As more companies are being established in Indonesia, auditor has become one of the most demanded positions in the job market. Companies need auditors to examine financial reports and to help the companies in managing risks and securing their financial condition. According to a researcher at Economic Modeling Specialists International, Auditor is the second most demanded professions in most of the countries in the world (Berita Satu, 2012). Therefore, being an auditor is a good choice for those who want to have a promising career. There are two types of auditor profession, which are internal auditor and external auditor, and it is important to know the major differences between them to make the right decision of which auditor type that we prefer.
One way to distinguish between internal and external auditor is the scope of works. Internal auditors can only do auditing jobs inside the companies that employ them; they are companies’ internal people. Their job is to perform both financial and operational audits to study the risks in both areas as well as what has been and needs to be done to minimize those risks in order to achieve certain objectives of their companies. Meanwhile, external auditors’ job is to perform auditing works for other companies that hire their services, which means they do a lot of traveling. It is their main responsibility to examine and give opinions about the presentation of companies’ financial statements and to ensure the correct implementation of accounting principles and regulations. For example, internal auditors might concern on production and selling cost efficiency to maintain profit, while external auditors only judge whether the company can continue their business by examining its financial statements, without giving any advice of how to improve their financial performance.
Other differences are compensation and career advancement. In the first two to three years, the salary of an internal auditor could be 2 – 3 million rupiahs higher compared to an external auditor. However, for the rest of their working period, external auditor will earn more than internal auditor will since external auditor will receive bonuses in addition to their salary (Jurnal Akuntansi Keuangan, 2012). Besides that, internal auditor can only advance their career to the level of Chief Audit Executive, which is below the CEO, because they reside in the company; meanwhile, external auditor can advance their career to become the owner of auditing firm, especially because they travel a lot resulting in their vast networks.
Interests: The external auditors ensure that quarterly and annual financial statements are prepared in accordance to GAAP and that they themselves and the company follow professional standards
The stereotypical image correlated to the account mirrors that of a public accountant. An individual working as a public accountant can expect to work as an independent third party to a multitude of companies. As this third party it is their duty to oversee financial transactions to ensure that the statements of not only the company, but also its’ supporting companies, correctly correspond and match up to the position, results and cash-flow of the clientele. This general quota outlining a public accountants job description is not the same for a private accountant. The main difference between a public and private accountant is that unlike the public and its handle on a multitude of accounts, a private accountant specializes with a certain company or field. With this specialization, a private accountant tackles setting up a system that records the transactions within the business. The recordation of the transactions is then generated into statem...
Both roles should ideally be independent of operations, but corporate compliance in reality owns the compliance operation policies and procedures. Internal audits have to be completely Independent. Internal audits also bring attention to the need for monitoring as a result of their auditing function. Corporate compliance ensures that monitoring and auditing occur. As far as follow-up goes, corporate compliance is responsible for such things, while internal audit is just responsible for reporting whether management responded appropriate to obtained information. Both roles are involved in compliance risk. Corporate compliance creates and implements a compliance plan to ensure that compliance risks are addressed. Internal Audit on the other hand, addresses compliance risks as part of risk based audits.
Unfortunately, we have witnessed throughout history businesses skewing accounting records to benefit themselves. There are many small, somewhat unnoticeable changes that a company can make towards their books that potentially will benefit them in any way they wish. Sometimes, these changes are just mistakes like the German based company, Hypo Real Estate in 2011 (Buergin). Other instances have included infamous companies like Enron, Worldcom, and Tyco, in which they all knowingly changed miscellaneous accounts on the books for their own company’s benefit.
Throughout the years, the news covered stories of corporate scandals involving accounting unethical practices. These unethical corporate acts had a tremendous negative impact on these company’s stockholders, investors, employees and the whole U.S. economy. Most of these scandals would have been prevented, if the independent audits of these companies were conducted in an ethical manner. With this in mind, two corporate scandals will be the subjects of further review to understand that an auditor might encounter ethical dilemmas, if independence and objectivity are not part of the audit process.
Internal consultants have to work from the onset of the project through the execution of their projects. The internal consultants can aid, observe and rectify any errors with the implementation of their submissions. This permits for added probability of lasting success within the company but it can also add to possibility of loss of a job, if the project fails. Externals can also, have the appearance of having bad character when it comes to projects by coming in, presenting explanations and resolutions, and exiting.
This assignment has three primary objectives with the first being to classify the types of audit opinion issued by the auditors of Petronas Dagangan Berhad. Audit opinion can be found on audited statements and auditor is required to state the opinion whether the statements have followed the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) or not. There are four types of audit opinion,
This assignment is dedicated to analyze the development of the accounting profession in Malaysia and evaluate the future direction of Malaysia’s accounting profession. Accounting defines as the process of identifying, recording, measuring and communicating the financial information. It shows the profits or loss for the period, the value of the of a firm’s assets, liabilities and owner equity. Accounting as a profession has a very important role to play in the economic development of any country. Accounting provide information on the resources that available to a firm and the outcome accomplish through their use. Accounting professional are prepared to provide essential guidance to help organizations achieve long-term financial,
...e financial reports and statements are correct. This auditing will be conducted by auditing department of the organization, even may be done by an independent auditor who is not part of the organization, and sometimes public officials are elected. In case of unmatched consequences the organization need to give explanation on the misrepresentation of wrong statements. Auditors purpose is then to ensure that the misrepresentations are corrected, then maintain accurate, reliable financial documents and statements.
Increased competitions and high expectations of the companies have put high pressure on the accountants. Making the most accurate decisions and helping the companies maximize their financial performances have become almost basics of the accountants’ duties. Many business owners question why they need to seek the services of an accountant when they can do many things themselves with the help of the technological tools. Today, an accountant must provide more than what technology can do for the company. They have to set business plans, goals and provide guide to achieve them with less cost and most profit. They have to advise business on their investments and project the most profitable decisions for the company. Beside the investments, accountants expected to consult the firms on their consolidations with other firms. Making decisions and researches on reducing costs, and sharing resource while providing variety of offerings puts lots of stress on the
Audit Risk is the risk that an auditor has stated an incorrect audit opinion on the financial statements. It may cause the auditors fail to alter the opinion when the financial statements contain material misstatement. The auditor should perform the audit to lower the audit risk to a sufficiently low level. In the auditor’s professional judgement, the auditor should appropriately state a correct opinion on the financial statement
The fundamental duty of an external financial auditor is to form and express an opinion on whether the reporting entity’s financial statements are prepared in accordance with the relevant financial reporting framework. In discharging this duty, the auditor must exercise “reasonable skill, care and caution” (Lopes, J. in Kingston Cotton Mill Co 1896) as reflected in current legal and professional requirements.
The evolution of auditing is a complicated history that has always been changing through historical events. Auditing always changed to meet the needs of the business environment of that day. Auditing has been around since the beginning of human civilization, focusing mainly, at first, on finding efraud. As the United States grew, the business world grew, and auditing began to play more important roles. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, people began to invest money into large corporations. The Stock Market crash of 1929 and various scandals made auditors realize that their roles in society were very important. Scandals and stock market crashes made auditors aware of deficiencies in auditing, and the auditing community was always quick to fix those deficiencies. The auditors’ job became more difficult as the accounting principles changed, and became easier with the use of internal controls. These controls introduced the need for testing; not an in-depth detailed audit. Auditing jobs would have to change to meet the changing business world. The invention of computers impacted the auditors’ world by making their job at times easier and at times making their job more difficult. Finally, the auditors’ job of certifying and testing companies’ financial statements is the backbone of the business world.
The complete destruction of companies including Arthur Andersen, HealthSouth, and Enron, revealed a significant weakness in the United States audit system. The significant weakness is the failure to deliver true independence between the auditors and their clients. In each of these companies there was deviation from professional rules of conduct resulting from the pressures of clients placed upon their auditors (Goldman, and Barlev 857-859). Over the years, client and auditor relationships were intertwined tightly putting aside the unbiased function of auditors. Auditor careers depended on the success of their client (Kaplan 363-383). Auditors found themselves in situations that put their profession in a questionable time driving them to compromise their ethics, professionalism, objectivity, and their independence from the company. A vital trust relationship role for independent auditors has been woven in society and this role is essential for the effective functioning of the financial economic system (Guiral, Rogers, Ruiz, and Gonzalo 155-166). However, the financial world has lost confidence in the trustworthiness of auditor firms. There are three potential threats to auditor independence: executives hiring and firing auditors, auditors taking positions the client instead of the unbiased place, and auditors providing non audit services to clients (Moore, Tetlock, Tanlu, and Bazerman 10-29).
Audit is a process to evaluate and review the accounts and financial statement objectively. We can divide it into internal auditors and external auditors. Internal auditors have a inner knowledge of business process. Auditor has access to the much confidential information and all levels of management. But they may lose their judgement and they are not acceptable by the shareholder. “The overall objective of the external auditors is to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to report on the financial statements in acco...