A. Lead Auditors Roles Lack Definition and Authority
The common problem with informal leadership positions is that they are often characterized by a high-level of responsibility for results with little to no authority over the people doing the work (Lewis, 2011, p. 112). For DCAA senior auditors, the role of lead auditor matches this scenario perfectly. The lead auditors in a DCAA audit engagement teams lacks the authority and influence on how audits are conducted because of its organizational structure. DCAA field audit offices (FAOs) are organized as a “weak matrix organizational structure”.
Figure 1: Sample DCAA FAO Organizational Structure and Audit Engagement Team
DCAA’s organizational structure is hierarchical where each employee has one clear superior and the lead auditor’s role as no organizational authority (PMI, 2008, p. 29). In this organizational structure, the lead auditor role and authority is not evident and therefore is more of a coordinator or expediter (PMI, 2008).
With this inherent weakness in this type of organizational structure, roles and responsibilities must be documented and clearly communicated to avoid the confusion and conflicts. Unfortunately, a lead auditor’s roles and responsibilities in DCAA are inadequately documented and are inconsistently communicated. DCAA’s Contract Audit Manual (CAM), the primary source of policies and procedures to be followed by DCAA personnel in the execution of contract audits, defines the roles and responsibilities of a lead auditor as follows:
When the audit is conducted by a team, a lead auditor may, in addition to participating in the audit, monitor the day-to-day activities of all auditors assigned to assist and may review their working papers for both format...
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...taff auditors during their advancement from entry-level to senior level (DCAI, 2013).
DCAA current training programs do not formally and adequately prepare its auditors to become team leaders and, consequently, auditors often lack the necessary skills to manage an audit project. A prevalent assumption in technical organizations is that anyone who is good at a technical job can manage projects (Lewis, 2011, p. 24). DCAA exemplifies this paradigm when an individual senior auditor is selected to become a lead auditor of an audit project because he/she possesses strong audit technical skills. Unfortunately, a senior auditor taking on the role of lead auditor in a teaming engagement not only requires a great deal of technical knowledge, but also requires leadership and project management skills: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing.
The purpose of the internal audit is to protect Costco 's assets through evaluating the acceptability and efficiency of internal controls; recognizing areas of possible risk, revenue improvement and/or cost reductions; and making sure transactions are authorized, completed, and logged as proposed. The internal auditors are accountable for guiding audits of all Costco’s local and global activities, its affiliates, and other entities Costco conducts business with as deemed necessary by management.
In order to ensure an organization’s financial order, auditors with international standards are a vital part. However, very few auditing companies exist in Afghanistan that can provide auditing services in compliance with international accounting standards. Fortunately, ACC is one of those few auditing firms that can confidently say that its auditing services are in the highe...
Individual Article Review Lily Cobian LAW/421 March 31, 2014 Ramon E. Ortiz-Velez Individual Article Review Introduction My article review is based on Sarbanes-Oxley and audit failure, a critical examination why the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was established and why it is not a guarantee to prevent failure of audits. Sarbanes-Oxley Act talks about scandals of Enron which occurred in 2001 and even more appalling the company’s auditor, Arthur Anderson, found guilty of shredding company documents after finding out Enron Company was going to be audited. The exorbitant amounts of money auditors get paid to hide audit discrepancies was also beyond belief. The article went on to explain many companies hire relatives or friends to do their audits, resulting in fraud, money embezzlement, corruption and even the demise of companies. Resulting in the public losing faith in the accounting profession, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act passed in 2002 by congress was designed to restrict what company owners and auditors can and cannot do. From what I gathered in the article, ever since the implementation of the Sarbanes- Oxley Act there has been somewhat of an improvement but questions are still being asked as to why there are still issues that are not being targeted in hopes of preventing more audit failures. The article also talked about four common causes of audit failure: unintentional auditor mistakes, fraud, fatigue and auditor client relationships. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Code of Professional Conduct clearly states an independent auditor because it produces a credible audit, however, when there is conflict of interest, the relation of a former employer, or a relative or even the fear of getting fire...
to be loyal or favorable in their reporting towards the client. The auditor’s obligation is to repor...
There are quite a few characteristics to look for when selecting an EHR vendor. Below are the salient ones that a medical office should be looking for in an EHR vendor before making a decision. Modular systems allow implementation of EHR functions in stages rather than all at once. Modular design is one of the most important trends in computing technology.
With every business activity come opportunities for fraudulent behavior which leads to a greater demand for auditors with unscathed ethics. Nowadays, auditors are faced with a multitude of ethical issues, and it is even more problematic when the auditors fail to adhere to the standards of professional conducts as prescribed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The objective of this paper is to analyze the auditors’ compliance with the code of professional conduct in the way it relates to the effectiveness of their audits.
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Various definitions have been proposed for the audit expectation gap. Humphrey, Moizer and Turley (1992), suggest that the common element in the various definitions of the gap is that auditors are performing in a manner that is at variance with the beliefs and desires of others who are party to or interested in the audit.
Hutchinson, Paul. "Building Effective Teams." OB 221 Lecture. Boston University School of Management, Boston. 12 Feb. 2014. Lecture.
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