Some issues of improving the effectiveness of the implementation of audit engagements

Abstract

The issue of audit effectiveness is one of the most essential and debating issues that have not been fully resolved at the present time yet. This issue is considered in the context of compliance with «The International Standards for Quality Control, Auditing, Review, Other Assurance and Related Services, 2016–2017». A gradation of quality indicators for the performance of audit assignments is proposed from the point of view of the need to achieve the completeness of the performance of the audit assignment, minimize the costs of its implementation and achieve maximum efficiency. Generalized groups have been identified into which it is advisable to divide the requirements for assessing the effectiveness of the task of auditing financial statements and clearly delineated the need to perform two types of audit confirmations: for compliance with legal requirements and compliance with the real state of affairs at the enterprise. A five-level classification of subjects of control over the effectiveness of the audit assignment has been developed, depending on the legal status. The concept of objects of control is generalized. It is proposed to evaluate the effectiveness of the audit assignment by three methods: an indirect method of comparing various options, an assessment based on the final results, an assessment on the immediate results, and the essence of each method is disclosed. It was determined that one of the significant indicators that affect efficiency is the audit sample and methods for creating a non-statistical sample are proposed. We believe that the implementation of the proposed methods of assessing efficiency in the practice of performing audit tasks will contribute to the formation of high-quality audit practice in Ukraine.