Updating analytical procedures

New tools for analytical procedures promise even greater audit effectiveness and more efficient analytical procedures. Tools such as Microsoft Excel are already on most auditors' desktops. Business forecasting tools (BFT) are also readily available and promise both ease of use and greater preci...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The CPA journal (1975) 2002-11, Vol.72 (11), p.36
Main Authors: Blocher, Edward, Krull, Jr., Gerge W, Tashman, Leonard J, Yates, Stephen V.N
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accountants
Accounting
Accounting firms
Analysis
Audits
Business forecasts
Computer programs
Forecasting
Forecasting techniques
Local businesses
Methods
Regression analysis
Seasonal variations
Software
Software packages
Technique
Technology application
Time series
Trends
Variables
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Summary:New tools for analytical procedures promise even greater audit effectiveness and more efficient analytical procedures. Tools such as Microsoft Excel are already on most auditors' desktops. Business forecasting tools (BFT) are also readily available and promise both ease of use and greater precision for the expectations that auditors must develop when using analytical procedures. These tools can allow the auditor to turn more attention to gathering reliable data for analytical procedures, and reward the effort of doing so. Perhaps most important, the new tools facilitate the development of explicit types of expectations, such as regression and time-series analysis, which, because they are more informed than implicit expectations, are more precise and more reliable for both the planning and substantive test objectives of analytical procedures. Moreover, BFT systems, unlike Excel, have built-in statistical checks to guide the auditor to more effective use of the tool.
ISSN:0732-8435