Monako Consulting, is an established consulting firm in India providing various kinds of professional services covering consulting, valuation, taxation, forensic audit, etc. The Firm had various teams handling each line
CS Professional · Forensic Audit · PYQS · December 2021
Monako Consulting, is an established consulting firm in India providing various kinds of professional services covering consulting, valuation, taxation, forensic audit, etc. The Firm had various teams handling each line of service, consisting of well experienced and qualified staff. The Managing Partner of the firm was considering to enhance the business of the firm into audit practice as well. He called for a meeting with various service line Leads, to deliberate and decide whether to venture into audit practice. The Forensic Audit Lead contended that 'Forensic Auditing covers a broad spectrum of activities, with terminology not strictly defined in regulatory guidance'. Hence the scope for forensic audit is wider, whereas the audit practice is bound by regulatory and legal requirements. The Managing Partner said that the Audit is the same, just that the approach would change in case of statutory audit. He also contended that they can make use of their Consulting practice by using the data analytics and other tools for their existing client and provide better services. In this background, answer the following: 'Forensic Auditing covers a broad spectrum of activities. with terminology not strictly defined in regulatory guidance.' Explain.
Answer & Explanation:
Forensic auditing covers a broad spectrum of activities, with terminology not strictly defined in regulatory guidance. Generally, the term 'forensic auditing' is used to describe the wide range of investigative work which the professionals in practice could be asked to perform. The work would normally involve an investigation into the financial affairs of an entity and is often associated with investigations into alleged fraudulent activity. Forensic Auditing refers to the whole process of investigating a financial matter, including potentially acting as an expert witness if the fraud comes to trial. The process of forensic accounting includes the forensic investigation itself, which refers to the practical steps that the forensic auditor takes in order to gather evidence relevant to the alleged fraudulent activity. The investigation is likely to be similar in many ways to an audit of financial information, in that it will include a planning stage, a period when evidence is gathered, a review process, and a report to the client. The purpose of the investigation, in the case of an alleged fraud, would be to discover- If a fraud had actually taken place, To identify those involved, To quantify the monetary amount of the fraud (i.e. the financial loss suffered by the client), and To ultimately present findings to the client and potentially to court. Thus, 'forensic auditing' refers to the specific procedures carried out in order to produce evidence. Audit techniques are used to identify and to gather evidence to prove, for example, "how long the fraud has been carried out, and how it was conducted and concealed by the perpetrators. Evidence may also be gathered to support other issues which would be relevant in the event of a court case. Such issues could include: The suspect's motive and opportunity to commit fraud. Whether the fraud involved collusion between several suspects. Any physical evidence at the scene of the crime or contained in documents. Comments made by the suspect during interviews and/or at the time of arrest. Attempts to destroy evidence. This way, it is proved that the tool of forensic audit is one of the strong tool in detecting the frauds, assisting financial stability and enduring economic growth of the nation under vision New India, 2022.
Topics: Forensic Auditing
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