Práce přibližuje externí a interní audit v kontextu jejich vývoje. Zabývá se koncepcemi, principy a vztahy mezi externím a interním auditem. Primárním výsledkem je popis důsledků, které plynou uživatelům účetních závěrek z existence externího a interního auditu v podniku.

Diplomová práce srovnává interní a externí audit. V prvních kapitolách jsou obsaženy definice, vývoj a profesní profil. Dále se zmiňuji o etickém kodexu a popisuji postup provádění obou druhů auditu. Praktickou část jsem zaměřila na podniky Škoda Auto, a.s. a Accenture. S rostoucí velikostí podniku, která byla měřena počtem zaměstnanců, obratem a hodnotou užívaného majetku, se zvyšovalo riziko omylů a podvodů. Proto bylo vyžadováno, aby správnost účetnictví byla vedena vedle nezávislého externího posuzování také interními auditory. Většina podnikatelů se během své práce setká s problematikou auditu a to jednak při uspokojování požadavků legislativy a dále při řízení podnikatelského procesu. Společnou vlastností každého auditu je nezávislost. Za nezávislost se v této oblasti považuje buď nezávislá osoba ? auditor a nebo nezávislost na auditované činnosti. Klíčová slova audit, interní audit, externí audit, etický kodex, controlling, outsourcing, zákon Sarbanes-Oxley

The objective of this master thesis is to describe tools and methods used in audit practice. The thesis is split into two parts - theoretical and practical. The theoretical part defines and describes external and internal audit and related tools and techniques. The theoretical part was sourced from multiple resources - both literature and online. The practical part was written from an Big4 audit assistant point of view. It describes an external auditor job -testing and analyzing a ficticious client

This dissertation examines the effect of accountability and client risk on auditor efficiency and effectiveness during an audit review task. I considered two types of accountability. The first type is outcome accountability, which represents the type of accountability in the current audit review process. The second type of accountability is process accountability, which is not currently utilized in the audit review process. I also examined two levels of client risk (high and low) because client risk has been shown to impact efficiency and effectiveness of the audit review process. An internet-based experimental instrument was utilized for this study. Participants were practicing auditors. Findings indicate that process accountability improved performance by exhibiting both an increase in identification of errors and a decrease in likelihood of agreement with the preparer. Findings also show that process accountability decreases efficiency by increasing overall time to complete the study and the amount of information reviewed. These results suggest that process accountability, the act of documenting the process used to perform a task, may reduce the chances of audit failure, making the reduction in efficiency acceptable. I also find that participants in the process accountability and high risk groups may have experienced information overload. Both high client risk and process accountability have been shown to increase attention to information and time spent on a task. A decrease in errors identified by individuals in this group when compared to individuals in the process accountability and low risk group may indicate information overload. Also, attrition rates and followup responses from participants who did not complete the study indicate that information overload may have been an issue for participants in the process accountability/high risk group. / Ph. D.

The determinants of audit fees and report lag: A comparative study of Egypt and the UK Despite the occurrence of recent economic and political events such as the global financial crisis and Arab spring in the Middle East, researchers have not addressed the effects of such events on the auditing profession. That is has given a motive to this study to explore this point of research. This study has three main objectives. The first objective is to investigate the determinants of audit fees and audit report timeliness in the Egyptian and UK contexts. The second objective is to point out how the economic and political events could affect these determinants. The third objective is to make a comparison between the response of auditors towards economic and political instability in both countries. These objectives are set to solve the research problem of this study which is to investigate how the price behaviour of audit fees and report timeliness can vary in two different contexts: Egypt and the UK, and to highlight how auditors respond to such economic (Global Financial Crisis) and political events (Egyptian Revolution). A special attention has been addressed to tourism industry while investigating audit pricing and timeliness decisions throughout this study for two reasons. First, tourism industry play a critical role for the economy of many developing and developed countries. Second, tourism industry is highly affected by any economic and political events. For these reasons, tourism industry is surrounded by high risk during the economic or political instability, and thus this might result in special procedures and decisions taken by the auditors regarding tourism industry clients during instable periods. To take into account the most recent economic and political events, the study sample covers the period of six financial years from 2008 to 2013. This sample period has been chosen to capture the global financial crisis that has taken place during 2008-2009 and also to investigate the effects of the Egyptian revolution that has taken place on January 25, 2011, and subsequent political events. The study sample includes 212 Egyptian companies listed in the Egyptian stock market and the top 350 companies (FTSE 350) listed in the London Stock Exchange. For guaranteeing the preciseness of the findings, advanced panel data Prais-Winsten statistical analysis technique has been used throughout this study. Results of this study reveal consistency between Egypt and UK in most signs of coefficients of audit fees determinants. However, a lot of differences exist between the audit report lag determinants in the Egyptian and UK context that suggest that a one-size-fits-all approach cannot be generalized in audit report lag determinants for various countries. Despite that tourism is a very risky industry that is easily affected by economic and political instability, results reported in Egypt and UK reveal that audit fees charged and audit delay reported for tourism did not differ from other industries in both contexts. Results also reveal that Big N auditing firms in the UK have competitive advantages of not charging an audit fee premium and offering a more timely audit report than non-big N. These advantages increase the demand of Big N in the UK and increase their dominance. On the other side, in Egypt, Big N auditing firms do not offer such advantage of timely audit reports than non-big N, besides, they charge their clients with audit fee premium. That enabled medium sized and small auditing firms to penetrate the Egyptian auditing market and increase their market share, and thus, Big N dominance is not high in the Egyptian audit market as that in the UK. Different auditor responses to global financial crisis (GFC) have been documented in both countries. As auditors in Egypt decreased their audit fees and offered more timely audit report to face the economic recession and the anxiety of investors accompanied with the GFC. However, neither the pricing of auditing services nor the audit report lag have been affected during the GFC in the UK audit market. According to the results of this study, during the Egyptian Revolution, auditors tended to charge audit fees premium without increasing/decreasing audit delay. This implies that the increase in audit fees during revolution was a risk premium due to the instability in economic and political conditions and was not accompanied by any increase in audit effort and delay.

This diploma paper is focused on the problems of internal audits. The goal of the paper is to inform readers on the profession of the internal auditor. The paper is divided into two parts. In the first part background information is provided on the origin and development of the auditor profession, kinds of audit, and the relationship between external and internal audits. Next in this part is an overview of the internal audit; namely its development, requirements on the person of the internal auditor, law concerning internal audits in the Czech Republic and the procedures of internal auditing starting with risk analysis, planning and realization of the internal audit and concluding with the reporting of results and assessment of the internal audit. In the second part a case study is provided of an internal audit at the Ministry of Education. In this part I describe the history of the department, and an internal audit of the department - its position and individual results accomplished by the internal audit.

The thesis is devoted to analyze the system of various types of audit in the selected company. It explains the need to perform regular internal audit in large companies. This thesis includes theoretical preconditions for successful functioning of the audit system in the company and the analysis of a particular system in a large company in the automotive industry. Based on the analysis it suggests measures that lead to more effective performance of activities related to audits and its actual implementation. The aim is to explain the differences between the various types of audits, to analyze the existing system in the selected company and propose a new solution.

The large accounting firms recently created U.S.-based audit support groups to advance efficiency and consistency by applying firm-wide methodologies and standard audit procedures in judgmental/routine accounting areas. These groups—hereafter called the centralized audit team (CAT)—service several engagements simultaneously and execute procedures independently without core teams' oversight. However, the core teams are required to review and finalize the CAT's completed assessments and audit conclusions. This authority can result in unintended consequences, such as the core team discounting the results of the CAT's testing, which can reduce consistency across engagements. I investigate this concern by conducting an experiment to examine if the core team's review of the procedures used by the CAT and the client's views about the CAT's evidence requests influence core team reviewers' evaluations of the CAT's work. I predict and find that dissimilarities between the nature and extent of audit procedures used by core teams in prior audits and those currently used by CATs create an association effect such that reviewers are more likely to disagree with the CAT's conclusions. Inconsistent with my prediction that core teams will feel the need to please their clients, I find marginal evidence that reviewers are more likely to agree with the CAT's conclusions when clients complain versus when clients do not complain about CATs' excessive evidence requests. I fail to find evidence of an interaction effect. This study contributes to existing research and practice by highlighting conditions that can affect firms' ability to obtain their anticipated consistency and efficiency goals because core teams may discount the CAT's audit approach. / Doctor of Philosophy / Audit clients hire external audit firms to evaluate their financial information and provide reasonable assurance to the public that the financial information is presented in accordance with U.S. accounting standards, the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Once a client hires a firm, the firm assigns a core team to the audit engagement. The core team performs interim and year-end audit procedures to assess the client's financial statements. To ensure that core teams conduct a sufficient assessment that meets U.S.-based auditing standards, firms employ firm-wide audit methodologies and standard tools that aid auditors in planning, performing, and documenting their procedures. However, inspections conducted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) indicate that some core teams do not adequately follow firms' methodologies, often leading to engagements that do not meet certain requirements in the auditing standards. These types of discrepancies identified during PCAOB inspections could lead to monetary fines and damage firms' reputations. To help combat these issues, audit firms have begun employing Centralized Audit Teams (CATs) whose objective is to assist core teams by using firm-wide methodologies to perform standard procedures on certain audit areas within engagements. By applying standard procedures to multiple audit engagements simultaneously, CATs have the potential to improve the firms' audit consistency and efficiency. While the CAT plans, performs, and documents its audit procedures in the assigned area, the core team remains ultimately responsible for the overall audit. Therefore, the core team must review the CAT's work to ensure they completed sufficient and appropriate procedures. Existing audit research documents that different conditions within an audit can affect reviewers' judgment. For instance, a reviewer is less likely to scrutinize and disagree with the preparer's audit conclusion when the reviewer is familiar with the preparer. In my dissertation, I examine if certain factors that occur during CAT audits impact core team reviewers' judgment, lowering the possibility that firms will achieve their audit efficiency and consistency goals across engagements. Extant research posits that some core teams choose to follow firm standard methodologies while others choose to deviate from the methodologies and perform client-specific procedures. Once the core team chooses to perform standard or client-specific procedures, it does not often change procedure type. Thus, the standard procedures that CATs employ may be similar or dissimilar to the procedures that core teams performed in prior years. In this dissertation, I conduct an experiment using experienced external auditors to determine whether the similarity between core teams' prior audit procedures and CATs' standard procedures impact core team auditors' judgments when reviewing CATs' work. I predict that core team reviewers will form favoritism towards CATs when CATs perform procedures that are similar as opposed to dissimilar to the procedures that their team utilized in prior years. Therefore, the core team reviewers will be less likely to scrutinize and disagree with the CAT's audit conclusion. Audit research also indicates that clients complain when auditors inconvenience them in hopes that the complaint will cause the auditors to behave in a manner that pleases them. For example, clients may complain when auditors ask them to provide a significant amount of evidence to support the reporting of a certain account balance. Since CATs follow standard procedures, they make similar evidence requests to all clients; however, these requests may differ from the core team's prior requests (i.e., clients should be more accustomed to the core team's prior requests). This dissimilarity may cause clients to complain. I predict that core team reviewers are more likely to attempt to please their client by adjusting a CAT's audit conclusion in a manner that favors the client when the client complains about the CAT compared to when the client does not complain. However, prior research also implies that reviewers are more likely to react to a client's complaint if they believe it is authentic. Therefore, I predict that core team reviewers are more likely to adjust a CAT's audit conclusion when the client complains about a CAT that conducts dissimilar versus similar procedures relative to the core team's prior procedures. The results of my study imply that when the CAT's standard audit procedures are dissimilar to the core team's prior procedures, reviewers are more likely to overrule CAT's audit recommendations by making significant changes to the audit results. These results are driven by the reviewer's perception that the CAT is more competent to audit the client's financial information accurately when the CAT uses similar procedures. I also find marginal evidence that when a client complains about the CAT, core team reviewers are more likely to agree with the CAT's conclusions even though the conclusions do not favor the client. I fail to find evidence that reviewers are even more likely to disagree with the CAT when the client complains, and the CAT's procedures are dissimilar as opposed to similar. My study sheds light on how CAT audit engagement conditions can influence core team reviewers' judgment. Given that firms have made significant investments to create and employ CATs, this dissertation provides insight to audit practitioners by highlighting engagement factors that lower firms' ability to achieve their related efficiency and consistency goals.

The objective of this study is to address the gap that exists in the literature regarding quantifiable guidelines, benchmarks and consistency of applications. During the research acceptable benchmarks for the calculation or quantification of the elements linked to materiality and audit risk were found. The benchmarks are in compliance with the practices and the requirements of the ISAs and regulations. Models and benchmarks based on literature were used as a basis and modified for application in the auditing environment. The combination of literature, responses from public practitioners and experience based on best practices resulted in the development of a modified risk-based assessment model. The conclusion from the empirical study indicated that there are no defined rules or basis for calculating materiality and audit risk. The inconsistencies in responses indicate that audit firms and developer of key concepts interpret and apply the above-mentioned term different in practice. The interpretations of the relevant ISAs, appear to be conceptually correct as no major non-compliances were identified. Various instances indicated that there is a lack of guidance with regard to the quantification or qualification of benchmarks. The implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002) was an event that leads to the consideration of more conservative benchmarks. The most consistent benchmark that stood the test of time was Discussion paper 6 (1984). The 30 years since the development of these benchmarks indicate that little attention has been given to one of the most complex issues in auditing. Companies within different industries are not generic and exceptions will occur where the auditor needs to apply professional judgment to accommodate the deviations. Further research is required to assist the audit professionals and students in the development of consistent benchmarks to increase the reputation of the profession. The conclusion drawn from this study is that audit materiality and audit risk has a significant impact on the audit process as even the audit report is influenced by proper audit planning and guidelines to support the auditor in audits. / MCom (Accountancy), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

Extraordinary high fees received by the auditors from their clients during the recent financial crisis have attracted public attention. However, reasons for high fees for audit service are obscure. Many studies have proved the importance of the client size, complexity, risks and the auditor status in determination of audit fees. Another determinant, the non-audit fee, has been intensively debated in the literature. The reason for this is that the audit and non-audit fees are not correlated in the way many researchers have expected. Namely, the vast majority of research has reported a positive association between two services. Many explanations for the phenomenon have been set forward. However, real reasons for such association remain unclear and the consensus between researchers is lacking. The study of the correlation between the two types of expenditures in the Swedish audit environment during a long time period may shed some light on this complex phenomenon. Some evidence suggest that an economic downturn can affect the relationship between audit and non-audit fees and their ratios. Therefore, the recent financial crisis provides an excellent opportunity to examine a possible relationship. Using the data from Middle Cap and Small Cap Swedish companies, this study investigates the relationship between audit and non-audit fees and their ratios during three periods of different economic conditions: favorable 2006 -2007, economic downturn 2008-2009 and post crisis period 2010-2011. In this study I tested a number of hypotheses. Firstly, I investigated the suggestion that the relationship between audit and non-audit fees in Sweden, like in many other countries, is positive. Secondly, I tested the hypothesis that economic fluctuations affect this relationship. Thirdly, I explored my prediction that the economic downturn influences the ratios of audit and non-audit fees. I have shown that the relationship between audit and non-audit services is positive during the whole investigated period. According to these results, the relationship is not affected by different economic conditions. Furthermore, I have found out that the financial crisis affected the audit and non-audit fee ratios. The ratio of the audit fee increased during the crisis and continued to increase during the post-crisis period. The ratio of non-audit fee decreased in the same proportion.