Companies, especially bigger ones, have shareholders who don’t really have hands-on contact with the business. This is why they need the reassurance that everything is going smoothly financially and operation-wise. So, this is where audit and assurance come in! But what exactly are they? And how are they any different from each other? Well, we’re gonna tell you all about that if you keep on reading! And if you want more financial discussions, our blog has everything you need. Now, let’s get into today’s talk, shall we?
Audit and Assurance - What Exactly Are They?
So, between audit and assurance, the lines could get blurred unless you’re a professional. But don’t worry, because we’re gonna break it down and make it as simple as it can get.
Audit
So, auditing is the process of analyzing financial statements and operations of a company. It makes sure that the company’s work is accurate and complies with laws in regulations that exist. It also gives a general view of what a company’s financial state is like. There are many types of audits, but we’re not gonna bore you with the details. We already covered all the types of audits right here. Make sure you check it out if you wanna know all the details. Moreover, if you wanna get into more auditing details, we broke down the difference between internal and statutory audits!
Assurance
Now, with auditing out of the way, let’s talk assurance! The main focus of assurance is to make sure that audits that are conducted are actually accurate. And while audits usually focus on the financial side of things, assurance operates in a broader scope. This leads to more reliability, credibility, and gives more validity to the data a company has. So in a way, audit and assurance go hand in hand while being different.
Differences Between Audit and Assurance
As we already stated, audits usually focus on financial records, while assurance covers a broader range of processes. Moreover, audits are either conducted internally or by an external team. Meanwhile, external teams are the ones that conduct assurance processes. As for regulations, audits usually have standards to stick to, just like accounting standards. However, assurance doesn’t follow any standards and it depends on what it is evaluating.
Now, if you wanna save yourself the trouble of either auditing and assurance, we have just the thing for you. Noraal offers a broad range of services for your business to help it on its growth journey. So make sure you check them out here, and you won’t regret it! This could be the break your business needs to grow.