AUDITING SKILLS THAT EVERY PERSON EVALUATING A COMPLIANCE NEEDS TO ENGRAIN EXPERTISE WONDERFULLY GIVEN IN DIFFERENT PERSONALITY MINDSET

1. Made By Anurag Priyadarshi
Presented by ANIL M V

3.  • The visionary: auditing is not merely about asking
questions. plato said that - a fool can ask a question which
hundred wise men cannot answer. the auditor conjures up the
vision of a perfect factory because she has audited hundreds of
them. she inspires the auditee by this vision, and by setting
benchmarks. the auditor can see the holistic view, the
interdependence of various functions in an organization, and
the linkages of various processes.
 • The lady/ gentleman: the audit is a formal assessment of
an organization, and requires formal conduct by the auditor.
she maintains dignity in speech and action. the lady or
gentleman auditor always thanks the auditee for cooperating
with them to make the audit meaningful. every auditing
organization has a dress code for its auditors. audit timings
should also have formal office hour durations. late night audits
or extending the audit period (without sound reason) gives a
poor impression about the auditors and the auditing firm. good
auditors not only identify non-conformities, but also list the
commendable efforts and positive things noticed during the
audit. an auditor is always upright, ethical and transparent in
the audit.

4. The Teacher: Experience is important in the auditing profession to command
respect from the auditee. The auditee should be in awe with the competency
of the auditor, and make full use of his expertise during the audit. An energy
auditor of a cement plant was shocked that the auditee consumed 90
kwh/ton of cement, since the industry benchmark is 20% lower. The auditee
was grateful when the auditor suggested ways and means to reduce the
consumption which eventually led to substantial savings. Credibility and
faith in the judgment of the auditor transforms an auditor-auditee relation to
a holistic guru-shishya relationship. Auditors should be convinced that their
profession is a noble one, and the purpose is to make a difference.
The Technocrat: Auditors possess sound technical knowledge. They are
required to be wiser than the auditee, else they may face embarrassment.
Auditor should be prepared to face challenges from the auditee on any
finding, and should be in a position to defend it with knowledge and
illustrations. Specialists are sometimes employed in an audit to provide
technical support. For example, an auditor of accounts may take support
from an engineer to identify valuation and depreciation of buildings,
machinery etc.

5. The Industrialist: Sect oral knowledge helps the auditor to identify
important issues in an audit. The social accountability auditor focuses
on the working hours of workers beyond the legally permissible norms
when the industry is in downturn due to pressure on dollar exports, a
quality auditor of a paper plant will concentrates on securing the
quality of paper when the prices of bamboo go up, and a financial
auditor will thoroughly examine a bank that loans heavily to the
automotive industry in a year of auto industry downturn. All these
examples establish the credibility of the auditor in the eyes of the
auditee, since the auditee identifies with the industrial experience of
the auditor.
The Team Player: Auditing is usually considered a lonely profession,
much like marathon running. But team skills are imperative to
determine conclusions that are useful to the stakeholders. A good audit
team can carry out complex audits by tracing the audit trail through a
maze of byzantine processes and procedures, documents, records and
interviews. Auditors are calibrated on their judgment levels and
displays unity in front of the auditee on all occasions.

6. The Journalist: An auditor needs interviewing and reporting skills to make an
impact. The auditor interviews employees and managers of companies to
determine that their statements match up with the records of the company. A
good auditor can get reliable information pertaining to accounting frauds,
working conditions or payment of wages and benefits from company
employees. The tangible end product of an audit is the audit report. The audit
itself will be forgotten, unless it is documented properly in an audit report.
Most audit firms have structured reporting format. The auditor should be
proficient in the use MS office and its various applications.
The People Manager: Auditor should have good people skills and relate well to
others. The auditor needs to report about issues and concerns, gaps and
mistakes. It requires maximum tact and firmness in communicating to the
auditee about the audit findings. The auditor is not being helpful by telling
pleasantries, but by resolutely and politely communicating the difficult issues. I
once asked the Managing Director of a Fortune 500 company in the opening
meeting about his vision for the next 5 years. At the end of the audit, I informed
him that his team did not fully share his vision. To my pleasant surprise, he
appreciated this input and vowed to set it right. If speech is silver, silence is
Platinum for an auditor. An auditor is prudent and handles people pressures
and influences appropriately. . The going can sometimes get tough with a
difficult auditee. Nerves may fray and there may be much sound and less light.
The auditor always controls the situation and maintains a sense of humour.

7. The Worker: Audit is not all glamour! It involves hard work and perspiration. A
financial auditor has to look through voluminous financial documents and
paperwork, and an engineering auditor will spend hours on the shop floor with
men & machines in heat and dust to understand the factory reality. Audit
involves creative interpretation of facts and figures. It needs imagination and
initiative to identify and develop audit issues. It is an intellectual pursuit that
helps to understand existing realities. Preciseness is an important trait for
auditors to possess. An auditor has to examine documents and records with a
fine toothcomb and the results that they pull up must be of such a condition that
they are as exact as can be. An auditor cannot be lazy in their job role as some
wrong information can impact the accuracy of the audit.
The Student: The auditor is humble that her knowledge and experience is
fallible. A chartered accountant, who specializes in auditing only manufacturing
firms, can learn a lot by auditing banks. At first the rather large numbers in bank
accounts may seem insurmountable. However, by taking out the amount of
interest income and interest expense, the numbers may no longer seem so
overwhelming. Auditors update their learning every day by reading and talking
to industry professionals. They attend workshops and seminars to keep their
knowledge updated all the time. A good accounts auditor reads the annual
reports, quarterly reports and press releases about her client regularly.

8. The Athlete: Auditing involves long hours and stressful work, with
extensive travel. It is commonly said in the industry that if an auditor can not
check her own health, how she can check the health of an organization. Audi
tee tries to seduce the auditor through the stomach. Excessive Food &
Beverages are occupational hazards for an auditor. Auditors should
maintain a sustainable lifestyle with exercise and diet. I learnt from senior
auditors to use the gyms in hotels and big companies.
The Explorer: Auditors enjoy traveling since it creates a unique knowledge
base that can not be gained by any amount of reading books or scrolling
websites. They also relish life after audit hours to visit historical or religious
places in the city of travel. However, a balance needs to be always
maintained, else traveling may not be sustainable and may strain family ties.
I could visit Kamakhya Devi temple when auditing the IOCL refinery at
Guwahati, and the Nathdwara temple while auditing JK Tyres. I was blessed
with a special darshan at Vaishnao Devi after closing the audit at Coca Cola
plant in Jammu. Auditors have large collection of souvenirs, gifts,
photographs, and network that can be the envy of others.

9. COMMENTS ARE WELCOME FOR ALL TO
DEVELOP OUR AUDITING SKILLS INLINE TO
KEEP ORGANIC INTEGRITY CONSISTENT
INLINE TO ORGANIC GUIDELINES AND
STANDARDS