Job Experience in Audit Process at ACNABIN Chartered Accountants

Job Experience in Audit Process at ACNABIN Chartered Accountants

At present, ACNABIN is ranked as No. 1 Chartered Accountants Firm by Bangladesh Bank. The global affiliations of ACNABIN have enabled the firm and its people to obtain training overseas and up-to-date information and knowledge in the profession. Currently, ACNABIN is an independent member firm of Baker Tilly International, an international accounting network of 149 firms in 125 countries. ACNABIN was associated with Arthur Andersen, LLP the then global leader in the profession till the closure of the accounting conglomerate in 2002.

Since the firm’s inception, ACNABIN has been providing market survey, management review and consultancy services to clients actively involved in industry, trade, finance, microfinance, education, health, social services, and agriculture in the private, public and NGO sectors throughout Bangladesh, as well as to various UN agencies and other development partners. ACNABIN has been appointed by various governmental and non-governmental organizations to carry out consultancy services for donor aided development projects. Many of those engagements involved projects funded by international agencies such as the World Bank, ADB, UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, WFP, CIDA, DFID, FAO, ILO, IFAD, NORAD, SIDA, USAID, UNCDF, ODA, European Commission (EC), LWF/DWS, KfW-Germany, BftW, GTZ, Stromme Foundation, CARE International, DANIDA and Save the Children. ACNABIN has sufficient depth in conducting market survey with expert resources as well as it has adequate logistics facilities backhand and personnel to be able to carrying out research and its plan implementation. It is undoubted that the organization possesses demonstrable knowledge of commodities and services procured by UN Agencies. ACNABIN is also an enlisted auditor of USAID and European Commission.

Vision, Mission and Strategic Intent

Vision:

“We go beyond the traditional auditor and client relationship by becoming your Trusted Business Advisor.”

Mission:

“We adhere to the strictest principles of client confidentiality. The sensitive and competitive nature of proprietary information-and the maintenance of trust-demands it. We have built our success on such principles. We do our utmost to earn-and keep-client trust.”

Strategic Intent:

“We want to become trusted leader in the market ensuring highest level of professional ethics and competencies. While securing safe & trusted position in the market for financial institutions, telecommunications, foreign branch & liaison offices and NGOs/NPOs, we still see wider space for us to get involved in other sectors in the country and in the region.”

Values:

“We are passionate about helping our clients, while at the same time developing our people’s potential.”

“Our culture is driven by the Baker Tilly Internal core values:

• To lead by example
• To deliver quality services with integrity
• To communicate openly, to act ethically
• And to foster a community built around civic responsibilities and teamwork.

Audit Procedure in Bangladesh: A Case Study on ACNABIN- Chartered Accountants

Services Provided by ACNABIN

Services Offered

ACNABIN provides a wide range of high quality services of divertive nature to its clients in the private and public sectors in Bangladesh. It also renders services to international development agencies and expatriate consultants those are associated with various projects in Bangladesh.

Services offered cover the following areas:

• Statutory audit
• Internal audit
• Special audit
• Management audit
• Performance audit
• Financial review
• Accountancy
• Taxation-individuals, companies, banks, branch offices, Liaison offices
• Accountancy and management training
• Company formation and secretarial work
• Investigation of frauds and irregularities
• Setting up branch office and setting up Liaison office
• Companies’ registration with Board of Investment, Ministry of Industries, etc.
• Work permits, visa, security clearance of expatriates
• Bank accounts opening for foreign clients
• Obtaining permission from the central bank regarding inward and outward remittance
• Obtaining trade license, factory license, Import Registration Certificate, Export Registration Certificate, Bonded warehouse facility, VAT registration, Membership of Trade Association/chambers, etc.
• Providing services regarding setting up of office, drafting rent/lease agreement, recruitments of staff, etc.
• Preparation of manual and policy guidelines in respect of finance, accounts, internal control, inventory, procurement, operation, administration, human resources, etc.
• Services relating to fixed assets management, inventory management, etc.
• Services regarding share issue, right issue, initial public offering, prospectus, etc.
• Outsourcing of accounting services, payroll, internal audit, etc.
• Helping clients in adopting international and local accounting standards
• Tax planning and tax management of expatriates
• Business plan developments
• System development
• Feasibility study of projects
• Management consultation/development
• Due Diligence Review
• Data processing with computers
• Privatization consultancy (includes pre-privatization review, restructuring, valuation in particular and privatization assistance in general)
• Company acquisition, merger, spin off, amalgamation, etc.
• Liquidation and winding-up of companies
• Micro-finance consulting
• Human Resource Development Issues
• Organizational consulting services
• Designing computerized systems for MIS and accounting and its implementation
• Share/asset valuation
• Other services as per needs of the clients.

Training

The firm being of international standard one believes in giving due importance and impetus to a steady and continuous process of professional training/education so as to keep pace with the latest development/technique. As it is well known Andersen maintained one of the largest and prominent professional education and training centers in the world located in the United States and also had a network of other major sister training centers in Europe and Asia.

In May 1994, two of our partners actively participated in a workshop on Supreme Audit Institution held in Singapore. In January, 1997 also the firm participated in the training workshop held in Bangkok on USAID Rules and Regulations.

As a matter of routine, two of its partners took part in Andersen Worldwide SC Regional Representative Firm’s Training Program held in January 1994 in New Delhi, India. Partners also participated in such program in Dubai, UAE during February 1997. Such other programs held in St. Charles, Chicago, USA, The Netherlands, Dubai and India were also attended by our partners.

In March 1998 partners along with two other senior staff members took the opportunity to participate in the training course on “Procedures for Procurement & Disbursement under the World Bank’s Financed Project” held at BRAC Center for Development Management, Rajendrapur, Bangladesh. This is a part of a continuous process for updating the knowledge in its concerned spheres of work and also to widen the horizon of latest know how.

In August 2011 our Partners visited Australia to attend a World Conference of Baker Tilly International to update themselves on the latest developments of the profession. In November 2011 our Partners visited Malaysia to attend Regional Conference of Baker Tilly International to update regional changes in profession.

Nature of the Job

Worked in a Chartered Accountancy firm named ACNABIN, Chartered Accountant as an Audit Staff from 22 January 2015 to 16 April, 2015.

Job Responsibility

• Preparing and developing the checklist and audit program for audit, accounting and consultancy works.
• Identifying the nature and extent of analytical procedure and select risk level.
• Preparing planning memorandum, strategy memorandum, risk analysis, internal control questionnaire (ICQ).
• Planning the audit procedure based on the nature, timing, activities and financial involvement of the organization.
• Preparing meeting MEMO for discussion with management and partners about the audit issues and observations.
• Required improvement and implementation of various control systems.
• Review administrative and operating procedures of manual, fixed assets, travel management, training, contracts and delegation of authorities for checking the compliance.

AUDIT PROCEDURE IN BANGLADESH

General Definition of audit process and procedure

Auditing is a significant part of the company’s compliance efforts. Properly executed, audits will enable to identify conduct which may violate the federal and state laws or detect weaknesses in the claim development and submission process. Audits also will enable to appropriately target and measure the effectiveness of its educational efforts, ensure that appropriate corrective actions have been taken and quickly identify problems in the claim development and submission process which give rise to civil or criminal exposure.

AUDIT PROCESS:

It is a sequential order of steps followed by the auditor in the examination of client records. The audit process may vary depending upon the nature of the engagement, its objectives, and type of audit assurance desired. The process includes understanding the particular client’s environment, conducting the auditing procedures and tests, appraising the audit results, and communicating the results to interested parties.

Auditing procedure:

It is auditor technique in gathering auditing evidence to substantiate the reliability of the accounting records. The auditor evaluates whether the information presented is logical and reasonable. Examples of auditing procedures are observing assets to verify existence and amount (e.g., fixed assets), collecting independent confirmations from external parties (e.g., bank confirmation), evaluating internal control, appraising management’s activities, and obtaining management representations. The audit procedures to be followed on an engagement are indicated in the audit program. The work papers indicate what has been done on the audit.

Audit process and procedures in Bangladesh

The audit firm of Bangladesh are regulated and guided by the Institute of Chartered Accountants Of Bangladesh. ICAB has suggested and provided the firm with different subject regarding auditing. Like others it has suggested auditing procedures that can be followed by the audit firm in Bangladesh in its Audit Practice Manual.

Audit process suggested by Audit Practice Manual (APM) may be summarized as follows.

1. Planning.
2. Collection of evidence.
3. Controlling and recording.
4. Review and opinion.

Planning

In order to assist in a disciplined approach to planning and to ensure compliance with BSA, the APM provides documentation enabling a record of planning to be kept, demonstrating the approach adopted for each audit and the reasons for that approach.

In addition to the standard documentation there should always be a client-specific planning memorandum setting out:

• What the entity does;
• How it conducts its business;
• Where the risks and issues are, and
• How these will be audited

These separate stages should not be considered to be mutually exclusive, but part of a continuous process of review. It is probably fair to suggest that analytical review is not as widely used as it could be, particularly in the audits of smaller companies. Some form of final analytical review is generally carried out but, by that stage, it may be of little use in directing the audit towards areas of importance.

Assessment of risk and materiality

The assessment of risk and materiality are two of the principal planning procedures. The assessment of risk in particular is at the core of the approach to audit set out in the BSA. In the APM approach audit risk interacts with materiality and population value to determine sample sizes.

Analytical review

Analytical review can be a useful source of audit evidence. It may include:

• A preliminary analytical review
• An extensive analytical review, and/or
• A final analytical review.
• Tests of controls

Bangladesh Standards on Auditing (BSA) require a much greater consideration of the client’s system of internal control than was the case under the old standards. Under the old regime the testing of internal controls was entirely optional. This is not the case under BSA. In addition, as before, the auditor may choose to test the effectiveness of controls where this is more effective than relying solely on substantive procedures.

• As part of understanding the entity and its environment it is a requirement to evaluate the design and implementation of all controls relevant to the audit.
• Evaluating the design and implementation of controls requires more than just enquiry; further work such as inspecting documents or tracing transactions through the system is required.
• Testing of the operational effectiveness of internal controls (compliance testing) is mandatory where: the risk assessment includes an expectation that controls are operating effectively, or substantive tests alone do not provide sufficient evidence of their operation.

Collection of audit evidence

The APM audit programs are comprehensive and designed to deal with most eventualities. However, it is crucial that the programs are tailored to meet particular circumstances of the client.

Audit sampling

The question of how many items to test has always been a debatable subject. It is far better to design tests directly relevant to the client rather than to merely ‘fill in the forms’. Tailoring or drafting of programs using the APM as an aide-memoire is therefore encouraged. Clearly, any sample must be representative of the whole population and it must be sufficiently large to enable credible conclusions to be formed.

The exercise of judgment must ultimately determine the sufficiency of sample sizes. The use of inherent risk factors, materiality and population characteristics may give a useful theoretical starting point but ultimately judgment must prevail. The standard risk model does at least provide a benchmark against which to assess the reasonableness of your judgment.

Evaluation of errors

Errors found in the performance of audit tests must be evaluated to determine their impact on the population being tested and on the accounts as a whole. Evidence suggests that, at times, auditors have difficulty in making this evaluation.

Controlling and recording

This section provides detailed guidance on the use of the documentation, including the way in which the forms should be completed for the preparation of a well-documented audit file.

ASSESSMENT OF RISK

Audit risk is present in the giving of any audit opinion on financial statements. Elements of audit risk include those arising:

• from the business environment in which the entity operates;
• from the operation of the entity’s control systems; or
• from the failure of audit procedures, including ‘sampling risk’.

General risk assessment

General risk relates to the commercial and regulatory environment in which the audit client operates. It is also affected by the business risks the entity faces and an assessment of the integrity of management. This assessment should assist in determining the riskiness of the engagement as a whole. The higher the perceived risk, the lower the audit risk that the auditor is willing to take and the greater the audit assurance that is needed.

Specific risk assessment

The assessment of specific risk achieves two objectives:

• It may be used in the context of the very small company to assess the extent to which the full audit program approach can be foregone in the particular circumstances of the audit in question. This approach must always be documented and justified, not simply applied without reason; and
• It may be used to pull together the various risks identified.

Vouching the total population

It may be that a total population is tested in the audit of very small companies. For example, it may be that a very small company has 12 invoices a year and that it has been decided to examine all 12. The inherent risk assessment will not be applied, and would make no difference, in these circumstances.

The general risk assessment must still be considered because the vouching of all 12 invoices cannot, on its own, provide all the audit evidence that we require forming a reasonable conclusion that all income has been completely and accurately recorded in the company’s accounting records.

MATERIALITY

BAS 320.3 reiterates the following definition of materiality which is taken from the IASB ‘Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements’. ‘Information is material if its omission or misstatement could influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of the financial statements. Materiality depends on the size of the item or error judged in the particular circumstances of its omission or misstatement. Thus, materiality provides a threshold or cut-off point rather than being a primary qualitative characteristic which information must have if it is to be useful’. ‘True and fair’ accounts are those free of ‘material’ misstatement. For this reason above all others, an assessment of materiality should always be made.

Materiality affects audit work in two ways.

• It is one of the factors which influences the nature and extent of the tests of detail.
• It influences decisions as to whether or not an auditor should seek adjustment for actual and projected errors and for assessing the significance of areas of disagreement on judgmental matters.

Recording

After collecting the adequate sample, it is important to record in double entry systems so that the proper recording of the transaction can be determined. It also helps to observe whether the accounting procedure used by the client is correct or not and what are the implication of the given journals. BSAs also suggest different procedures for recording the transactions and there treatment regarding situation.

Assuming that the ethical issues have been properly addressed, it may be possible to use audit evidence derived from work carried out in the preparation of the accounts.

Such accountancy work must have been properly planned with specific audit objectives in mind, properly controlled, recorded and subject to adequate review. In such circumstances it may be that sufficient audit evidence can, in respect of certain assertions, be obtained to obviate the need for further detailed testing. Remember, however, that such audit evidence will not provide evidence of, for example, completeness, continued existence or title, thus still requiring top up audit work to be done.

Review and opinion

This section deals with how partner can review the overall audit and form an opinion. APM provides some checklists which can be used to review the overall performance of the client. Some example for check list can be as follows:

• Partner completion
• Audit completion
• Audit standards review questionnaire
• Internal control system questionnaire
• Critical review of accounts questionnaire
• Justification of audit report etc.

The first task of the auditor is to get answer about the review check list. If the answers satisfied the audit team and partners, they may form unqualified opinion about the client. In other cases they may opinion other than unqualified opinion.

A conclusion should be drawn for each audit area. This is vitally important. Not only should the summary sheet be concluded upon, but for each main test within each area, the relevant working paper should state:

• The aim of the tests;
• The work performed;
• The results obtained, and
• The conclusion reached.

The conclusion section provides the following options:

Planning

Particularly where there has been significant tailoring of the audit approach, it is essential that there is evidence to show that the partner has approved the approach being taken to the audit of the particular section before the work is commenced. This will also serve to improve the efficiency of the audit.

Final completion stage

The conclusion requires confirmation of a number of different things. This includes confirmation that:

• The work detailed in the audit program has been carried out;
• The results have been adequately recorded;
• All necessary information has been collected for the preparation of the statutory accounts, and
• Subject to any minor matters highlighted on B5 or B8, the objectives have been met.
• Alternative conclusion

The summary sheet should state clearly the alternative conclusion reached, with adequate explanation for the conclusion to be understood. The alternative conclusion must be brought to the attention of the partner.

Before reaching an alternative conclusion, consideration should be given to whether or not there are any additional audit procedures that could be carried out to enable a satisfactory confirmation of the audit objectives to be given.

CONCLUSIONS

In the report, Audit Procedure in Bangladesh: A case study on ACNABIN CHARTERED ACCONTANT, I have tried my level best to deliver the shadow of audit procedure that ACNABIN follows in offering service to its client’s. Chartered Accountancy is one of the most respectable professions in Bangladesh. It is mainly a step by step process. From engagement to report submission the step is followed with reasonable and professional care and maintaining all rules and regulations and standards set by the ICAB. ACNABIN is doing a great job with their seamless internal control, disciplinary policies and strong chain of command. Their inflexible ethical moral has earned them a brand status in the market.

Although there are many gaping holes in the policies set by ICAB that undermine the prospects of this glorious profession. In some cases, the auditors of ACNABIN violate some audit standards and not carry out their audit tasks properly. As a result, the quality of audit work cannot be ensured all the time. But if these loopholes are removed, ACNABIN can maintain its current status and will remain No. 1 Chartered Accountants Firm according to the rating of Bangladesh Bank.

The auditing profession has contributed and will be contributing a greater extent, ensuring transparency and efficiency of internal control system of various sectors of Bangladesh. The achievement of the auditors will be after having the maximum people of the country be aware of their rights and then proper transparency will be set conquering all obstacles.