ITPEC FE Morning April 2018 Question 58
Which of the following is the most appropriate purpose for which a system auditor exchanges opinions with an audited department with respect to the draft version of an audit report?
Explanation
To confirm there are no factual errors in the findings and recommendations — the auditee checks the facts before the report is finalized.
Before issuing the final report, the system auditor shows the draft to the audited department and exchanges opinions on it. The department can point out misunderstood facts or data, so that the findings and recommendations rest on accurate facts and the report will hold up when submitted to the audit requester. The auditor still decides the content independently.
Answer (a)
Why not others:
- •(b) — the report is issued to the person who requested the audit; showing the draft to the auditee is a fact check, not an early issue of the report
- •(c) — recommendations do not need the audited department's approval; making them depend on it would compromise the auditor's independence
- •(d) — where evidence is insufficient, the auditor must perform additional audit procedures to obtain it; oral confirmation during the draft review cannot substitute for that
Key rule: The auditee may correct facts in a draft audit report, but conclusions and recommendations remain the auditor's own, based on sufficient audit evidence.
System Audit · AI-written, may contain errors
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