Reviewing workpapers is a critical internal quality control safeguard that ensures issued audit reports are appropriate given the specific engagement's circumstances. There is a presumption that more experienced engagement team members should review work performed by less experienced staff. But, even sole practitioners must be concerned about complying with quality control standards and proper ethical conduct. This course will provide tips and techniques for effective and efficient review of audit workpapers, the success of which heavily depends on an auditor's proper application of critical financial statement audit concepts.
Learning Objectives
- Describe the most important financial statement audit documentation requirements
- Discuss areas of critical auditor judgments that impact the extent of audit documentation needed to support audit conclusions
- Explain the importance of establishing, applying, and monitoring quality control policies and procedures related to audit documentation
- Be familiar with the results of the numerous case studies, exercises, and illustrations that reinforce key learning points throughout the course
Major Topics
- Understanding the quality control standards and guidance related to a CPA firm's responsibilities for its system of quality control over the audit practice
- The primary purpose of audit documentation, and minimum documentation requirements
- Tips for an efficient workpaper review process that complies with relevant standards
- How to audit financial statement areas that commonly contain significant judgments or conclusions that require supporting audit documentation, including when consultations may be appropriate
- Discussing the financial statement audit risk concept, including how proper application better ensures a higher quality audit
- Considering ethics as a critical element of high-quality workpaper reviews
- The critical role of the engagement partner related to the overall quality of an engagement
- The responsibilities of the engagement quality control reviewer in evaluating the significant judgments the engagement team made and conclusions reached in formulating the report
- The importance of monitoring compliance with engagement quality control policies and procedures
