Bulletin HASKINS & SELLS 67
Reports of Two Kinds
AUDIT reports may be classified, for
the purpose of considering their
practical value to clients, into two kinds.
In one, the comments are devoted chiefly
to a discussion of the audit procedure. In
the other, the discussion covers rather the
significance of the accounting results as reviewed
by the auditor after he has verified
their accuracy, the reliability of their
sources and the soundness of the processes
by which they were developed.
Comments of the first kind fill many
pages. They give the report an appearance
of having quantity. If quantity is
the standard by which reports are judged
such reports are successful. Comments of
this character require considerable time for
their preparation, typing and review, not
to mention the paper involved. Their
value to the client is extremely doubtful,
particularly when one considers the minute
detail into which they go.
That the client may be interested in certain
matters of procedure or of fact must be
conceded. A specific request on his part
for a detailed examination of the cash transactions
obviously calls for a definite statement
in the comments that this was done,
