What are the main purposes for an interview in context of an audit ? Can all these purposes be used together at the same time? Briefly discuss.

The main purposes for an interview in context of an audit are orientation, examination and confirmation: Orientation of Audit Team: is normally part of the audit team's learning process during the planning phase. It aims at exploring and giving an overview of a specific area or function. e.g., by asking for presentations of activities, explanations of formal or informal networks or interpretation of documents (reports, instructions or budgets). The objective could be to identify possible audit subjects or to find out about other available sources of information such as key persons or documentation. Examination of Audit Evidence: aims at more specific issues with a view to establishing new information, often to be used as audit evidence. In some cases, such information has not been previously recorded at all but is embodied in the interviewee through personal experiences, particular references, opinions, etc. In other cases, the knowledge can be retrieved for example by (joint) interpretation of internal documents, reports or records. It should be noted that evidence obtained from interviews often needs to be corroborated. i.e. supported by evidence from other data collection methods. Confirmation of information: Finally, often goes together with either orientation or examination, but deserves to be mentioned as a separate purpose because of its fundamental importance. Confirmation, by definition, is typically based on information that has already been gathered. However, in this context the information can also be gathered and confirmed simultaneously. Not least in the planning phase, it is important to have basic conditions and facts explicitly confirmed by stakeholders. However, in the execution phase there might also be a need to confirm facts and findings. If data is incorrectly understood, the quality of the whole audit may suffer and a lot of work may be in vain. An interview can have one or two of these purposes, but normally not all three at the same time.