① Auditors must perform their duties fairly and honestly and keep relevant company secrets;

② Auditors shall bear financial responsibility for losses suffered by the company, shareholders or creditors due to negligence. liability for compensation.

Legal composition

For certified public accountants to assume audit responsibilities, they must meet the following legal requirements:

First, a qualified behavioral subject, that is, the subject that bears audit responsibilities , must be a certified public accountant or relevant organization and individual participating in auditing activities. All organizations and individuals participating in auditing activities can constitute the subject of audit responsibility, specifically including certified public accountants, accounting firms, chief accountants and experts hired to participate in auditing activities. Assistant staff etc.

The certified public accountant is responsible for his or her own auditing behavior and results, and assumes audit responsibility; generally speaking, the project leader (CPA) responsible for auditing activities should be responsible for his or her auditing behavior and results, that is, auditing The process should comply with the provisions of the Independent Auditing Standards, and due professional prudence should be maintained. Otherwise, corresponding audit responsibilities (including legal responsibilities and professional responsibilities) should be assumed; the certified public accountant who signs the audit report should be responsible for the results of the audit activities. , and assume all or major audit responsibilities to the outside world; the accounting firm affixes its official seal to the audit report and must be directly responsible for the behavior and results of the CPA's audit activities as a legal person; at the same time, the accounting firm affixes its official seal to the audit report. The official seal is an act of authority or authorization by the chief accountant, and the chief accountant is responsible for the last level of three-level review, so he should bear corresponding audit responsibilities for all audit activities of the firm; in addition, the conclusion of the audit report signed by the chief accountant Bear direct responsibility; experts and assistants hired to participate in audit activities shall bear responsibility for their corresponding work.

Second, the actor is at fault, that is, the actor committed a fault or committed fraud;

Third, the act is illegal, that is, the actor's faulty behavior violated relevant laws, regulations or The provisions of the business agreement;

Fourth, there is the fact of damage, that is, property losses have been caused to other parties;

Fifth, the causal relationship, that is, the illegal behavior of the actor and the damage There is a relationship between the facts that caused and was caused, which is a key element in determining whether the actor should bear legal liability for a specific damage.

Definition of powers and responsibilities

(1) Lead and manage the audit working group. Serve as the leader or chief auditor of the audit working group, reasonably arrange and adjust the work of the team members according to the needs of the audit project, conduct supervision and inspection, and bear responsibility for the audit risks caused by the poor performance of the audit working group;

(2) Responsible for preparing the specific implementation plan of the project. When unforeseen circumstances occur in matters being audited, non-significant audit matters and important impacts may have the right to adjust the implementation plan according to the audit objectives; Audit Responsibilities

(3) Responsible for and guide the investigation before the audit is implemented and issue Investigation report, prepare an audit plan based on the investigation report and organize its implementation;

(4) The right to hire or consult specialized agencies and personnel who are proficient in certain technical fields based on the technical level of the audit project;

(5) Responsible for the verification of audit evidence, ensuring that the acquisition of audit evidence is appropriate and legal, and that the audit evidence itself does not have flaws;

(6) Responsible for the review of audit working papers, and reviewing the audit working papers Be responsible for the fairness and authenticity of the audit report;

(7) Organize the audit team to discuss the audit report and be responsible for the final draft of the audit report, and use due attention and diligence to ensure that the audit team issued the report There should be no factual or legal flaws in the work report, and the auditor should use his due professional judgment to ensure that the audit report is constructive;

(8) For the audit decision applying for reconsideration, the auditors and persons who are not interested in the case Relevant persons may preside over audit hearings;

(9) Can form an audit committee to review and evaluate major audit matters;

(10) According to its due The professional judgment ability has the right to make timely suggestions on the establishment of audit projects;

(11) Based on the actual conditions of the audit project, the right to independently decide on the working methods and technical methods that the audit working group should adopt, and to He is primarily responsible for the legal consequences of this;

(12) The final opinion on the audit project implemented can be based on the scope and impact of the audit project, non-significant matters and impact, and penalties can be made Decide.

Definition of powers and responsibilities of assistant auditors

Assistant auditors assist the auditors in the audit working group to carry out audit work and perform their duties in accordance with relevant laws, regulations and administrative systems.

Causes

The reasons for the formation of CPA audit responsibilities involve many aspects, but the main aspects are as follows:

1. The diversification of accounting objectives increases the audit risks of certified public accountants.

Managers, investors, creditors, national tax administration, etc. have different requirements for accounting information, which makes accounting processing have to balance these requirements, thus increasing the controversy over the interpretation of accounting information. sex. Due to changes in the economic environment, the complexity of accounting information processing and the increase in conflicts of understanding between different levels, audit risks will inevitably occur.

2. The market operating mechanism is unreasonable and affects the independence of certified public accountants.

First of all, there are serious flaws in the corporate governance structure. The ownership structure of China's listed companies is deformed. It is common for state-owned shareholders to be absent or for one shareholder to dominate. The phenomenon of "insider control" is very serious. In addition, the audit is entrusted by the auditee, and the independence of the certified public accountant will undoubtedly be affected by the auditee. Accommodating and acquiescing to the auditee's fraud in the stimulating market competition has almost become a "rational choice." Secondly, the transformation and listing of state-owned enterprises that do not meet the conditions and improper intervention by local governments will also increase the audit risks of certified public accountants.

3. Under market economy conditions, the economic consequences of accounting information increase audit responsibilities.

Under the conditions of market economy, the decision-making role of accounting information has become very important. A small wrong accounting information may cause the entire society to lose tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even hundreds of millions of funds. Error flow. It is precisely because the economic consequences of accounting information have become increasingly prominent that when there are economic consequences that should not occur, or when both parties who identify the accounting information and use the accounting information have different views on the economic consequences, legal consequences will inevitably arise. conflict. Therefore, the increase in the economic consequences of accounting information will also cause related audit liability issues.

4. Excessive public expectations are the main reason why CPAs encounter audit lawsuits.

There are differences between the public's understanding of the role of independent auditing, the results of CPAs' auditing behavior, and the industry's own views on auditing performance, that is, differences in auditing expectations. Due to the limitations of auditing technology and cost, and the fact that modern auditing is a system-based audit based on the evaluation of internal controls, CPAs cannot expect to detect all errors and frauds in an enterprise through auditing. However, the public often regards audit opinions as guarantees or guarantees for accounting statements. Once it is discovered that one's own interests have been harmed due to being misled by inaccurate accounting information, the CPA is often put in the dock.

5. The imperfect construction of the accounting firm system is the "fatal factor" that causes certified public accountants to be held accountable for auditing.

(1) Accounting firms adopt a limited liability system, which is an important reason for the formation of audit responsibility. Because the registered capital of several hundred thousand yuan is responsible for businesses involving hundreds of millions or billions. In this case, the firm's costs of immorality are low and the potential benefits are high. Therefore, in order to maximize profits, on the one hand, they try to "compress" audit costs and ignore the establishment of quality control policies and procedures; on the other hand, in order to win over customers, they often do not hesitate to reduce audit quality, and even collude with the audited unit to cheat and issue false reports. . Limited liability creates a “firewall” for accounting firms and certified public accountants to evade civil liability for compensation.

(2) Certified public accountants do not pay attention to the improvement of their own quality and fail to expand their professional knowledge in a timely manner. Facing the ever-changing market economy, it is difficult to adapt to the needs of business development. In addition, CPAs lack due professional prudence and professional ethics, have weak professionalism, fail to cope with audit procedures, and even use inside information for personal gain. These reasons originating from within the industry have become "fatal factors" for CPAs to be held accountable for auditing responsibilities.

6. The contradictory nature of legal provisions regarding certified public accountants complicates audit responsibilities.

In order to clarify the legal responsibilities of certified public accountants and maintain the order of the market economy, the country has successively promulgated the "Criminal Law", "CPA Law", "Securities Law" and "Company Law", all of which involve registration. Provisions related to the legal responsibilities of accountants. This series of regulations plays an important role in maintaining the order of market operations. However, due to changes in the external environment and different legislative sequences, there are many contradictions in the provisions of these current laws involving the legal responsibilities of certified public accountants for auditing. For example, specialized legislation does not classify and stipulate along the lines of criminal infringement objects like criminal law, which will lead to inconsistent and unbalanced scales when investigating the legal liability of certified public accountants; emphasizing substantive law and despising procedural law will bring about compensation for accounting firms. Conflicts over procedural issues; compensation issues for accounting firms arising from the interpretation of other judicial documents, etc. These phenomena complicate the legal responsibilities of certified public accountants.

7． The undifferentiated audit reporting system is the main reason why audit risks are currently expanding.

The undifferentiated audit report system means that the format and content of the audit report do not distinguish the different requirements of the audit purpose (or purpose of use), use a unified reporting model uniformly, and do not include any differences in the audit report. An audit system that states the purpose for which the report is to be used. This makes it easier for the client to use the audit report for non-audit purposes, and also adds additional risks to the CPA.

Audit standards require CPAs to clarify the purpose of the audit. The audit engagement letter also clearly stipulates the purpose of the audit. The CPA plans and implements the audit work according to the purpose of the audit. The purpose of the audit is different, and the focus of the implementation of the audit procedures is Also different. The audit report is objective and appropriate when used for the agreed purpose, but if used for non-agreed purposes, it may not appear objective and appropriate. The existence of this risk is obvious.

And accounting responsibilities

Accounting responsibilities and auditing responsibilities are two different responsibilities. The "Accounting Law" stipulates that ensuring the authenticity and completeness of accounting information is the accounting responsibility of the audited unit. . The person in charge of a unit is the legal representative of the unit. He exercises his powers on behalf of the unit in accordance with the law. He shall be responsible for the accounting behavior of the unit and become the subject of accounting responsibilities. This responsibility shall not be borne by the CPA, nor shall it be transferred to the CPA. In other words, the audit responsibility of the certified public accountant cannot replace, reduce or relieve the accounting responsibility of the person in charge of the unit. If the accounting information of a unit is seriously distorted, and there are major errors, fraud or illegal activities in the accounting statements, the person in charge of the unit must first bear accounting responsibility.

The main connections between the two are as follows:

1. Consistency of work goals.

The work of both the audited unit and the audit unit is part of the economic management work. In our work, we are based on the relevant laws, regulations and rules of the country, provide true and reliable financial accounting information to relevant interests, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of all interested parties. Therefore, the work goals are the same.

2. Identity of objective basis.

Both the audited unit and the auditing unit perform their respective functions based on the economic activities that the same enterprise has achieved. That is to say, both reflect and supervise the economic activities of the same accounting entity. Therefore, their objective basis is consistent.