Английский язык: Сборник текстов. Гурская Т.А. - 33 стр.

                                    4. DISCUSSION

      Exercise 7.
    a) Read the texts and do the tasks that follow.
    b) Describe the two main functions of auditing. Discuss how public accountants
(auditors) and government auditors perform these functions. Explain the importance
of internal auditing.
     Audit is an examination of the records and reports of an enterprise by accounting
specialists other than those responsible for their preparation. Public auditing by inde-
pendent accountants has acquired professional status and become increasingly com-
mon with the rise of large business units and the separation of ownership from con-
trol. The public accountant performs tests to determine whether the management's
statements were prepared in accordance with acceptable accounting principles and
fairly present the firm's financial position and operating results. Such independent
evaluations of management reports are of interest to actual and prospective sharehold-
ers, bankers, suppliers, lessors, and government agencies. Generally speaking, audit-
ing has two functions: to reveal undesirable practices and, as far as possible, to pre-
vent their recurring in the future. A relatively new type of auditing is internal auditing.
It is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a business's accounting system. Perhaps
the most familiar type of auditing is the administrative audit, or pre-audit,
in which individual vouchers, invoices or other documents are investigated for accu-
racy and proper authorization before they are paid or entered in the books.
     In English-speaking countries, public auditors are usually certified, and high stan-
dards of professional qualification are encouraged.
     Most countries have specific agencies or departments charged with auditing
of their public accounts.
     Taxpayers in all countries are interested in the sound management of the collected
revenue, they also want to know whether or not the executive branch of government is
complying with the law, especially in the area of public finance.
     Government auditors are working for sound, economical and efficient financial
management, addressing the key problems in the field of public sector auditing, like
strengthening the institutions that oversee financial management, changes in the scope
and methodology of government auditing, ability to conduct performance audits in
public enterprises, strengthening internal auditing in spending units, ex-post external
audits of government activities, budget efficiency problems, performance
of expenditure programmer.
     The advantages accruing from an audit are obvious, taking into account the com-
plexity of present-day commerce and business.




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