Meeting auditing standards and audit quality

In every audit report there should be a statement that the audit was conducted following standards. Few outside of the accountability community understand what that statement means. Not that it is infallible, but following standards helps ensure the quality and integrity of auditing.

Recently auditing standards have become more rigorous. With the implementation of the new government auditing standards for audits initiated after January 1, 2008 there is a new requirement for annual monitoring of the quality control system. I recently designed a monitoring process to comply with this standard. Surprisingly, I found that our own office procedures were not being followed as intended. As an audit director I had been lax in providing guidance and supervision. This was a great learning experience. It also strengthened my belief that it is not just good enough to develop standards but also just as important to check that they are being met. A message we constantly give to auditees.