Audit-Financial Accounting will discuss, in detail, the auditing process of financial statements. The course will start by discussing what an audit is, as well as what the terms attest engagement and assurances services mean. We will discuss the audit environment, the general format of a public accounting firm, and the general format of an audit team that would conduct the procedures related to an audit. The course will also discuss regulations and regulatory institutions related to the audit process.

The course will cover the planning process for an audit engagement. The planning process is a very important component of the audit because it will outline the steps that will be taking. The highest levels of the public accounting firm are generally involved in the planning process. We will consider how to assess risk related to the audit using an audit risk model. The risk assessment will help us plan the audit and determine where the auditor's time can be spent most efficiently to gather evidence to support the auditor’s conclusion and opinion.

What will you learn in this course?

You will learn the different formats of audit evidence and how to document audit evidence so that it can be used as evidence to support the conclusion and opinion of the auditor. We will exam the internal controls of the organization. Internal controls are policies set up by management to achieve the objectives of the organization. As auditors, we are primarily concerned with internal controls that will lower the risk of financial statements being materially misstated. If we can rely on internal controls as an auditor, we may be able to do more testing of the controls and less substantive testing, and this can be more efficient.

The course will discuss the audit sampling methods. When applying testing procedures, auditors often need to test a sample of a population and then apply the results to the population as a whole. Different sampling methods are appropriate for different situations and assertions being tested.

Next, we will talk about substantive tests. Substantive tests include tests that most people think of when they think of an audit, like pulling files, counting inventory, and performing procedures at the company’s place of business. Substantive testing will include testing account balances and transactions. We will then cover audit procedures related to specific processes, including the revenue process, the purchasing process, and the payroll and human resources process.

Next will cover the audit process for specific accounts like inventory, prepaid expenses, intangible assets, property plant and equipment, long-term debt and equity. Then we will discuss the audit process related to cash, cash being a very important account because it is involved in almost every other accounting process at some point.

Learners will then learn how to put together a standard audit report. The standard audit report is called an unqualifies report. It is beneficial to actually memorize or have a good idea of the format of the standard unqualifies report. We can then think about variations on the standard unqualified report, adjusting it as necessary.