What Is Audit Management?

Audit management methods refer to various measures and means for controlling and adjusting the activities of the audit subject and the audit process. The purpose is to improve audit quality and audit efficiency, and ensure that various audit resources are effectively used. For example, the management of audit subjects, audit quality and audit information.

Audit management method

Due to the large variability of audit scope, its management content and methods are diverse. The most important are the management of audit subjects, audit quality and audit information. Audit subject management methods mainly refer to the management methods of audit institutions and auditors, such as management methods such as organization setup, staffing, post responsibilities, personnel training and assessment. Audit quality management methods mainly refer to management methods such as quality standard formulation, quality control and assessment, such as quality objective management, audit process monitoring, etc., whose purpose is to restrict various negative factors that affect quality in order to improve audit quality, avoid Reduce audit risk. Audit information management methods refer to various measures and means for collecting, processing, storing, and applying audit information, such as general methods of information management, audit statistical methods, and audit file management methods. The purpose is to ensure that audit information resources are effectively available Development and use to facilitate the communication of the audit situation and better play the role of audit in macro management. ^[1]

Audit management mainly adopts the following management methods: ^[2]

(1) Administrative methods. Management methods in which management personnel use administrative methods to guide, supervise, inspect, adjust, and persuade audit management activities in accordance with administrative methods. Administrative means are various administrative resolutions, decisions, orders, disciplines, measures, working procedures, standards, quotas, plans, and requirements. Administrative methods directly influence the actions of the person being managed by administrative coercion. Adopting the administrative method is a management method that is relatively common and quick to use. It is necessary to build on the basis of a harmonious relationship between superiors and subordinates, combine persuasion education, publicity and interpretation, and then use administrative means to avoid behaviors that force orders without discriminating between situations and problems. There are two methods of adopting administrative methods. One is the release method, which directly delivers relevant administrative resolutions, decisions, orders, disciplines, and measures to the person under management, and instructs it to execute within a certain period of time; the other is the point method. From the relevant staff to the relevant units or the subordinates under their management, certain methods shall be adopted for the content to be managed, such as inspection or random inspection. Administrative methods rely on authority to be direct, unitary and mandatory. The use of administrative methods should establish the concept of serving subordinates or persons under management. The use of administrative methods is to serve subordinates, guide and assist subordinates or persons under management to do a good job of management, improve the level of management, and achieve audit management goals.

(2) Economic methods. Management methods in accordance with the requirements of the law of economic development, in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, and using economic means to adjust various relationships in management activities to achieve management goals. The laws and regulations on which audit management is based are mainly audit regulations and other relevant regulations. The economic means are mainly economic leverage, economic accounting, and economic contracts. Among them, economic leverage mainly includes prices, costs, wages, bonuses, profits, interest, currency, finance, credit, taxation, etc. Economic leverage is a function of objective economic laws. Specific form. The use of economic methods is essentially the use of various economic levers to adjust the economic interests of managers and the economic relationships in audit activities. For example, wages and bonuses mainly reflect the personal interests of managers, and regulate the economic interests between managers and the state, enterprises and other personnel. Through the use of economic means, rational distribution and readjustment of economic benefits, rationalization of audit management relations and economic relations in all aspects, mobilization of enthusiasm and creativity of management staff, and guarantee the normal progress of management and audit activities.

(3) Legal methods. Management personnel use laws, regulations, and rules that reflect the will of the broad masses of people to restrict management behaviors, adjust various relationships in audit management activities, and ensure management methods that operate in accordance with laws and regulations. Adopting legal methods is essentially implementing mandatory controls, inspections, restrictions and adjustments to management actions. Legal methods are authoritative, normative, mandatory and stable. Using legal methods, through the publicity and education of audit regulations and related laws, and implementation, strict laws must be complied with, law enforcement must be rigorous, and violations of the law must be investigated, and various illegal and criminal acts must be sanctioned to maintain management work and economic order, and ensure management work and Audit activities are carried out normally to achieve the goals of audit management.

(4) Ideological and political education methods. Use Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, and the important thinking of the "Three Represents" to educate managers to improve their ideological and political consciousness, so as to better manage management methods. The methods of ideological and political education are long-term, extensive and indirect. Use ideological and political education methods to change people's spiritual appearance, mobilize people's social enthusiasm, improve their ideological and political awareness, cultivate their correct world outlook, values and outlook on life, as well as socialist moral qualities and a high degree of organizational discipline, and resolutely struggle Objectives, inspire enthusiasm and motivation, continuously solve various ideological problems in management activities, deal with the interrelationships among various aspects, departments and personnel in management activities, and ensure the realization of audit management goals. The essence of the ideological and political education method is to use the construction of socialist spiritual civilization to promote and guarantee the construction of socialist material civilization.

(5) System approach. The systematic method is a method that takes the audit management object as a system, carries out synthesis and analysis, implements quantification and optimization, and establishes a model to reveal its essence and laws. Starting from the overall system, comprehensive analysis is performed. Synthesis is the logical starting point of thinking mode. It adopts synthesis-analysis-synthesis logic program, of which synthesis-analysis and analysis-synthesis have information feedback between each other. It is a two-way thinking mode. Synthesizing runs through the whole process of cognition, analyzes under the guidance of synthesis, and then achieves overall synthesis through level-by-level and classification synthesis, so that the analysis and synthesis are "synchronized", and the analysis links the whole. Starting from the overall system, a comprehensive analysis is performed. Starting from the whole of the system, the "three-dimensional" thinking is carried out, and multi-angle, multi-level, multi-factor, multi-measure, and dynamic analysis are carried out. Multi-angle analysis of the system, according to different signs, reveal the system's constituent elements and their relationships from different aspects; carry out a multi-level analysis of the system, analyze the constituent elements of the overall level of the system as secondary subsystems, and Analysis of supporting systems; multi-factor analysis of the system, changes in the various elements of the system at various levels and their mutual effects, multi-factor analysis, analysis of internal factors, external factors, or subjective and objective factors To find the best way to deal with the problem in order to achieve the overall optimum; to perform multi-measurement analysis of the system, we must qualitatively analyze and reveal the functions and goals of the system, and at the same time, we must use mathematical languages, mathematical tools, and computers as much as possible. Quantitative analysis is performed to truly reflect system operation activities.

(6) Information methods. The information method is a method that uses the basic principles of information theory and regards the movement of the system as the process of information flow, and through the collection, processing, transmission, storage and use of the information of the audit management system, to achieve the system goals. Starting from the whole system, from the perspective of information connection and information transformation, the system objects are comprehensively, comprehensively and systematically processed from the information flow. Applying the information method can not focus on the specific form of the object, but always focus on the movement of the system information, proceed directly from the whole, and use the information perspective to abstract the general form of information for a comprehensive investigation. Information methods are applicable to all aspects of the system, revealing the common attributes of things. Information processes exist in various subsystems and aspects of the system, and they are universal and similar. Therefore, information methods can be used for any subsystem of the system to reveal the development trend of various things, especially some special phenomena. And its regularity. The information method must use a certain form (carrier) to act on the system. Information carriers, one is a direct record carrier, such as paper, magnetic tape (disk, optical disc) and film; the other is a carrier in motion, such as various signals: electrical signals, acoustic signals, optical signals, accounting information Electric signals are commonly used, such as telegraphs, telephones, and the use of electronic computers. The information method can only realize the information transformation process with the help of a certain carrier, and it can affect the processing of audit management objects.

(7) Control method. The control method is a method of using the basic principles of cybernetics to achieve the best state of the system by auditing the information flow of the management system according to the standards of control. Control methods generally refer to internal management control methods, which include organizational planning control, authorization approval control, document recording control, physical protection control, risk assessment control, employee quality control, and internal reporting control. The implementation of the control method is actually the process of implementing the control. Through the implementation of control methods, timely find problems in real-time control, take timely measures to overcome existing problems, and enable audit management to proceed normally; reveal changes in various factors affecting audit management, communicate with relevant parties in a timely manner, and continuously adjust Various influencing factors, and adopt corresponding measures to keep the audit management in coordination with all parties, mobilize the enthusiasm of all parties, and strive to achieve the goals of audit management.

(8) Spot check method. The survey method is a method of investigating the management object to obtain relevant information in a certain form in accordance with the relevant requirements. An investigation is a process that includes three interrelated elements: the investigator, the subject of the investigation; the means of investigation, the form and method of the investigation; the object of the investigation, and the object of the investigation. "There is no right to speak without investigation," which is the motto that investigative researchers should follow. According to the needs of the research, various surveys can be adopted: divided into general survey, sample survey, typical survey and case survey according to the number of survey objects; divided into thematic survey and comprehensive survey according to the nature of the survey content; It is a regular survey and an irregular survey; According to the scope of the survey, it is divided into national survey, regional survey, departmental survey, urban survey and rural survey. The specific methods used in the survey are: Survey meeting method, where investigators invite relevant personnel to hold a survey meeting (symposium), according to the outline of the survey, ask questions to the participants and conduct discussions to obtain survey data; On-site survey Method, the investigator personally deeply investigates the investigation unit, and directly observes the survey subject in accordance with the survey outline and requirements; questionnaire method, the surveyor uses the question form to understand the situation with the survey subject in accordance with the survey content and requirements; Interview method, in accordance with the content and requirements of the investigation, the investigator directly asks the respondent by asking questions and answering questions and discussing the methods to understand the situation; telephone survey method, the investigator selects the survey target according to the requirements of the survey outline , The method of understanding the situation by telephone; online survey method, the investigator in accordance with the requirements of the survey outline, the survey through the Internet.