Audit Procedures for Financial Statements
Audit Procedures for Financial Statements
Auditors handle discrepancies or unusual items discovered during reconciliations by investigating checks outstanding for a long period, investigating any unusual reconciling items, and determining causes for significant discrepancies. Unsubstantiated reconciling items or those more than 90 days old are communicated to management to ensure appropriate actions are taken .
Auditors verify the accuracy of deposit liability accounts by extracting all open deposit accounts and stratifying them by type. This is followed by selecting account reconciliations for all deposit liability accounts, reviewing and testing the reconciliations to ensure that proper reconciliation formats and standards are adhered to, verifying the supporting documentation, and ensuring reconciling items are accounted for within 90 days .
Processes to maintain the integrity of confirmation responses include maintaining a list of all sent confirmations, producing a summary spreadsheet of responses received, noting exceptions or discrepancies, and following up with second requests for confirmations not received within a specified period. The random sample should achieve a 95% confidence level, and all confirmations should be cross-verified with system data .
Auditors verify loan disbursements compliance by selecting a sample of loan releases and inspecting required loan forms, checking for adherence to loan policy, tracing these disbursements through the bank's records, and sending confirmation requests to verify outstanding loan balances .
The adequacy of an allowance for uncollectible accounts is assessed by obtaining an aging report for loans and receivables, comparing current balance with prior year data, ensuring reasonableness of changes, and investigating unexpected variances. This involves reviewing the Co-op's policy for uncollectible accounts and making necessary provisions based on historical data and current economic conditions .
Confirming bank balances during a financial audit involves obtaining bank reconciliation, checking the arithmetical accuracy of reconciliation, tracing the balance per book to the general ledger balance of the cash account, and comparing the balance per bank to the bank statement. The authenticity of reconciling items is established by referencing their respective sources, such as bank debit or credit advices .
Auditors evaluate compliance with loan agreements and debt provisions by reading loan and debt agreements, testing the client's adherence to loan covenants and significant provisions, and determining whether any non-compliance requires the debt to be classified as current. If provisions are not met, auditors seek confirmation from lenders if compliance waivers have been granted .
Techniques used to confirm the accuracy of accrued interest expense recording include obtaining a schedule of accrued interest expense, testing its summarization, tracing individual amounts to the general ledger, comparing the calculated overall interest expense on loans to recorded interest expense, and ensuring client compliance with loan covenants as per agreements .
Audits ensure the accuracy of a bank's principal and interest accrual accounts by performing confirmations to verify the balances recorded. This involves obtaining confirmations of outstanding loan balances from borrowers, testing the adequacy of the allowance for uncollectible accounts in accordance with Co-op policy, and conducting reconciliations to ensure liabilities are recorded correctly in the proper period .
The role of custodians in the audit of cash account balances involves signing to acknowledge the count of undeposited collections, petty cash, and other funds. Custodians help reconcile the items counted with the general ledger balances and facilitate the verification of cash counts with marketable securities and negotiable assets .