ABSTRACT
This study dealt on Auditors role in safeguarding the going concern concept in Nigeria. The burden of preparing the financial statement lies with the director, the auditor is required to report on these financial statements. A lot of people have failed to understand that the role of an auditor is not to detect fraud or error but the key role of an auditor is to “examine the financial statement prepared by the director of the company and report on it to shareholders. This study sought to investigate the relationship between the role of an auditor and the going concern of the company, to assess the effect of Auditors beneficial shareholdings on the credibility of audit report, to ascertain the effect of auditors non audit engagement services on the credibility of external audits, to examine the impact of non-compliance with audit rotation policy on audit performances. In achieving this objective, a number of research tools were employed both the primary data and the secondary data. The research did not limit herself to a particular audit firm in a state, indefinite statistical formula was used and the five hypotheses was tested using the chi-square. The result drawn from the tested hypothesis reviewed that there is a relationship between the role of an auditor and the going concern concept, auditors’ beneficial holding affect the credibility of audit report, there is significant relationship between auditors engagement in non audit services and the credibility of external audit, here is a strong correlation between non-compliance with audit rotation policy and audit performance. It was therefore recommended that the big four audit firms in Nigeria should be used for further study.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
University of Nigeria Logo————————————————————————i
Title page——————————————————————————————–ii
Declaration —————————————————————————————–iii
Approval ——————————————————————————————-iv
Dedication ——————————————————————————————v
Acknowledgements——————————————————————————-vi
Abstract———————————————————————————————vii
Table of Content———————————————————————————viii
List of Table—————————————————————————————xii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
- Background of the study—————————————————————–1
1.2 Statement of research problem————————————————–4
1.3 Objectives of the study——————————————————————-6
1.4 Research Questions ———————————————————————–6
1.5 Research Hypotheses———————————————————————-7
1.6 Scope of the Study————————————————————————-8
1.7 Significance of the Study—————————————————————–8
1.8 Limitations of the Study——————————————————————-9
1.9 Operational Definition of Terms————————————————9
References———————————————————————————10
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Brief history of Auditing —————————————————————-12
2.2 Meaning of Audit—————————————————–13
2.3 What is financial system———————————————————-14
2.4 Who is responsible for preparing financial statement——————15
2.5 Who is an Auditor———————————————————————16
2.6 Qualities required of an Auditor—————————————————-17
2.6.1 Independence——————————————————————–17
2.6.2 Competence———————————————————————19
2.6.3 Integrity ————————————————————————-19
2.7 Rights, Duties and Powers of an Auditor—————————————-19
2.7.1 Duties————————————————————————20
2.8 Objectives of an Audit———————————————————-21
2.8.1 Primary Objectives——————————————————21
2.8.2 Secondary Objectives—————————————————–21
2.9 Advantages of an Audit ————————————————————–22
2.10 Features of an Audit ———————————————————22
2.11 Types of Audit—————————————————————————-23
2.11.1 Audit by Nature of Work————————————————23
2.11.2 Audit by Approach or Method of Work ———————-24
2.12 Regulatory framework of Auditing———————————————–26
2.12.1 Statutory Regulations—————————————————-27
2.12.2 Professional Regulation—————————————-28
2.13 Auditing Standards and Guideline—————————————-29
2.13.1 Auditing Standards——————————————————29
2.13.2 Auditing Guidelines ————————————————–31
2.14 Professional Ethics ————————————————————32
2.15 Audit Report —————————————————————————–32
2.16 Types of Audit Report——————————————————————-33
2.16.1 Unqualified Audit Report———————————————-33
2.16.2 Qualified Audit Report ————————————————-34
2.17 Forms of Qualified Audit Report————————————————-35
2.17.1 Disclaimer of Opinion—————————————————-36
2.17.2 Adverse Opinion————————————————————–36
2.17.3 Except for Opinion—————————————————–36
2.17.4 Subject to Opinion ———————————————–36
2.18 Responsibilities of the Auditor after the Audit report has been issued ———38
2.19 Subsequent discovery of facts existing at the date of the Audit Report ——–38
2.20 The Audit process ———————————————————————-39
2.21 Going Concern Concept ———————————————————41
2.22 Going Concern as an Accounting Concept ———————————-44
2.23 Accounting Implication of not applying the Going Concern Assumption——-45
2.24 Audit Evidence ————————————————————————–46
2.25 Preliminary Assessment —————————————————47
2.26 The Auditors Examination of Borrowing Facilities —————–49
2.27 Symptoms of Going Concern Problems ——————————–49
2.28.1 Financial Symptoms —————————————————-50
2.28.2 Operational Symptoms ——————————————50
2.28 Auditors Responsibility and the Duties as regards the Going Concern concept-51
2.29 Procedures adopted by Auditors in a Going Concern Audit ———–52
2.30 Auditors Role in Ensuring the Going Concern Concept ————–53
References ———————————————————————————–55
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
- Introduction ————————————————————————57
- Research design ————————————————————57
- Sources of Data collection —————————————————57
3.2.1 Primary Data————————————————————————-58
- Secondary Data ——————————————————————58
3.3 Sample Size ——————————————————————————-58
3.4 Method of Data analysis and Statistical tool ——————————-59
References ——————————————————————————– 62
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
- Introduction——————————————————————————–63
- Data presentation ———————————————————63
- Analysis of Data—————————————————————–64
- Test of Hypothesis ——————————————————-66
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
- Summary of Findings —————————————————————-72
- Conclusions———————————————————————–72
- Recommendation for further Studies ———————————-73
Bibliography——————————————————————————-74
Appendix———————————————————————————–78
Questionnaire——————————————————————————79
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 The forms of Qualification of an Audit Report ————————- 37
Table 2.2 Overview of the Audit process ———————————————–39
Table 4.2.1 Questionnaire Administered————————————– ———–63
Table 4.3.1 Question 1: Area of Specialisation ———————– —————-64
Table 4.3.2 Question 2: Professional Status ——————————————64
Table 4.3.3: Question 3: how long you have been into Auditing Profession ———–65
Table 4.3.4: Information regarding number of clients handled by respondent.———–65
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The historical development of auditing can be traced back to the 8th century industrial revolution, when our present day business organization were just evolving hence it is as business itself, Wolf (1979). Business have grown into a main complex and complicated network of contracts and activities than what used to be the case in the past. Directors now run organizations on behalf of the owners (shareholders); this has brought about stewardship accounting. Stewardship accounting is the process whereby managers of a business, account or report to the owners on the state of affairs of the business.
Aguolu (2008:1) defines auditing simply as “the independent examination of the financial statements of an organization with a view to expressing an opinion as to whether these statements give a true and fair view and comply with the relevant statutes and the international financial Reporting Standards”. The person who carries out such an examination and expresses the opinion is called an auditor.
Going concern is one of the accounting concepts; it means that the business unit will operate in perpetuity, i.e. the business is not expected to be liquidated in the foreseeable future. A business is considered a going concern if it is capable of earning a reasonable net income and there is no intention or threat from any source. The directors are mandated by the companies and allied matter act 1990 (CAMA 1990) to prepare periodic financial statements that give a summary of the business transaction for the financial period under question.
According to Millchamp (1996) “Independence is a means that the auditor meets on to play role in safeguarding the going concept to ensure that the business continues to exist in the foreseeable future.
The shareholders want reassurance that the financial transactions the board of directors prepared and represented in the financial statements/final accounts present a true and fair view of the company/organization. It is for this reason that the shareholders/investors appoint auditors to give an attestation to the effect that the account gives a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the business transaction for the period under review.
The financial statements prepared by the directors include;
- Balance sheet
- The profit and loss account
- The five years financial summary
- The cash flow statement etc.
When a company is formed and is operating, it is mandatory especially for a limited liability company to prepare a financial statement on a yearly basis. The responsibility of preparing the financial statement is being rested on the company’s director by CAMA 1990. The information derived from the statement s not only beneficial to the management of the company but also to other interested parties which include the owners of the company or in a public company shareholder.
The management who is entrusted with the shareholders fund and resources is required as a matter of accountability to prepare a financial statement, which will show how they have managed the resources of the company and for proper accountability, there is th need for the management to keep proper accounting records of all the activities of the company for the given period.
If management is seen to have carried out this function objectively, then there would appear to be little or no reason for having an external auditor to verify and report on its credibility gap existing between owners and management.
