Auditing, Attestation, and Assurance Services

Auditing, Attestation, and Assurance Services

  • Submitted By: phoniex
  • Date Submitted: 04/30/2011 12:15 PM
  • Category: Book Reports
  • Words: 1324
  • Page: 6
  • Views: 1220

Auditing, Attestation, and Assurance Services
Auditors are a necessity to an organization’s health. Auditors comply with many rules and regulations set by regulating organizations such as the Federal Accounting Standards Board (FASB), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). “The statements on Auditing Standards (SASs) and Statements on Standards of Attestation Engagements (SSAEs) are authoritative American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) pronouncements on auditing and attestation theory and practice” (Louwers, Ramsay, Sinason, & Strawser, 2007, p. 5n). Auditing is a type of attestation engagement (Louwers, et al, 2007). Auditing is thought of as referring to the certification of financial statements. “Attestation refers to an expanded set of financial information beyond financial statements, assurance services include many areas of information, including nonfinancial information” (Louwers, et al, 2007, p. 6). Through comparing and contrasting auditing, attestation, and assurance services one will determine how intertwined the three are but also have their separate responsibilities within the auditing profession.
Examples of Services
One of the best known auditing services in the United States is the (IRS). The IRS conducts audits on taxpayers and corporations all over the United States. If the IRS determines that a tax return or financial records may be fraudulent, an auditor from the IRS will contact the taxpayer or corporation to start an investigation. Both individual taxpayers and business owners can be audited if they fail to calculate their income or taxes correctly or if they claim large deductions. Self- employed individuals can be audited for claiming excessive amounts of expenses on their tax returns.
The four categories of attestation services are reviews of all historical financial statements, how effective the internal control is over the financial reporting, audits of all...

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