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Bulletin HASKINS & SELLS 53 Audit Working Papers (A paper read by Mr. W. H. Bell before the Tri-State Society of Certified Public Accountants, at Baltimore, Maryland, June 24, 1919.) THE importance of the substance and form of working papers is threefold: first, to the accountant originating the papers, not only in the audit procedure and the preparation of his r e p o r t , but in answering questions that may later arise from any source; second, to the person or persons who review and check the report; and third, to the accountant making a subsequent audit. There are two general tendencies regarding the data contained in working papers, viz., deficiency and superfluity. It is probable that the latter is more prevalent than the former, but that the tendency to prepare superfluous working papers diminishes in direct ratio to an accountant's advance in proficiency as an auditor, that is, as he becomes more practical. Granting that an accountant charged with the preparation of working papers has the requisite knowledge of the principles of auditing, it should be almost unnecessary to tell him what to do, except as a means of facilitating his work, other than by telling him what not to do. The most glaring examples of superfluous work, or misdirected energy, are mere transcripts of accounts, or so-called analyses of accounts designed to classify the entries, which utterly fail to accomplish what might be written on one line. The principles actuating accountants in preparing such papers appear to be to obtain information, no matter how unreliable or unnecessary, and to check the mathematical accuracy of the accounts in that manner. Practically, they are often meaningless figures. Cases in point are: analyses of reserves for depreciation without determination of the rates and the asset values constituting the bases for the credits and without information regarding the charges; elaborate tabulations of sales, cash receipts and disbursements, accounts receivable and payable controlling accounts, etc., the only practical benefit from which may usually be derived in a great deal less time by
Object Description
Title |
Audit working papers |
Author |
Bell, William H. (William Hansell), b. 1883 |
Subject |
auditing -- Documentation |
Citation |
Haskins & Sells Bulletin, Vol. 02, no. 07 (1919 July 15), p. 53-55 Haskins & Sells Bulletin, Vol. 02, no. 08 (1919 August 15), p. 59-62 |
Date-Issued | 1919 |
Source | Originally published by: Haskins & Sells |
Type | Text |
Collection | Deloitte Digital Collection |
Digital Publisher | University of Mississippi Libraries. Accounting Collection |
Date-Digitally Created | 2009 |
Identifier | HS Bulletin 2-p53 |