What is the Financial Audit?
Among the objects analyzed in the financial audit are the company’s resources (in particular, their proper use), internal processes and control measures, open values, among others.
In this way, the owners of the company (partners or shareholders) can develop a perception of broad value and trust in the company. After all, who would invest in a company plagued by scams, fraud and corruption?
In addition to being totally reprehensible from an ethical point of view, investing in organizations with this profile also represents a huge financial risk. After all, according to a report by Provar / FIA, at least R $ 2.2 billion is stolen annually only in retail, and yes, by the employees themselves! what is financial audit
How does the financial audit work?
To carry out the financial audit, it is possible to mention the need for at least three essential elements: financial analysis, process control and risk observation.
In financial analysis, all documents, vouchers and statements related to the financial transactions of the company are collected. Here, cash registers and accounting records are the most sought-after sources of information. what is financial audit
The main objective of financial analysis is to map the capital, verifying the path traveled by the capital from the source of income to its proper use, to ensure that nothing has deviated.
In process mapping, the three basic sectors of the Finance Department (Treasury, Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable) are examined before the workflow. what is financial audit
Ideally, list all the tasks performed by all employees, in order to understand the degree of responsibility of each for the activities performed.
Finally, when looking at risks, the main concern is to identify flaws in internal controls, the irregularities of which can result in loopholes for illegal actions. what is financial audit
The order in which the audit is carried out, based on these three elements, depends a lot on the company or professional hired to carry out the “inspection”. However, an efficient process always encompasses everyone.
What are the benefits of conducting a financials audit?
In general, the market has an extremely low tolerance for unreliable companies.
Which is understandable, since it is almost impossible to entrust your capital to an organization where there is a constant risk of losing profits through theft and internal diversion schemes.
Thinking this way is that financial auditing is used even as a strategic component. In addition to assuring current partners and shareholders that their income is processed properly, with no losses along the way, it also increases the company’s prestige in the market, attracting investors and strengthening its value.
What is the difference between financial audit and accounting audit?
What differentiates the financial audit from the accounting audit is, above all, the purpose (and therefore the object) of each one.
As we saw earlier, financial auditing is closely related to monetary analysis. When verifying bank statements and cash statements, for example, the central objective is to assess whether, monetarily, the company complies with the standards of legality.
Accounting auditing, in turn, is more interested in financial statements. Do the accounting entries reflect the actual movements? Does all accounting activity comply with legal regulations? Is there a possibility that the documentation presented is evaluated by the public control bodies?
These questions are essential for a quality accounting audit, however they are not found in financial auditing (with the exception, of course, of the last question, which is universal).