INTRODUCTION OF THE STUDY
In various public company, the statutory requirement for the management is to present to the owners and other interested parties (creditors, tax authorities, potential investors etc.) a financial statement showing the way and manner in which the resources of the company at the managers disposal has been utilized or managed. This serves as the stewardship function of the management.
However, before this financial statement can be accepted and is published. It must have been certify by an auditor to be the true statement of the affairs of the business. Hence auditing is an independent examination of the financial statement of an organization with a view to expressing an opinion as to whether this statement give a true or false view and comply with the relevant status.
This primary objective of the audit is drive form section 360 of companies and allied matters decree (CAMD) 90 is to find out;
Whether the financial statements shown are true and fair view and comply with the relevant status
Whether the financial statement are in agreement with the records
Whether proper records are being kept under secondary or subsiding object of an audit, which are;
Detection of errors fraud and irregularities
Prevention of fraud and other financial irregularities
This two are also the objective of conducting an audit as it is however the responsibility of the management to control and detect fraud and other irregularities conferred on them by the section 331 of the (CAMD) 90.
Irrespective of the above fact, the editor in the course of auditing is expected to approach this professional opinion with truth and fairness of the financial position as shown by the balance sheet and of the profit or lose as shown by the profit and lose account and any other information required by the law to be disclosed in the financial statement.
In cause of carrying out this above mention duty, the auditor should regencies the responsibility of material misstatement, financial irregularities or fraud which unless adequately disclose distort the result of the state of the affairs shown by the financial statements.
REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE
The audit function holds its existence in the first place at the separation that arose between the ownership and management of a business organization at a certain point in the history of the organization.
In the days when business are own and are manage by sole proprietors, the need for audit function did not arise as the owners of the business were also managers of the business. The need did not even exist to prepare the financial statement.
The emergence of joint stock company form of business organization led to the practice of debated professional to manage the business. The practice then development to asking management to keep record and prepare periodic statement of the account to show the entire body of the members. In addition, it becomes sine –Qua – Non-for the shareholders to ensure themselves that the financial statement presented to them are reliable, creditable and reflective of the true position of things.
It was at this point and for this purpose that the practice developed to appointing auditors whose duty was to verify on behalf of the shareholders, the account and financial statement of the management and to report thereupon to the shareholders.
Originally. Auditors were appointed from the shareholders but when accounting itself became more sorphiscated, it therefore become necessary to appoint an independent body to undertake the job of the auditing.
Today, account of any public limited company and some government parastatals must be audited before being published and by a qualify body