Friday, January 15, 2010

小小力量達致成功 (作者: 李家輝)

自2006年起,每年都喜歡到日本慶祝新年,喜歡那裏過新年的文化習俗,感受到那股過新年的濃厚氣氛。



在「大晦日」的晚上,即除夕夜,筆者到了京都的八坂神社倒數,可謂人山人海。到神社參拜的男女老幼都冒着寒冷,排隊等候2010年的來臨,在新的一年祈福。



當警察宣布可以放行,隨即踏入新的一年,善男信女們都非常有秩序地走到神壇前,將銅錢拋到神壇上,在這歲始祈福,期望新的一年有新的開始,開運除邪。



這銅錢可能是100円,可能是10円,甚至是5円。但不要小窺這小小的一百幾十円,因為日本人認為這小小的心意,加上誠心的祈願,相信會為祈願者帶來祝福。特別是5円,因日語讀音和「緣份」是同音,所以祈求愛情時,這小小的5円便大派用場。可見微不足道的小小金錢,卻有可能帶來莫大的機會。



以小博大獲利豐



過去的金融海嘯,可能令大家財產銳減。希望在新的一年,大家已經走出這陰霾。其實,在艱難的日子,有人以較低的價格購入及租賃心儀的單位,有人以較低的價錢投資實力股票,相信今天在22000點上下的水平已獲利不少。以往要用較高價錢的,在今天用少很多已經達到相應的回報,而且可能更多。



有報道指出,去年出來創業的人士有所增加,他們以較廉宜的價格購入空殼或舊公司,然後自行經營,造就了不少新的企業家,他們大部分都是專業人士。不過,創業始終有一定風險,大家必須管理好風險。



說到風險,現在審計大部分所採用的都是風險導向的審計方法(Risk-based Approach)。面對即將來臨的審計旺季及海嘯後的資源短缺,如何應用經濟學原理,以有限的資源去滿足人類無窮的欲望呢?讓筆者以小小智慧和經驗,跟大家分享小小審計策。



在審計的大原則下,要做有效率及效果的審計,必定先做一個周詳的計劃。孫子曰:「夫未戰而廟算勝者,得算多也;未戰而廟算不勝者,得算少也。多算勝,少算不勝,況於無算乎。吾以此觀之,勝負見矣。」可見周詳的計劃能令審計項目成功。



審計過程有捷徑



在管理學裡,有20/80理論,以20%的審計時間編制審計計劃,會事半功倍。有人認為時間已經不足,還用那麼多的時間做計劃,不如集中火力做測試,盡快完成豈不更好。其實這方法風險極大,可能會得不償失,未必一定能夠分辨及處理所有風險,若然一條恐怖的Query「Re-perform」出現,需要重做的代價實在不菲。



當開始審計時,筆者喜歡先覆核整份財務報表(Draft accounts),和一般人最後才做有所分別。這方法的好處是可以在審計的初期將所有的潛在錯誤發掘出來,並集中火力測試這些會計帳,很快地,整份財務報表的最後完成品也差不多,還包括披露的資料。要記着,旺季的accounts特別多,快一點作文字處理會省回不少的排隊時間。



至於測試,筆者喜愛用實質性分析性程序(Substantive Analytical Procedures,簡稱SAP)。可以用較少時間完成測試,同樣可以達到具體測試(Tests of Details)的確信度(Assurance),何樂而不為?雖則不是每個項目都可以用,但可以用的時候必用,有時還會利用統計學上的Regression Analysis,看看測試對象的Line of Best Fit與Coefficient of Covariance。



可能你會問:「作為小小審計員,又可以怎樣?」只要大家有小小計策能讓審計生活更好,不妨有信心提出。有一些成功的公司,會重視員工的寶貴意見,甚至要求「一日一意見」,可謂成功必殺技。



在八坂神社,有特別的白朮詣「燒厄除火繩」儀式,讓點點星火,燃盡火繩除厄。從來也不會低估星星之火的力量,而大家的小小力量團結起來,也能達到大成功。



於1月19日星期二,中國星火基金會將會舉辦「星火名人慈善講座」,題目是《小小力量…成功必殺技》,探討小小力量如何能達致成功,並希望能以大家小小的捐獻,幫助更多患有先天性心臟病的兒童。年青會計師協會也是支持機構之一,請大家多多支持。



謹代表年青會計師協會祝大家新年進步,身體健康!

6 comments:

bittermelon said...

當開始審計時先覆核整份財務報表,其實就是Risk-based audit approach. 現在不是很多會計師行及內審都採用這方法嗎?不明白為什麼會有人最後才做分析?如果最後才做,哪做來幹什麼?

JW said...

Totally agree with Bittermelon.

auditor said...

Draft accounts is completely different from planning analytic procedures. seems the writer mixed up these two procedures. or his firm in fact not going through this planning procedures?

Allan said...

Nice to meet all of you on this blog. I know you are all our supporters. Thank you very much!

Re my article, draft a/c is different from PAP. In planning, we will do PAP for risk assessment. In fieldwork, many will do draft a/c near the end of audit. Thus I suggest to do this early when we start our fieldwork, or even in planning stage. This would ensure all the new announcements can be incorporated. In addition, any change of status from planning to fieldwork can be identified early, including risk and strategy. Also, we could ensure all the disclosure notes can be audited earlier to avoid last min rush and most of the misstatements can be identified in the early stage of the fieldwork. We have observed so many cases that leave all these things to the last min which will affect the audit completion, review and even clients. Draft a/cs earlier would also save the time for queuing for typing the a/cs. Thus totally agree we must focus on risk assessment ... however ...

auditor said...

Not agree.

We cannot rely on drafting financial statements to discover irregularities. Financial statements only provide the comparison of two years' financial information. On the otherhand, planning analytics not only require 2 years' comparatives, it should also include ratio analysis and comparison of market information and other information that do not require statutory disclosures, which are critical to identify the risks that potentially the engagement might have.

A good audit planning should also aware of all new accounting policies that are applicable, too late if you only aware it when drafting FS.

Also by doing control and walkthrough tests during the planning, you can identify the potential control weaknesses so that you can tailor the audit procedures to address them. Drafting of FS cannot provide you this information.

I will not comment on your firm's housekeeping procedures, but if you encounter problems when drafting financial statements, that means your working papers were not supportive, which should be a consquence of bad audit planning. I would say, if you rely on drafting accounts on discovering issues, your audit is quite dangerous >.<'

I would suggest you pay more time for planning and audit work. Drafting financial statements can be very easy if your audit working papers are well prepared and supportive since all the disclosure notes are derived from the working papers right? don't tell me you do them all backwards.

finally, i don't think this is a good "tip" to young accountants..

Allan said...

Dear Auditor, thank you for your comment. All what you said is what we have done. I highly recommend to do proper and effective planning. This is the fundamental matter. We will go through all the HKSA 240, 300, 315, 330, etc... will be the Clarified Standards as well.

What I have said is just moving draft a/c to an earlier stage. Not skipping the planning or relying on draft a/c to identify risks. I always emphasise the application of updated auditing standards and do a proper planning based on Master Sun Tzu's philosophy.

What I share here is just what I have observed and what could be a way to perform an effective and efficient audit.

Thanks again for your feedback.