The Effectiveness of an Auditor in an Accounting Firm
Chapter One
Objective of the study
The objectives of the study are:
- To identify the factors that affect auditor effectiveness in accounting firm
- To find out skills and competencies required by auditors to ensure that their work is effective in accounting firm
- To find out factors that contribute to the effectiveness of accounting firm auditors
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEWED OF THE RELATED LITERATURE
Meaning of Audit
According to Eze (2005) one of the simplest ways of economizing efforts in an inquiring is to review one build upon the work already done by other. Santoki (1974) stated that an audit may be define or describe as an examination and evaluation of the authenticity, and therefore the reliability of the firm‟s business documents and records, and it also involves in making inquires to ascertain that the financial statements on which the auditor is reporting and which have been prepared from 9 their records display a true and fair view of the financial results for the year under review and true and fair view of the affairs at the end. Taylor (1982) stated that an audit is an investigation by an auditor into the evidence from which the final revenue accounts and balance sheet, or other statements of an organizations have been prepared, in order to ascertain that they present a little and fair view of the summarized transactions for the period under review and of the financial statement of the organizations at the end date so to enable the auditor to report thereon. Okolo (1987), expressed that an auditor could be a conscientious and objective examination of an inquiry into, any statement of account relatively to money or money worth, the underlying documents and the physical assets where possible, as will enable the auditor to form an opinion as to know whether or not the statement of account present shows a true and fair view of whatever it purport to presents, and to report accordingly. Nwabueze (1997) stated that audit is an exercise which is carried out in order to lend credence to statements prepared by directors of the company (who are not the owners) for the use by the owners of 10 business shareholders, creditors, the employees, the government etc) whereby the auditors express his opinion as to the true and fair nature of the transactions he examined while carrying out the audit. The institution of internal Auditors (IIA) defines an audit as an independent of examination by a statutory appointed person called the auditor to investigate an organization, its records and the financial statements prepared for them and thereby form an opinion on the accuracy and correctness of the financial statement.
Origin and Historical of Auditing
Eze (2005) stated that the term audit was derived from the Latin verb “audire” which means “to hear”. The origin of audit could be traced to the ancient times in Britain when Landowners allowed tenant farmers to farm on their land. The Landowners never associated themselves with the land cultivation nor in the supervision of these tenant farmers, cultivation of the land done by these tenant farmers while the supervision of the tenant farmers was done by the overseer‟s appointment by the landowners. The tenants were to render accounts of their tenancy to the appointed overseers who listened to the accounts. The overseers in retune rendered final accounts to the Landowners. 11 The above mentioned scenario can be likened to the present trend where various organizations, such as charitable organizations, social clubs, student union bodies, transport unions, trade unions, profit and non -profit oriented organizations etc, make provisions in their constitution, deeds etc the elution of union officials who collect and disburse the organizations money and funds such constitution provide for audit of the accounts of the organization. In the recent time, most large firm (where ownership is divorce from management) are managed by board of directors (elected from the shares holders) The bare for huge and large corporation, firms, establishments and organizations, could be traceable to the past industrial Revolution era.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, we described the research procedure for this study. A research methodology is a research process adopted or employed to systematically and scientifically present the results of a study to the research audience viz. a vis, the study beneficiaries.
RESEARCH DESIGN
Research designs are perceived to be an overall strategy adopted by the researcher whereby different components of the study are integrated in a logical manner to effectively address a research problem. In this study, the researcher employed the survey research design. This is due to the nature of the study whereby the opinion and views of people are sampled. According to Singleton & Straits, (2009), Survey research can use quantitative research strategies (e.g., using questionnaires with numerically rated items), qualitative research strategies (e.g., using open-ended questions), or both strategies (i.e., mixed methods). As it is often used to describe and explore human behaviour, surveys are therefore frequently used in social and psychological research.
POPULATION OF THE STUDY
According to Udoyen (2019), a study population is a group of elements or individuals as the case may be, who share similar characteristics. These similar features can include location, gender, age, sex or specific interest. The emphasis on study population is that it constitutes of individuals or elements that are homogeneous in description.
This study was carried to examine The effectiveness of an auditor in an accounting firm. Adda Financial & Technology Solutions, Lagos state form the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the analysis of data derived through the questionnaire and key informant interview administered on the respondents in the study area. The analysis and interpretation were derived from the findings of the study. The data analysis depicts the simple frequency and percentage of the respondents as well as interpretation of the information gathered. A total of eighty (80) questionnaires were administered to respondents of which only seventy-seven (77) were returned and validated. This was due to irregular, incomplete and inappropriate responses to some questionnaire. For this study a total of 77 was validated for the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain the effectiveness of an auditor in an accounting firm. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the effectiveness of an auditor in an accounting firm
Summary
This study was on the effectiveness of an auditor in an accounting firm. Three objectives were raised which included: To identify the factors that affect auditor effectiveness in accounting firm, to find out skills and competencies required by auditors to ensure that their work is effective in accounting firm and to find out factors that contribute to the effectiveness of accounting firm auditors. A total of 77 responses were received and validated from the enrolled participants where all respondents were drawn from Adda Financial & Technology Solutions, Lagos state. Hypothesis was tested using Chi-Square statistical tool (SPSS).
Conclusion
The results of this study conclude that to be able to produce good quality audit quality, several factors are needed, including auditor competency, independence, professional skepticism and auditor ethics. Independence in this study that affects audit quality is audit tenure, and client pressure. Other factors are professional skepticism and ethical auditors. The most dominant factor in this study that affects audit quality is the professional skepticism of the auditor during his tenure carrying out the findings of audit evidence in the field.
Recommendation
There is an urgent need for transportation to be readily available to staff of this office .It is very important that internal audit staff should provided with vehicles. The nature of their work warrants that allocation be made to the department to enable them carry out audit work at the branches or zones or perform other field assignments such as market survey. Sometimes, management required internal auditor to conduct investigation on certain issues and the information needed may be obtained .In such circumstances use of vehicle is inevitable. In most of the places which I visited during research work, there was a general compliant that internal audit requires vehicle to enhances their productivity
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