Audit working papers

Audit working papers are the documents which record all audit evidence obtained during financial statements auditing, internal management auditing, information systems auditing, and investigations. Audit working papers are used to support the audit work done in order to provide assurance that the audit was performed in accordance with the relevant auditing standards. They show the audit was:

• Properly planned;
• Carried out;
• There was adequate supervision;
• That the appropriate review was undertaken; & finally and most importantly;
• That the evidence is sufficient and appropriate to support the audit opinion.

Audit working papers are the property of the auditor. In order to keep professional ethic, it cannot discover to third party without consent of the client unless limited specified situations mentioned in ISA 230 Documentation and required by law, the examples are court order, for public interest and so on.

The forms of documentation may be flowchart, manual, narrative note, checklist or questionnaire.

Proper features of working papers

• Reviewed by auditors with supervisors noted.
• Signed, dated and approved by relevant level of audit staff with sufficient cross reference.
• With evidence of effective audit planning, work done, sufficient and quality evidence.
• Outstanding matters are cleared in due course.

There are a number of companies who offer electronic working paper tools for accountants. The leading providers include: Wolters Kluwer, CaseWare, Thomson, Data Prime Solutions, WorkPapers.Pro and Saltlake Infosolutions. Their products are ProSystemfx Engagement, CaseWare Working Papers, Engagement CS, Draftworx, WorkPapers and APEX Audit System respectively.