.
Audit (audit) - independent verification for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the reliability of financial statements. The word "Audit" translated from Latin means "listening" and is used in world practice to mean inspection.
The purpose of an audit of financial statements is to enable the auditor to express an opinion on whether the audit reports are prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the financial reporting framework.
An audit of financial statements is an assurance engagement.
Someone orders an audit to confirm economic solvency to foreign partners (that is, to really confirm the reliability of accounting and financial statements), someone wants to get rid of perceived tax risks. Someone does not trust their accountant or does not find a common language with him, someone simply wants to be confident in the future without looking back at the mistakes of the past - in general, through an audit, everyone pursues their own goals.
Some companies have been cooperating with auditors all these years, while many are just taking their first steps towards such cooperation. Those companies for which auditors have saved considerable money can no longer imagine their activities without auditors as external consultants, and do not need explanations about the need to interact with them. For such companies, auditors are a kind of “family doctors” from the moment of the first mutually beneficial cooperation.
Accounting audit, financial condition object for incorrect documentation and financial calculations. Usually carried out to improve the efficiency of the facility, as well as to avoid various incidents during inspections government agencies. It is advisable to conduct an audit at the facility annually for your own interest - to check the state of affairs of the facility.
Why invite an auditing firm to do your accounting when you can hire an accountant? Do you need an auditor?
I would like to give some explanations about the activities of auditors, supported by experience in communicating with the management of the enterprises we audit. Why do auditors find major mistakes even in the most highly qualified accountants? An accountant, as a rule, takes up the lion's share of his time with current affairs - drawing up primary documents, recording business transactions, working with debtors and creditors, calculating and paying taxes, etc. The auditor is never busy with "routine" - he deals with daily study of accounting and tax legislation, monitors all innovations and problematic issues in their wide range, i.e., constantly deals with those issues for which an accountant usually does not have enough time.
Very often, where a company can afford one (single) accountant, the salary is also not very high. For such positions, a person is hired who has a short work experience or many part-time jobs or many other nuances. On accounting forums you can find: “Good afternoon! I was hired as an accountant, but they couldn’t teach me because the company had just opened. I have a question…". To be honest, it is not clear who should teach whom and whether they should teach them at all, because a person is paid money for working. This raises doubts about the quality of such accounting, and therefore the problems that will arise, and they will certainly arise.
What to do if the accountant does not agree with the auditor’s opinion?
This is the right of an accountant, especially since, as already mentioned, the auditor is an external consultant, and your company has the right to either accept or not accept the auditor’s comments and recommendations. It should be noted that the auditor’s opinion is always based on legislation, with mandatory reference to regulations.
What is the difference between a mandatory audit and an initiative audit?
The criteria for mandatory audit are given in Decree No.
Don't auditors make the work of tax inspectors easier?
The auditor's report on the audit is strictly confidential information, and it is in it that the violations identified by the audit are indicated - this is information inaccessible to the tax authorities. The user of this report is only the audit client. The enterprise itself submits a completely different document to the tax office - an audit report containing a general opinion on the reliability of financial statements, and the conclusion is submitted to the Tax Inspectorate only in the case of a mandatory audit.
Having an auditor's report increases confidence tax workers to your business, and the audit report helps ensure that accounting and other services are making the corrections recommended by auditors. The higher the business reputation of the auditing firm that issued the report, the less desire the tax authorities have to conduct on-site inspection at this enterprise.
Can the cost of an audit exceed the size and cost of tax risks?
Maybe yes, but we have not encountered this in our practice. The fact is that tax law imperfect and often does not have unambiguous answers to emerging questions; in addition, it is dynamic and is in the stage of permanent refinement.
At one time we even kept statistics and came to interesting conclusions. On average, the economic effect of an audit (prevention of possible penalties, optimization of taxation, etc.) exceeds the cost of conducting it by 6-7 times. In addition, audit costs are planned and also reduce taxable profit. In comparison, penalties, along with under-accrued taxes identified after a tax audit, are not planned or reserved by enterprises, and accordingly, they have never pleasantly surprised anyone. In addition, the consequences of a tax audit often paralyze the activities of an enterprise, and sometimes, as a result of economic insolvency, even lead to its liquidation.
How, other than his reputation, can an auditor answer for his audit? Is an audit possible with a guarantee?
Indeed, auditors often have nothing to guarantee the quality of their audit. In the event of any disagreements with regulatory authorities, resulting in penalties after an audit, all that the auditor can do is simply sympathize with the customer. After all, as a rule, working capital and the solvency of consulting companies is low, and penalties can be billions. Of course, loss of reputation is the worst thing that can happen to a professional consultant, because a dissatisfied client will tell everyone about it. But this doesn’t make things any easier for the client himself.
So, let's summarize:
Auditor- a person engaged in auditing (revision of accounting books, documents and reports) and consulting activities related to the adjustment of accounting and who has high qualifications and experience to cope with many tasks; this is a “walking bank of knowledge”.
An audit firm is:
The cost of work is at the same level as the expected salary for a hired accountant;
This entire cost of services is included in the gross costs and you do not pay crazy contributions to various funds that take up to 50% of the possible salary of a hired accountant;
You always know for sure that your accounting is carried out accurately and on time;
All “new” legislation has been tracked. And in our country you never know what else the state will come up with to “replenish the budget”;
You can come to our office at any time and receive a summary of your affairs.
Who needs this?
As in any business, we have a circle of Customers, most often they are:
Founders who want to test their accountants for honesty;
Founders, if the company does not work, however, numerous reports must be submitted;
Founders when changing the chief accountant;
Directors, who, like the founders, can hire an audit firm to audit their affairs or do accounting;
Directors when changing the chief accountant;
Chief accountants who check their subordinates or double-check themselves;
All of the above users in preparation for verification tax office and other bodies;
And finally, mandatory audit which cannot be avoided.
Besides:
Potential investors;
Potential buyers of the enterprise.
Sources: www.goldenlion.kiev.ua, www.axium.by
Audit today is an integral part of the system internal control most companies. They also have a direct interest in quality auditing. owner of the company, And its leader, and of course, Chief Accountant ! Today's reality demonstrates the vital need to create a tax protection system in every company. Such a system must take into account possible risks in all directions. In order for the system to function effectively, the joint efforts of everyone are necessary. financial services companies and auditors - representing an element of external independent control.
Why does an accountant need an audit?
No specialist, even the most highly qualified, is immune from mistakes. Errors occur not only from a lack of knowledge, but also of a technical nature. Almost every chief accountant is constantly under conditions of overload and lack of time, and in such a situation it is quite difficult to control everything.
Unfortunately, for some accountants, auditing is associated with personal verification. However, it should be understood that the audit in no way aims to evaluate the professionalism of the accountant; on the contrary, its goal is to help the accountant professionally. The result of joint work will be correct accounting and reliable accounting and tax reporting Accordingly, the level of personal responsibility of the chief accountant will decrease, and there will be confidence that the organization’s management has been promptly warned about the presence of significant risks.
There are also cases when the cause of an enterprise’s tax risks is precisely the policy of the company’s management; often the manager simply does not listen to his accountant. The likelihood that a manager will listen to external auditors and think about it is much higher.
Why audit the director?
- For getting auditor's report and its subsequent submission to the tax office. This is necessary if the organization is subject to mandatory audit.
- Personal responsibility. It is no secret that the director bears responsibility for the activities of the organization, and not only administrative and financial, but also criminal. Without deliberately violating tax laws, the head of the company may still be subject to persecution by regulatory authorities. There are many reasons for this, but the most common of them is an accountant’s mistake.
- Business security.
- Oddly enough, in practice there are quite often cases when organizations overpay taxes. This happens for reasons technical errors or ignorance of the company’s accounting department about certain features of tax legislation.
- To assess the qualifications of accounting personnel. As mentioned above, accounting error can be very costly for both the company and its leader. Therefore, it is very important to have a worthy specialist nearby.
- To assess the effectiveness of the organization. An obligatory element of the audit is to perform an analysis of financial and economic activities. According to the analysis data, it is possible to trace over time how important economic indicators, characterizing the activities of the enterprise.
Why audit owners?
- Obtaining real data about the company's activities. The audit will reveal any distortions in the company's reporting, after which the owner will receive reliable financial statements. Accordingly, the owner will be provided with information about the company’s income and expenses, the source of dividend payments - net profit, assets and liabilities.
- Obtaining data on the company's performance. An obligatory element of the audit is to perform an analysis of financial and economic activities. According to the analysis, you can dynamically track how important financial and economic indicators that characterize the company’s activities have changed and obtain information about the factors that caused certain changes. The well-being of any owner depends on the level of integrity and professionalism of the company’s management.
- The well-being of any owner depends on the level of integrity and professionalism of the company’s management. As a rule, the director is not a specialist in economic and financial management. Therefore, management of financial and economic activities, including issues of organizing the accounting system, management tax risks actually carried out by other specialists. The director is extremely dependent on their level of professional competence and business integrity. These are qualities that the director will not be able to test in practice. This requires a tool for external independent control, which is audit.
- Reducing the risk of financial losses. Today's reality shows many cases where a tax audit ends with the identification of arrears and the imposition of millions in fines. And not every enterprise is able to recover from such financial losses.
- To increase the company's level of protection from hostile takeovers. It is a well-known fact that any economic valuable enterprise may become the target of capture today. A fairly common scenario for a hostile takeover is the following: the organization is subject to tax audits or audits by other regulatory authorities. Signs of tax and economic crimes committed in the course of the company’s business activities are identified. As a result, each audit removes significant funds from the company’s turnover (in the form of arrears in taxes and fines), and attempts appear to bring the director to justice. And, as a result, a weakened company and its assets become easy prey. Of course, the audit in this case, will not protect the company completely, but it acts here as one of the elements of preventive protection. During the audit, problem areas of the enterprise are identified, the elimination of which will significantly reduce the likely capabilities of aggressors.
- Probability of minimizing tax payments. Less taxes - more profit! Oddly enough, in practice there are quite often cases when organizations overpay taxes. This happens due to technical errors or ignorance of the company’s accounting department of certain features of tax legislation.
- To increase trust in the company. As you know, audit is a form of independent financial control. Consequently, the auditor's report is a document indicating the reliability of the company's financial statements, issued by a third-party independent auditor. It should be remembered that by confirming the statements, the auditor confirms the fact that the company actually owns the specified assets and bears the specified liabilities. Therefore, the presence of such confirmation is important for persons interested in the company’s activities (banks, investors, company owners, etc.).
Auditing— in what cases may this be necessary and how to choose suitable auditors?
About mandatory and initiative audit and some practical aspects
choosing an audit company
In a series of our articles, we will look at the issues that arise when ordering audit services, and describe in detail what this means in practice - conduct audit . We will also tell you when an audit may be necessary for your company, and how to choose a suitable audit company. And with examples from our practice, we will show what your company will receive as a result of the audit.
IN this article We will briefly outline in what cases audit may be necessary for your company and how to choose the right auditors.
As is known, in some cases, provided for by law, conducting an audit of accounting and financial statements of organizations may be mandatory.
Features of the audit in 2018
In Part 1 of Art. 5 Federal Law dated December 30, 2008 No. 307-FZ “On Auditing Activities” specifies such cases. So, it is necessary to conduct an audit:
joint-stock companies (clause 1, part 1, article 5 of Law No. 307-FZ);
if the organization’s securities are admitted to organized trading (clause 2, part 1, article 5 of Law No. 307-FZ);
if the volume of revenue of the organization (with the exception of state and municipal unitary enterprises, agricultural cooperatives) for the previous reporting year exceeds 400 million rubles. or amount of assets balance sheet as of the end of the previous reporting year exceeds 60 million rubles. (clause 4, part 1, article 5 of Law No. 307-FZ);
if the organization is an insurance company, fund, credit organization and in some other, not common cases.
In addition, an audit is often carried out when it is not required by law, but when the owner of the company and/or its management wants to make sure that the company’s accounting is carried out correctly, the company does not have significant tax risks even if tax audit or when selling/buying a company there will be no unpleasant surprises.
How to choose a suitable audit company?
So, your company has decided to conduct an audit. What should you pay attention to when choosing an audit company?
In some cases, an audit opinion on your financial statements will then be provided to the foreign parent company, foreign investors or lenders, foreign partners - then the audit is usually ordered to be carried out by the largest audit firms world-famous companies, such as Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young, KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers or smaller companies, but which are also known abroad. The cost of an audit is usually very high, since you pay not only for the audit, but also for confirmation of your financial statements by companies with a global brand, which is significant in the eyes of your counterparties.
If there is no need to receive such significant confirmation, then it is much cheaper to order an audit from medium and small Russian audit firms.
In this case, it is necessary to check that they are members of an existing self-regulatory audit organization (SRO). You can simply request a certificate from such a company about its membership in an SRO and look at the list of its members on the website of the corresponding SRO.
Also, if your organization is a credit, insurance company, joint-stock company, whose shares are admitted to organized trading, or if the share of state ownership in the authorized capital of your organization is at least 25%, then you need to check whether the auditors who will conduct the audit have audit certificates issued after January 1, 2011. At a minimum, the head of the audit team must have such a certificate.
It is also advisable to look reviews from other clients of this audit firm, usually such reviews are posted on her website. You can try to contact the management, chief accountants of companies that are or were clients of this audit firm in order to obtain more detailed reviews about working with this company. A list of such clients can be requested from the company itself.
You can also focus on various ratings of auditing companies compiled by agencies and the media. However, it is worth considering that some small firms that do not fall into this rating because of their small revenue/number of employees can actually provide very high-quality audit services at a low price. Typically, such firms have two or three strong auditors on staff and a constant volume of orders that these auditors serve. But such firms do not see the need for increased growth, since this almost always leads to a decrease in the quality of inspections and often profitability does not increase due to increased overhead costs.
In general, it is not even the company with which the audit agreement is concluded that is of great importance, but qualifications and talent auditors directly conducting the audit.
Yes exactly talent. Because when analyzing a large amount of information in a short time (and this is what auditors do when conducting an audit), it is very difficult without certain innate abilities to notice inconsistencies, errors and inconsistencies in documents, the wording of contracts, accounting, and reporting.
Also important is professional competence inspectors. This includes, first of all, excellent knowledge of accounting, tax, civil, currency, and labor legislation. Sometimes inspections even require knowledge of the Family and Land Codes. It is also necessary for auditors to be well versed in the current practice of considering various issues by representatives of the Ministry of Finance, the Federal Tax Service, and arbitration courts.
The third important parameter is how well auditors express their thoughts on paper, since the final report with the results of the inspection will be in written form. And a description of errors, tax risks, recommendations should be outlined in clear language, without unnecessary “water”, so that later it is easy to use the auditors’ findings in the activities of your company.
How to check availability professional competence, analytical talent and good ability to express your thoughts in writing?
The easiest way before concluding an audit contract is to ask auditors to provide consulting services on a particular issue in writing. This will allow you to check everything described above for a small fee. Also, at the same time, it will be possible to see how obliging the auditors are, how much they try to adapt to the client, understand his needs - all this can also then make the audit more comfortable. It is better to immediately agree that the head of the audit team or senior auditor, who will subsequently take part in the audit, should provide consulting services.
In this way, you can select several suitable audit firms and then hold a competition between them on the cost of their services. If the difference in cost is small, preference should still be given to a company with stronger auditors. Since the small increase in audit costs (due to differences in wages from very good and simply good auditors) will most likely pay off by reducing timely detected tax risks, detecting unjustified non-application tax benefits and ways to legally reduce taxes and contributions, timely identification of insufficient qualifications of accountants in some matters. In general, it is unlikely that anyone will dispute the truth that higher quality usually costs more.
Also, before concluding an agreement with an audit firm, it is necessary to decide whether it is necessary step-by-step conducting an audit (for example, quarterly) or it is sufficient to conduct it after the end of the reporting year and the formation annual reporting. Phased implementation is more expensive as the verification time increases. For example, with a quarterly audit, the inspection time increases at least three times. However, a phased audit will make it possible to more quickly identify and correct mistakes made by accountants, and identify and reduce tax risks.
Before concluding an agreement with auditors, check whether the agreement stipulates confidentiality conditions for employees of the audit firm.
We hope that the information described in the article will help you decide whether you need an audit and choose a good audit company.
Karpova Margarita Vladimirovna,
CEO AuditHelp LLC, auditor
Online cash registers for online stores since July 2017
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Home — Articles
Who must undergo mandatory audit
One of the components of the annual financial statements in accordance with clause 2 of Art. 13 of the Federal Law of November 21, 1996 N 129-FZ “On Accounting” is audit report, confirming the reliability of the organization’s financial statements. Moreover, if the organization is subject to mandatory audit, this component of reporting also becomes mandatory.
The circle of persons subject to mandatory audit is established by Art. 5 of the Federal Law of December 30, 2008 N 307-FZ “On Auditing Activities”.
At the end of December last year, this article was amended due to the adoption of Federal Law dated December 28, 2010 N 400-FZ. Moreover, in Art. 2 of Law N 400-FZ specifies that it comes into force on January 1, 2011, but the provisions new edition Art. 5 of Law N 307-FZ apply to relations that arise during an audit of the financial statements of organizations starting from the reporting for 2010.
Simply put, the new list of persons subject to mandatory audit must be followed right now, when audits of financial statements for 2010 are in full swing. And since this list has changed, in practice it turns out that some organizations that were not previously subject to mandatory audit will now have to urgently invite auditors, while others who may have already entered into an agreement to conduct a mandatory audit may not carry out such an audit.
New “responsibilities”…
In addition to those organizations that were supposed to undergo a mandatory audit and before - as, for example, credit organizations, commodity and stock exchanges, insurance organizations and others - the following were added to the list of “obligations”:
— currency exchanges;
— clearing organizations;
— management companies of a joint-stock investment fund, mutual investment fund or non-state pension fund;
— organizations that are professional market participants valuable papers;
— as well as organizations that present and (or) publish summary (consolidated) accounting (financial) statements (except for government bodies, local governments, state off-budget funds, as well as government and municipal institutions).
All these organizations must also submit an auditor's report as part of their annual financial statements for 2010. And if they have not yet concluded an agreement to conduct a statutory audit, they need to immediately choose an auditor and enter into such an agreement.
…and no longer “obliged”
But there are also organizations for which audit became optional.
The fact is that in the new edition of clause 4, part 1, art. 5 of Law N 307-FZ have been significantly increased limit values of sales revenue and balance sheet currency, in which the organization becomes obliged to undergo a mandatory audit.
Let us remember that previously these limits were 50 million rubles. for revenue and 20 million rubles. for the amount of balance sheet assets at the end of the year preceding the reporting year.
The new limits look like this:
- the volume of revenue from the sale of products, the sale of goods, the performance of work, the provision of services (with the exception of state authorities, local governments, state and municipal institutions, state and municipal unitary enterprises, agricultural cooperatives, unions of these cooperatives) for the year preceding the reporting year, — over 400 million rubles;
— the amount of assets on the balance sheet as of the end of the year preceding the reporting year is more than 60 million rubles.
Please pay Special attention that these two limits are connected by the conjunction “or”. This means that to establish the obligation of an audit, it is sufficient that only one of the criteria occurs. In other words, it is not at all necessary that there should be an excess of both revenue and assets at the same time. For example, a company may have a balance sheet currency of 5 million rubles, but annual revenue of 550 million rubles.
How a mandatory audit is carried out for an LLC in 2018
— and then it will definitely be subject to mandatory audit.
The verification of compliance with limits must be carried out on the basis of reporting data for the year preceding the reporting year. As explained in paragraph 8 of Information Message of the Ministry of Finance of Russia No. 3 in connection with the entry into force of Federal Law No. 307-FZ (published in November 2009), based on interrelated norms Civil Code RF, Federal Laws “On Joint-Stock Companies”, “On Companies with limited liability", "About state and municipal unitary enterprises", "On accounting" and "On auditing activities" the decision to conduct a mandatory audit is made on the basis financial indicators for the year preceding the year for which the statutory audit is to be carried out.
This means that the question of whether it is necessary to conduct a mandatory audit of the annual financial statements for 2010 must be decided based on the reporting indicators for 2009, that is, taking into account the amount of revenue reflected in line 010 of Form No. 2 for 2009, and balance sheet currency (amount of assets) as of the end of 2009 (line 300 of Form No. 1 for 2009).
Taking into account the change in limits, it turns out that, for example, an organization that, according to reporting data for 2009, had revenue in the amount of 300 million rubles. and the amount of assets on the balance sheet is 35 million rubles, is no longer required to undergo a mandatory audit and include an audit report in the reporting for 2010.
Of course, if an agreement to conduct an audit has already been concluded, including before the adoption of Law N 400-FZ, it is not necessary to refuse to fulfill it. You can undergo an audit, receive an audit report within the deadlines established by the contract and provide it to interested users as part of the reporting, as well as take advantage of the recommendations and conclusions of auditors to improve the quality of reporting and improve the accounting process in the organization.
On the other hand, especially in cases where the auditors have not yet begun the audit or if the audit has just begun, it is also possible to terminate the contract for the provision of audit services in the manner prescribed by civil law and the specific terms of the contract with an audit firm or individual auditor. However, as a rule, upon termination of the contract, you will have to pay for that part of the auditors’ work that had already been completed at the time of refusal of their services.
For your information. Recommendations for conducting an audit of annual financial statements
On the eve of the submission of annual reports, the Ministry of Finance of Russia issued Recommendations to audit organizations, individual auditors and auditors on conducting an audit of annual financial statements for 2010. The recommendations contained in Letter dated January 24, 2011 N 07-02-18/01 are aimed at improving the quality of accounting audits reporting of organizations.
Mandatory audit in 2018: who is required to undergo it, how it goes
| Who is required to undergo an audit? | Where is it written |
| Developers attracting cash participants in shared construction | Clause 1 Art. 5 of Law No. 307-FZ, subp. 6 paragraph 2 art. 20 Federal Law of December 30, 2004 No. 214-FZ |
| Construction holdings that present or disclose summary (consolidated) accounting (financial) statements | Clause 1 Art. 5 of Law No. 307-FZ |
| Companies whose sales revenue for 2015 exceeds RUB 400 million. or the amount of assets on the balance sheet as of December 31, 2015 exceeds RUB 60 million. | Clause 1 Art. 5 of Law No. 307-FZ |
| Joint-stock companies, regardless of the volume of revenue (amount of assets) | P. |
Mandatory audit criteria
1 tbsp. 5 of Law No. 307-FZ
The organization itself selects the auditor. But not always. For example, for companies with state participation (at least 25% authorized capital) the audit organization is selected based on the results of an open competition (clause 4 of article 5 of Law No. 307-FZ).
In some cases, only audit organizations have the right to conduct mandatory audits. And only those whose staff includes an auditor with a qualification certificate issued after January 1, 2011.
Advice
Ask the audit organization (individual auditor) for documents confirming that she (he) is a member of the SRO of auditors. Or look for yourself on the Ministry of Finance website in the “Audit Activities” section
In particular for:
– developers who attract money from participants in shared construction;
– joint-stock companies – from July 1, 2015 (clause 3 of article 88 of the Federal Law of December 26, 1995 No. 208-FZ);
– organizations whose securities are admitted to organized trading;
– organizations with state participation of at least 25 percent;
– organizations with consolidated reporting.
The auditor (audit organization, individual auditor) must be independent in relation to the organization being audited.
For example, a company does not have the right to invite an auditing firm with which it has successfully collaborated for the last three years and which has provided it with services for restoration and accounting. Can't be an auditor close relative director or chief accountant of the audited organization, etc. (Article 8 of Law No. 307-FZ).
When to conduct a mandatory audit
The audit is carried out after the company has fully prepared its annual financial statements - before submitting it to the owners for approval.
The annual report is approved by the participants (shareholders) at their next annual general meeting.
Such meetings are held:
– limited liability companies (LLC) in March–April after the reporting year (Article 34 of the Federal Law of February 8, 1998 No. 14-FZ);
– joint stock companies(JSC) - from March to June (Article 34 of the Federal Law of December 26, 1995 No. 208-FZ).
What will they check? construction company
Document
Explanations regarding the audit of annual statements are in the Recommendations (attachment to the letter of the Ministry of Finance dated January 22, 2016 No. 07-04-09/2355)
The audit of construction companies has its own specifics.
– the degree of completion of works, services, products with a long production cycle is determined (for contracts construction contract the procedure is established in PBU 2/2008);
– contributions to the compensation fund are taken into account;
– materials are written off, etc.
Where to submit the audit report
Based on the results of the audit, the audit company issues an audit report to the organization on the reliability of the accounting records. It is intended for users of the organization's accounting (financial) statements.
The company must submit its annual accounting report to the tax office no later than March 31 of the following year (clause 2, article 18 of the Federal Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ, subclause 5, clause 1, article 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). The auditor's report is not included in it. Therefore, there is no need to submit it to the tax office. However, it needs to be submitted to statistics:
– either together with a mandatory copy of the annual accounting report;
– or no later than 10 business days after signing the audit report, but no later than December 31 of the year following the reporting year.
The deadlines for submitting the audit report to statistics are in paragraphs 1, 2 of Article 18 of Law No. 402-FZ, paragraph 2 of the Procedure (approved by order of Rosstat dated March 31, 2014 No. 220).
At shared construction developers also submit an audit report to the supervisory authority. This requirement is established in the Rules approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 27, 2005 No. 645 (clauses 2, 8, 9). Supervisory authority Each region has its own - it is determined by regional authorities.
In addition, the developer is obliged to let you familiarize yourself with the audit report for Last year to any person who applied (Article 20 of Law No. 214-FZ).
From October 1, 2016, companies for which an audit is mandatory are required to enter information about its results into the Unified Federal Register of Legally Significant Information about Activity Facts legal entities(EFRSFYUL). This requirement is established in the new part 6 of Article 5 of Law No. 307-FZ (information message of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated July 6, 2016 No. IS-audit-4). This must be done within three working days.
Advice
For more information on how to enter information about a mandatory audit into the register, read the article “Since October 1, SRO participants have had more work”
Public joint stock companies, as well as non-public ones with more than 50 shareholders, when publicly offering bonds or other securities, are required to publish a mandatory audit report on the Internet. This must be done on a special website of an information distributor, for example Interfax.
The period is three calendar days from the date of signing the audit report (Article 92 of Law No. 208-FZ, Chapter 71 of the Regulations, approved by the Bank of Russia dated December 30, 2014 No. 454-P).
How to account for expenses
Audit costs are included in the expenses for common types activities (as management expenses).
They are recognized in the amount of the contract price (excluding VAT) on the date when the acceptance certificate for the services provided was signed:
It is important to know
A simplified organization with the object “income minus expenses” has the right to take into account the cost of audit services in expenses (subclause 15, clause 1, article 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation)
In tax accounting, classify costs as other expenses - this is indirect costs(subparagraph 17, paragraph 1, article 264, paragraph 1, article 318 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).
Recognize them on one of the dates of your choice in accordance with the accounting policy (subclause 3, clause 7, article 272, article 313 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):
– on the day established for payment of audit services under the terms of the contract;
– on the last day of the reporting (tax) period;
– on the date when the parties signed the act of provision of services.
Organization audit is a set of measures to assess the reliability of financial reporting information and their compliance with legal requirements. The audit ends with the formulation of a conclusion about the correctness of accounting at the enterprise. Let's take a closer look at the features organizing and conducting an audit.
Classification
Exist different kinds audit of the organization. Classification is carried out according to various criteria. Depending on the category, there are independent, internal, and state.
In the first case, the inspection is carried out by a third-party company in accordance with an agreement concluded with the management of the enterprise. Behind organization of internal audit is answered by a special service operating within the company structure. State inspections are carried out by authorized government agencies.
Depending on the profile of the enterprise, the audit can be general, insurance, banking, etc.
Inspections can also be voluntary or mandatory. In the first case, the initiator is the head of the enterprise. He also determines the timing and scope of the inspection.
Organizations are subject to mandatory audit specified in the legislation.
Normative base
Concept audit of the organization, duties, responsibilities, rights, requirements for certification of companies carrying out inspections are enshrined in Federal Law No. 307.
In addition, in accordance with this regulatory act, adopted federal standards auditing activities. They set out the procedure for performing the inspection and uniform standards for carrying out the procedure. The rules are the same for all participants in audit activities.
The standards explain the principles of verification and the procedure for drawing up a conclusion. They define the methodology, depth, volume audit of organizations.
In addition to domestic ones, there are also international standards. They establish requirements for audit quality, define goals, provide lists of necessary documentation and rules for drawing up conclusions.
Instructions for auditors
The reporting can be verified by specialized organizations or private specialists. The latter are subject to a number of requirements. A private auditor must be, firstly, an accredited self-regulatory organization. In addition, they must have:
- higher legal or economic education;
- work experience as an assistant auditor or chief accountant for at least three years;
- auditor certificate (issued based on the results of passing a special exam).
The legislation also establishes a number of requirements for audit firms. The organization must, firstly, be commercial, and secondly, be formed in any form, with the exception of an OJSC. Such a company must have at least three specialists on staff. At the same time, at least 51% of its authorized capital must belong to auditors or other similar organizations.
Subject of inspection
IN organizations subject to audit at the initiative of the manager, control is carried out only on issues specified in the contract. For example, the check can be performed against only cash transactions, accounting for fixed assets, intangible assets or current assets, settlements with counterparties or the budget. Accordingly, the specialist will evaluate the correctness of the design only individual categories documents.
IN organizations subject to mandatory audit, all financial documentation and accounting statements are checked. In this case, the company must provide all available papers that are related to its economic activity. Since this is carried out by representatives of government agencies, it is impossible not to comply with their demands.
Mandatory verification
For most companies, an audit is not mandatory. As a rule, government agencies are involved in checking accounting documentation large companies, including those using financial resources population. Mandatory audit is aimed at reducing the risk from the actions of unscrupulous companies, ensuring the protection of the interests of citizens and the state. It is usually performed once a year.
List of enterprises subject to mandatory inspection
Annual organization accounting audit carried out if:
- The enterprise is a joint-stock company. It is worth noting that in accordance with the latest amendments to the legislation, the audit is carried out in relation to all business entities, regardless of the type, type of activity, or financial indicators. Accordingly, the audit is performed at both CJSC and OJSC.
- The company's shares are traded on the stock exchange.
- The enterprise publishes or provides its reports to the competent government agencies. The exception in this case is government agencies.
- The organization is a credit, insurance, clearing, non-state fund or uses financial resources of the population.
- Profit volume for last year exceeded 400 million rubles. or the asset on the balance sheet at the end of the period is more than 60 million rubles.
This list is not closed. The legislation may also establish other cases of mandatory audit. It is worth noting that only audit firms have the right to check these entities.
Deadlines
Duration of the inspection period for voluntary audit of the organization's activities is determined in the contract. The period depends on:
- Enterprise scale.
- Availability of representative offices and branches.
- Duration of activity.
- Scope of inspection.
- Accounting quality.
If carried out mandatory check, then the period is established by law and regulations. As practice shows, in this case it takes on average 1-2 weeks. There are cases of longer inspections, but they rarely last more than two months.
Stages
The audit involves 4 interconnected stages:
- Preliminary acquaintance with the enterprise.
- Planning.
- The main stage (the actual check).
- Formulation of conclusions.
Preliminary activities
At this stage, the auditor examines the constituent documentation and assesses risks based on:
- Specifics of the enterprise's activities.
- Indicators of financial position, production growth rates.
- Personnel turnover.
- Qualifications of accountants.
Planning an inspection
This stage is considered one of the key stages in the auditor’s activities. Planning includes 3 stages:
- Concluding an agreement with the customer. During this stage, the timing, cost of the audit, and the number of specialists are discussed.
- Planning. This includes defining the verification strategy.
- Development of an assessment program. During this stage, activities are formulated and reporting sections that are subject to deep and superficial verification are identified.
Progress of the process
During the direct study of documentation and its assessment, the auditor must adhere to the requirements and standards. The specialist carries out:
- Collection of evidence, i.e. primary documents reflecting the facts of transactions, information from third parties, etc.
- Evaluation of sample results.
- Study of reporting indicators.
- Assessment of the degree of materiality.
- Determination of audit risk.
- Compliance assessment of completed financial transactions legal requirements.
- Other actions necessary to formulate valid conclusions.
Registration of the conclusion
Upon completion of the audit, the auditor draws up an official motivated document. In it, he sets out his opinion on the compliance of reporting with legal requirements.
The conclusion is necessary for internal and external users to form their own understanding of financial situation enterprises. The information in this document contributes to making the right management decisions.
The conclusion could be:
- Unmodified. It is also called positive. In such a document, the auditor indicates that there are no violations in the company’s financial statements.
- Modified. This type of conclusion is divided, in turn, into 2 subtypes: a qualified opinion and a negative conclusion. The first is drawn up if the specialist has identified some violations, but they do not have a significant impact on the reliability of the reporting documents. Accordingly, a negative conclusion is formed if the violations are significant.
In addition, the auditor may refuse to express an opinion on the documents audited. This situation is possible if the specialist did not receive the necessary evidence during the audit. For example, the assessment was carried out in relation to only one reporting area, the organization refused to provide documentation, etc.
Organization of internal audit
Any manager is interested in ensuring proper control over efficiency structural divisions company and the conscientiousness of the performance of their assigned duties by their employees. The most important element of management is on-farm
The objectives of control are:
- Minimizing risks and maximizing the organization's profits.
- Increasing the efficiency of decisions regarding the use of enterprise resources.
Internal audit is an activity regulated by local documents related to the control of various areas of the company’s work.
To implement this task, an audit service is being formed at the enterprise. The number of its employees depends on the volume and nature of the inspections. In small enterprises internal audit can be carried out by 1-4 employees. In large companies, the audit department staff is quite large. However, the responsibilities of individual employees may extend beyond accounting. For example, employees can conduct assessment, technological, environmental audits, etc.
Key terms
Proper organization of an audit at an enterprise is impossible without implementing a set of measures, including:
- Drawing up projects for organizing internal audits by industry and area of work. They must clearly indicate the specific functions of the responsible persons, the rules for their interaction with other departments and management of the enterprise, the status internal auditors, their responsibilities, duties, rights.
- Establishment of qualification requirements for audit service employees.
- Development and determination of rules for introducing standards, guidelines, and norms into the activities of the audit department.
- Drawing up programs for advanced training and training of internal auditors.
- Forecasting staffing needs.
Types of internal audit
The most common division of auditing into operational, financial reporting and compliance with legal requirements.
In addition, there are checks:
- Organizational and technological.
- Functional.
- Control systems.
- Types of activities.
A functional audit is performed to evaluate efficiency and productivity. For example, an audit may be carried out in relation to transactions performed by an employee or department in the context of its function.
An organizational and technological audit involves assessing the performance of various parts of the management system. During such verification, the technological or organizational feasibility of their presence and operation is established.
Cross-functional audit is aimed at assessing the quality of certain functions. For example, the efficiency of production and sales, the effectiveness of the relationship and interaction of departments responsible for these areas of work are analyzed.
An audit of financial statements is nothing more than checking the financial performance of an enterprise, which pursues one or more goals:
Check the status of accounting and its accuracy when changing an accountant or financial director.
Get Bank loan.
Open access to participation in tenders.
Prepare the enterprise for certification.
Reorganize a business, buy or sell a company.
Attract investors or satisfy the interest of partners.
Minimize tax risks.
In today’s material, Delta Finance specialists will tell you about it as briefly and succinctly as possible.
What types of accounting audits exist?
Mandatory audit
Statutory audit is the most transparent and understandable procedure for analyzing financial condition from the point of view of the mechanics of its implementation. The purposes of such verification are determined international standard ISA 200, which has been applied since 2017, as well as by Order of the Ministry of Finance No. 192n dated October 24, 2016.
The auditor's main objectives are to:
(a) obtain reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement due to fraud or error.<...>,
(b) prepare an opinion on the financial statements and present it in accordance with the requirements of ISAs<...>.
Paragraph 11 of International Standard on Auditing 200
A mandatory audit of financial statements is a kind of audit and does not threaten all companies. The procedure is possible in relation to those companies whose asset value is last year amounted to more than 60,000,000 ₽, and the balance sheet revenue amounted to 400,000,000 ₽. The auditors also target companies whose securities are admitted to trading, or the organization represents and/or discloses consolidated statements.
In addition, Article 5 No. 307-FZ “On Auditing Activities” defines the list of organizations that must undergo this procedure. Among them:
joint stock companies,
state-owned companies, corporations and federal state unitary enterprises,
public law companies,
a number of organizations from the commercial sphere (banks, credit organizations, financial institutions, microfinance organizations, non-state pension funds, securities market participants, management companies investment funds),
political parties.
Initiative audit
An initiative or voluntary audit of financial statements is ordered by the head or owner of the company. Checks are often ordered outsourced. Even a small LLC using the simplified tax system can take advantage of such an audit.
The procedure can be either internal (by company specialists) or external (by involved experts). Of course, only external verification is objective and independent. Therefore, if the company’s goal is to obtain a loan or attract an investor, it is necessary to use the services of an external auditor who is not affiliated with the company and is not a partner, relative or acquaintance of the manager.
How is a proactive audit of financial statements carried out?
An independent audit of financial statements is carried out in several successive stages:
Planning the procedure - the expert develops an audit strategy and tactics, schedule, plan and program, organizes interaction with key employees, receives information about external and internal factors influencing the company, as well as financial activities companies.
Data collection and analysis - the auditor, together with a group of specialized specialists, checks source documents, accounting registers, statutory documents. The accuracy of the calculations is checked, accounting policy. All papers are assessed in terms of compliance with legal requirements. Recommendations for eliminating shortcomings are being formed.
Writing an audit report - the expert forms professional opinion on the results of the audit of financial statements and draws up the final document:
unmodified conclusion - if the reporting is correct.
modified conclusion - if the reporting contains serious distortions or a specialist does not have the opportunity to obtain evidence to the contrary (in practice - 0.8% of the number of audits for 2015 according to the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation).
What documents does an independent auditor check?
Depending on the purpose of the audit, our specialists offer three options for auditing financial statements:
Comprehensive - we check the correctness of declarations and calculations.
Thematic - looking for errors in documents on individual taxes.
Structural - we study papers on tax payments branches.
In addition to financial statements and tax returns, on the client’s instructions, we check the primary documents, statutory papers, business agreements, mutual settlement acts, inventory lists, permits and licenses.
What if the auditor is an agent of the Federal Tax Service?
This is out of the question. Before January 1, 2018, there were FSAD principles, one of which, No. 4, obligated the contractor to protect information obtained during business interactions with the client. Today, Article 9 No. 307-FZ “On Auditing Activities” describes the concept of audit secrecy and confirms the fact of confidentiality of information, except in cases provided by law.
How to choose a company for an audit?
The Delta Finance company has been auditing financial statements since 2010. Our organization employs certified auditors who have industry experience, cases and letters of recommendation from customers. We offer comprehensive and partial audits of financial statements and other financial documentation, and if necessary, we involve related experts - tax specialists, economists, and lawyers.