Auditing & Assurance

With businesses seeking greater success on a global scale, it is becoming more and more important to set the right regulatory practices in auditing and assurance. This is where we come into the picture and assist you in meeting these demands with a thorough auditing and seamless assurance. We not just provide great services for you and your organization, but also give way to clear and transparent information, which is beneficial for your stakeholders and investors.

Our Audit and Assurance Solutions help clients not only achieve their regulatory objective as an Attest Function, but also achieve control over the business objective from an accounting and financial perspective.

Statutory Audit

We undertake the statutory audit of many commercial businesses that require an audit for a variety of reasons including:

they are a public company

they are a small foreign controlled company

it is a requirement under their financing facilities

is a requirement under their shareholder agreement or Constitution.

Whilst our audits are undertaken in accordance with the Auditing Standards, they also focus on providing insight into internal control systems, quality and completeness of accounting records, adequacy of accounting policies, compliance with applicable legislation and risks faced by the business.

Internal Audit

Unlike external audit which focuses primarily on financial accounting and statutory reporting compliance, internal audit is a broad base assurance function to strengthen organizational operation and governance. Effective corporate governance is about more than policies and procedures. Your directors and board must be actively involved in decision making across your organization, and for this they need reliable and timely information and advice.

Our internal audit process is designed and executed in accordance with the Standard on Internal Audit issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.  It is an independent, objective assurance activity designed to add value to business operations and assists organization to accomplish its objectives by:

Bringing a systematic and disciplined approach to business risk evaluation

Improving the effectiveness of risk management processes

Improving the effectiveness of internal control processes

We offer a flexible engagement approach in customizing engagements based on your organizational needs. We can help your board and management demonstrate good corporate governance by:

Measuring and improving business performance

Identifying business deficiencies

Reviewing strategic and corporate planning processes

Assessing board and sub-committee performance, including individual director assessments

Assessing board control including delegations and policy setting

Preparing independent performance audits and valuations of specific activities

Investigating allegations and complaints

Creating a fraud-resistant structure

Tax Audit

Under direct taxes, the CBDT has posed onerous responsibility on the auditor via the Income Tax Act 1961 which has various provisions requiring a compulsory Tax audit. The Income Tax Act 1961 states various provisions for public charitable trust, the corporate and non corporate assesses, and others to conduct an Tax Audit of accounts for tax purposes.

Arpitha & Associates is known to deliver quality services to its clients. The professional team helps in developing strategies and an effective management system that enhances the operations and provides great value to the business. We at Arpitha & Associates firmly believe in Tax Audits being a value addition exercise rather than a mere compliance exercise.

Management Audit

The rapid change in the business environment is fueled by political, economic, social, cultural and technological changes. Managements, of start-ups and mature organizations, need to recognize, adapt and change.

Management audits play a pivotal role in assisting the leadership to strengthen its processes. Our evolved methodologies not only provide qualitative assessments of risk that highlight fundamental causes of performance gaps, they also provide authentic and relevant solutions to prevent repeats. Our early warning reporting provides indicators of a probable fraud and accounting irregularities. All this helps to improve the profit earning-capacity of our clients.

Offerings:

Internal audit

Internal financial control

Process review

Standard operating procedures

Risk assessment

Due Diligence Audit 

Organizations in both the commercial and the not-for-profit sectors often have business or acquisition opportunities. On many occasions, management or the governance body will require an independent opinion of certain aspects of the financial risks.

An emphasis on purpose

We design our diligence procedures with an emphasis on the purpose and objectives of the due diligence activity. This involves working closely with management or a project team to determine what key risks might exist, which of the key risks could have material financial consequences and the nature of evidence that would provide greater insight into the potential risk consequences.

We assist organizations in the design and execution of due diligence processes as part of business restructures, mergers and acquisitions.

Fixed Asset Audit

Accurate Financial Asset Register provides True representation of Fixed Assets in Balance Sheet

Enterprise Asset Management

We provide a baseline asset inventory & tagging services to organizations across all industries as the first step to implement Enterprise Asset Management. The asset inventory data becomes the foundation for efforts to limit capital spending, optimally utilize capital assets, mitigate maintenance & repair expense, and control a variety of other operational aspects of physical assets.

Inventory & Reconciliation

Our flagship service is a comprehensive approach that cleanses and fortifies your fixed asset register to establish a stronger foundation for effective fixed asset management. In addition, fixed asset inventory and reconciliation services provide the necessary data visibility to avoid the risk of non-compliance with financial, tax and regulatory issues. Reconciliation of inventoried assets to a fixed asset ledger and other corporate asset management database (e.g. IT, Facilities, Maintenance, etc.). Detailed review and reconciliation of remaining capital assets not able to be inventoried, including real property, bulk assets, ghost assets, intangibles, etc.

Asset Verification & Tagging

There is no room for error when you need a precise picture of your company’s physical assets. Knowing exactly what assets you currently have, where these assets are located and how these assets are changing over time, allows a company to keep track of details of each fixed asset, ensuring control and preventing misappropriation of assets.

Asset verification and tagging leads to identification of assets put to actual use. The rest of the assets can be reconciled and cleaned from the books of accounts. This exercise helps to keep track of the correct value of assets, which allows for computation of depreciation and taxes for insurance purposes while ensuring compliance with corporate and government policies. The use of bar-coding technology makes asset verification simple and efficient. The exercise also helps to clean up the asset register of any disposals or movements that may not have been captured in the books and by giving up to date records of the asset.

Business Process Audit 

A business process audit is a formal and technical way to derive and assess whether the company is managing its business processes, taking into account:

The strategic objectives of the organization

The specific goals

Suitable procedures

Also, one must make sure that:

The performance of processes is within the desired standards

Controls are suitable for the correct measurement of processes

The procedures are suitable to achieve the desired levels of efficiency and effectiveness

As it turns out, a business process audit is a warning that the administration should take action if necessary and at the same time, a guarantee that the work is being done right, when the auditors verify it.

The audit process has become a necessary element for most large companies to remain competitive with the competition, ensuring the delivery of expected value to customers and business sustainability.

Business Process Audit Benefits

Risk analysis and contingency procedures

It promotes more transparency and corporate governance

Verification of controls used and their suitability to the business

To verify how often the defined procedures and practices are adequate

Provide information for decision making on improvements and changes in processes

Inventory(Stock) Audit

Auditing inventory is the process of cross-checking financial records with physical inventory and records. It can be completed by auditors and other parties.

An auditing inventory can be as simple as just taking a physical count of stock and inventory to match the records with physical stock.

Importance of Auditing Inventory

Observation of inventory is a generally accepted auditing procedure, where an independent auditor issues an opinion on whether the financial records of inventory accurately represent the actual inventory being carried.

Auditing inventory is an important aspect of gathering evidence, especially for manufacturing or retail-based businesses. It can represent a large balance of assets or capital.

Auditing inventory must verify not only the amount of inventory but also its quality and condition to see whether the value of the inventory is fairly represented in financial records and statements.

Auditing Inventory Procedures

Some common auditing inventory procedures are:

 1. ABC analysis

An ABC analysis includes grouping different value and volume inventory. For example, high-value inventory, mid-value, and low-value products can be grouped separately. The items can be tracked and stored in their separate value groups as well.

2. Analytical procedures

Analytical procedures include analyzing inventory based on financial metrics such as gross margins, days inventory on hand, inventory turnover ratio, and costs of inventory historically. 

3. Cut-off analysis

The cut-off analysis includes pausing operations such as receiving and shipping of inventory while making a physical count to avoid mistakes.

4. Finished goods cost analysis

Finished goods cost analysis applies to manufacturers and includes valuing finished inventory during an accounting period.

5. Freight cost analysis

Freight cost analysis includes determining the shipping or freight costs for transporting inventory to different locations. Generally, freight costs are included in the value of inventory, so it is important to track the freight costs as well.

6. Matching

Matching involves matching the number of items and the cost of inventory shipped with financial records. Auditors may conduct matching to verify that the right amounts were charged at the right time.

7. Overhead analysis

Overhead analysis includes analyzing the indirect costs of the business and overhead costs that may be included in the costs of inventory. Rent, utilities, and other costs can be recorded as part of inventory costs in some cases.

8. Reconciliation

Reconciliation includes solving discrepancies that are found in an auditing inventory. Errors may be re-checked and reconciled on financial records.