Auditing has never been easy since it involves numerous complexities and challenges. Wading through the sea of audit challenges is hard for both the companies and auditors. 2021 is a year of extreme dynamism for business entities regarding accounting and auditing procedures. However, modern technologies and procedures are stemming complex problems and challenges that must be overcome. We have compiled a list of top audit challenges in 2021 that can hinder a transparent audit. Read these challenges and design a plan to counter them.
Top Audit Challenges in 2021:
Complying with various audit standards is not easy since you will face countless challenges down the road. These challenges could stop you from achieving big, and you need to overcome these. Overcoming these challenges seems harder until you connect with top audit firms in Dubai. Give a quick read to this article to know what these challenges are.
1. Revenue recognition:
The first and the most recurring challenge in the auditing arena is revenue recognition. Audit evidence is often too weak or vague to support an assertion. Auditors conduct different substantive tests for process completion. Various transaction and sales documents like sales invoices are verified to ensure their authenticity.
Generating the required level of confidence and sufficient evidence takes some analytical procedures and detailed testing. Once done, these tests and procedures build sufficient proofs to support an assertion. Of all the audit areas, revenue recognition and verification is the sensible one.
2. Engagement letter:
It had consistently been a test to draft a practically amazing engagement letter. And it is a pre-essential to agree with different bookkeeping and auditing norms. It guarantees an unmistakable agreement and correspondence of the obligations of the auditor and the duties of the management.
One of the auditing requirements is agreeing to the audit engagement, and the engagement letter ensures that. A clear understanding and delivery of communication and management duties depend on this letter, which never comes easy.
3. Written representations;
Pieces of evidence in auditing vary, and the auditors ask for more if the currents are insufficient. When it comes to written descriptions or representations, they are never sufficient enough. You need to find evidence that supports the claims or statements in writing.
Written representations are valid at some points in auditing but not all the time. The standards have specified a few areas where written representations can work, but when supporting a transactional claim, you need to come up with more solid audit evidence.
4. Lack of communication:
Company employees become tight-lipped when it comes to an understanding the scope of auditing in a particular organization. It usually happens due to a lack of communication between top and lower management. A healthy and trusting work relationship among employees and different management levels will help at various fronts.
Auditing is one area where frequent communication can help employees and the management. It will come about through establishing effective communication channels. Various jargon and acronyms will go around the audit work and everyone needs to understand these.
5. Inventory:
The inventory of a company is often audited by conducting control tests. The auditor will conduct these tests to see if your company has any problem with inventory. The stocktaking procedures of the management should be reliable to pass the control tests. It is becoming a challenge since companies think of it as either inconvenient or too expensive.
Companies often think of inventory-taking procedures as a hindrance and often neglect them. Doing so stems problems for them at the time of auditing. To avoid this issue, you need to join hands with bensauditors.com who will keep everything in line for you.
6. Documentation:
Which documents are necessary for a successful and transparent audit? No one knows the answer! However, to respond to that question, one can securely say that there is no ‘firm’ rule where audit documentation is concerned. However, accounting principles on audit documentation indicate that the auditor should make a judgment dependent on the target contained in that specific norm.
It ought to be an adequate and proper record of the reason for the audit report. Thus, it should prove that the audit arranging and execution are as per the vital monetary principles. The auditor will ask for more documents if the current ones are not enough and the management must provide this on-demand.
Make your business transparent with expert auditing firms!
Transparency in business activities and operations is necessary to keep things in the flow. It is necessary to be compliant with accounting and auditing standards at every point and be prepared all the time for an audit. These preparations won’t come easy without taking an expert auditing firm on board. Consider hiring one to make your business activities clean and error-free!
