The Internal Standard “The Policy and Procedure of the System for Internal Quality Control of Audit Services”

• Main Author: O. E. Lubenchenko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: State Statistics Service of Ukraine, the National Academy of Statistics, Accounting and Audit (NASAA), the National Academy for Public Administration (NAPA) under the President of Ukraine 2019-12-01
• Series: Статистика України
• Subjects: audit, quality of audit services, internal standards, professional ethics, related auditing services
• Online Access: https://su-journal.com.ua/index.php/journal/article/view/261
• ISSN: 2519-1853; 2519-1861

New Laws of Ukraine “On Accounting and Financial Reporting in Ukraine” and “On Audit of Financial Statements and Auditing” require the enhanced responsibility of auditors for auditing results. Creation of the body of public oversight over the auditing requires the continuing improvement of the internal control system through implementing internal company standards. The article proposes the elaborated procedure and key components of the internal standard “The Policy and Procedure of the System for Internal Quality Control of Audit Services”. The structure of the internal audit includes the following sections: glossary of terminology; leadership responsibilities for quality within the audit firm; ethical requirements; acceptance and continuance of client relationships; human resources; engagement performance (work documents on performance of previous engagement procedures, on planning of auditing engagements, on final procedures, other work documents); monitoring of quality control system and individual engagements; appendices. For understanding of International Standards of Auditing, the preamble of the internal standard should contain key notions and definitions. An important aspect is recording of issues creating the appropriate environment for control: style and essential principles of the audit firm management; organizational structure and specialization of the audit firm; sharing of responsibility and authorities of management and other personnel; personnel management policy (requirements for recruitment and dismissal, professional development, assessment of work quality, system of rewards). The audit firm sets and records the procedures to be applied to assure the compliance with ethical principles (honesty, objectivity, professional competency, confidentiality, professional behavior), and for identification and prevention of threats to its independence. The general procedures for acceptance are as follows: assessment of the firm’s resources for engagement performance, assessment of the client’s integrity, reaching agreement on the engagement terms and continuance of client relationship. The section “Human resources” of the internal standard contains the procedures for personnel recruitment, continuance of cooperation with personnel, assessment of their competence and capacities to perform auditing engagements, use of disciplinary actions (if necessary). The section “Engagement performance” of the internal standard includes the description of policies and procedures for collecting sufficient and acceptable audit evidence in order to form the auditor’ opinion about financial statements. For companies with public significance, in conformity with the law, the review of auditor’s report is envisaged, and the structure of the reviewer’s report is proposed. Once the reviewer’s report is received by the audit firm and differences in opinions are settled, the auditor’s report on financial statements, the supplementary report to the auditing committee, and the report to supervisory bodies (if necessary) will be made. The section “Monitoring of the internal standard” includes recording of procedures for monitoring of quality control system (the existence of quality control system and its compliance with current legal requirements, International Standards of Auditing and internal standards). Use of the internal standard “The Policy and Procedure of the System for Internal Quality Control of Audit Services” can essentially increase the quality of auditing and other engagements on ensuring confidence and related services.