Operational auditing by CPA firms; Exposure draft (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants), 1980, June 18

Accounting firms were making reviews of client operations long before audits of financial statements became commonplace. However, the literature of the AICPA contains few references to and little guidance for operational audits ing, the term in general use for reviews of operations. The Special Committee on Operational and Management Auditing was appointed in 1978 to research the subject and develop appropriate information for Institute members. This report contains information on operational auditing engagements which the Special Committee believes will be of interest to practitioners. It has been prepared with the following objectives: 1. To define operational audit engagements and to provide descriptive information on engagements that may be referred to as such in an agreement on services to be rendered. 2. To describe important differences in approach between operational audits and financial audits. When the AICPA formed the Special Committee on Operational and Management Auditing, with members suggested by its Auditing Standards, Management Advisory Services (MAS), and Federal Government Divisions, it was asked to consider questions such as: a. What is operational auditing? b. What are the similarities and differences between an operational audit and an audit of financial statements? c. To what extent do professional standards apply to operational audits? d. What measurement criteria might be used in operational audits? e. What form of report may be appropriate for operational audits? This document responds to these questions and tries to cover, as well, the unasked questions that we, as practitioners, would want answered. The content is not intended to be authoritative, but simply to provide information that would be useful to those who wish to become more familiar with the nature of operational audits and with the role of the CPA firm that provides operational auditing services. For those operational audit engagements which would be subject to the Standards for Audit of Governmental Organizations, Programs, Activities, and Functions, issued by the United States General Accounting Office, review of that publication and the AICPA publication, Guidelines for CPA Participation in Government Audit Engagements to Evaluate Economy, Efficiency, and Program Results, would be helpful.https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_sop/1419/thumbnail.jp

Accessibility Evaluation of E-Government Mobile Applications in Brazil

AbstractThe provision of e-government services using mobile applications (known as m-government) has had a significant growth in recent years. However, it is very important that such applications be accessible to people with disabilities in order to ensure inclusive access. Using appropriate accessibility auditing methods is very important to help identify accessibility problems in interactive systems during their development. However, there has been little support in terms of formal standard accessibility guidelines to help develop and evaluate mobile applications. In this paper, we present a case study with the evaluation of four e-government mobile applications in Brazil using the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. The paper discusses the methodological adaptations of WCAG 2.0 for the context of mobile applications and its current limitations. The results of the evaluations performed in the four applications in the case study showed that many elementary accessibility problems widely known by HCI researchers were encountered extensively in the applications evaluated. This highlights the importance of furthering research in accessibility design and evaluation of mobile applications, in order to provide more inclusive access to essential applications used by all citizens, such as e-government services

Public sector performance auditing: Emergence, purpose and meaning

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the extant Anglo-American literature on 'performance auditing for the public sector', in order to identify the socio-economic and political themes that influenced the emergence of public sector performance auditing. The paper also seeks to develop an understanding of the role and practice of performance auditing in the public sector. Common catalysts for change appear to rest in the influence of the local governmental senior auditor (e.g. Auditor General), the existence of public sector reform and changes in standardisation generally. The traditional role of the public sector auditor has undergone significant change over time. In particular, the scope of the public sector audit now exceeds the expectation that the auditor only check for regulatory and procedural compliance. It is now expected that the auditor enhance accountability in the management of public sector resources. The perceived objectives of performance auditing (economy, efficiency and effectiveness) emerge as a strong theme, one which seems to comply with these more modern expectations of performance

Better Auditing for Better Contracting: Eight Recommendations to Reform the Defense Contract Audit Agency and Other Federal Government Audit

Examines why the DCAA's audits of government contractors sometimes fail. Proposes reforms to strengthen oversight, including giving auditors authority to subpoena contractor records and shifting from limited to risk-based audits and random checks

Public Records and Management of Information Materials in Nigerian Local Government: A Transformative Route

In every organization set objectives had always remained paramount for its growth and delivery of quality services Local government like every other organization has its objectives to be achieved and these could only be delivered through effective and efficient utilization and management of information and records at its disposal Worrisome is the continued existence of the institution of local government in Nigeria which has in the recent time attracted many criticisms due largely to serial poor performances in achieving quality service delivery to the people within its area of jurisdiction However it is against this established premise that the paper sets to appreciate available information materials and records management for quality service delivery in Nigerian local government system Methodologically the study adopts qualitative method and data were ostensibly generated through secondary sources of data collection and analyzed in content The findings of the study revealed that serial poor performances of local government in developmental state of Nigeria were because of poor culture negligence improper and ineffective documentation of information materials at the disposal of local government However the paper on its part strongly recommends a transformative route such as the utilization of e-governance and frequent auditing in the administration of local governmen

Tax fraud by firms and optimal auditing

Abstract Tax fraud is an issue of increasing importance in China. One particularly signi…cant fraud involves excessive claims for the rebate of VAT on exported goods. This fraud has two interesting features. First, it requires the collusion of an intermediary to supply the false documentation that supports a rebate application. Second, the punishment schedule is convex -with capital punishment used in major fraud cases. These features ensure that the payo¤ function of a …rm engaging in fraud is strictly concave in the level of fraud. This gives a well-de…ned optimization without the need to appeal to risk aversion. We show that the existence of fraud does not a¤ect the real output decision of the …rm nor the tax policy of the government. Audit resources can be used to detect …rms engaged in fraud as well as the intermediaries who supply false documents. Under reasonable assumptions it is shown that resources should be focused on detecting …rms and not intermediaries. Finally, if the government must take action on fraud a convex punishment scheme is shown to be optimal

Implementation of value added tax and it’s challenges : evidence from Bench Sheko zone, SNNPR, Ethiopia

Purpose: The study was conducted to assess the implementation of value added tax and related challenges the case of Bench Sheko Zone, SNNPR, Ethiopia. Methodology: The study is based on descriptive data analysis method and the collected primary data has been carefully coded, checked for consistency and entered into the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) and the secondary data related to VAT collection performance of the revenue bureau from 2010/11 to 2017/18 analysis also done. Finding: The result of the study shows that there are less awareness creation and educational programs, inadequate competence, inadequate enforcement of tax laws, absence of consistent follow-up to assess and register unregistered traders, inadequate infrastructure, weak monitoring, tax evasion, inefficient tax intelligence work and tax auditing. Practical implication: This article offers insights to regional revenue bureau and ministry of revenue to give unreserved attention on it and improve the implementation gaps of VAT through fulfilling the necessary tax administration logistics, enhancing tax education, reducing organizational bureaucracy and improving tax payers’ trust. Lastly, the revenue bureau shall make continuous monitoring and evaluation, maintain accountability and transparency, conduct adequate intelligence and tax auditing to achieve the desired objectives. Significance of the study: The study would notably reveal the way of intervention to revenue minster and policy makers to fill on the gaps found and improve its performance related to VAT administration and collection practice in future.peer-reviewe

Threats to auditor independence: Evidence from Iran

This paper aims to examine threats to auditor independence in Iran. A mixed questionnaire, including both quantitative closed-ended questions and an open-ended qualitative question, is developed to investigate threats to auditor independence. Moreover, thematic analysis is used to triangulate the results against financial media articles throughout 1994 – 2014. Findings suggest that while bribery, non-audit services, and economic condition are key threats to auditor independence in Iran, gifts and presents do not compromise independence given the Iranian culture. This study contributes to a better understanding of auditor independence in Iran, which may apply to other regional settings. Moreover, it provides some suggestions to improve the current Iranian Audit Organisation’s auditor independence framework. (JEL M32)N/

The Last Refuge of a Scoundrel?

We study the effects of patriotism on tax compliance. In particular, we assume that individuals feel a (random draw of) warm glow from honestly paying their taxes. A higher expected warm glow reduces the government's optimal audit probability and yields higher tax compliance. Second, individuals with higher warm glow are less likely to evade taxes. This prediction is confirmed empirically by a multivariate analysis on the individual level while controlling for several other potentially confounding factors. The findings survive a variety of robustness checks, including an instrumental variables estimation to tackle the possible endogeneity of patriotism. On the aggregate level, we provide evidence for a negative correlation between average patriotic warm glow and the size of the shadow economy across several countries.Ob ein Individuum versucht, durch falsche Angaben gegenüber den Steuerbehörden die persönliche Steuerlast zu reduzieren, hängt sowohl von "monetären" als auch von nicht-monetären Faktoren ab. Monetäre Faktoren sind vor allem die Wahrscheinlichkeit, mit der ein versuchter Betrug aufgedeckt wird, und die Höhe der Strafzahlung. Wir untersuchen zunächst theoretisch, wie Patriotismus (Heimatbindung) als ein nicht-monetärer Faktor die Steuerehrlichkeit beeinflusst. Personen mit gleichem Einkommen, aber höherer Heimatbindung, geben auch mit höherer Wahrscheinlichkeit ihr Einkommen korrekt an. Weiterhin führt eine Erhöhung der durchschnittlichen Heimatbindung über die gesamte Steuerbevölkerung dazu, dass im Gleichgewicht der Anteil der Steuerhinterzieher geringer wird. Diese beiden Hypothesen werden empirisch mit Hilfe von Surveydaten überprüft und bestätigt. Für die erste Hypothese auf Ebene des Individuums erlauben es die Daten, die Robustheit des empirischen Ergebnisses umfangreich zu überprüfen. Eine Vielzahl von Spezifikationen, inklusive einer Instrumentvariablenschätzung, bestätigen den positiven Zusammenhang zwischen Heimatbindung und (der Einstellung zur) Steuerehrlichkeit

The impact of corporate characteristics on social and environmental disclosure (CSED):the case of Jordan

The corporate business environment is surrounded by strong public scrutiny from diverse stakeholder groups that are calling on businesses to accept accountability for not only their financial actions, but also the non-financial implications of their activities. Many corporate businesses are today paying attention to the needs of their stakeholders of social and environmental information. As such, in this study we examined how corporate characteristics could influence the amount of Corporate Social and Environmental Disclosure (CSED) in the manufacturing sector in Jordan. Firm size, profitability, audit firm, ownership, type of industry and financial market level are the main factors examined in this study. Drawing from Ernst and Ernst methodology, the study developed a disclosure index to measure the amount of CSED for three years (2010, 2011 and 2012). Using panel data regression, we model the relationship between disclosure amount and the key drivers of CSED via random effect estimation. The results of our model indicated that the firm size, type of audit firm and financial performance in Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) are significantly associated with the amount of CSED. On the other hand, we also find that firm profitability, age, type of industry and ownership are not related to the practices of CSED