What don’t and can’t auditors do?

What don't auditors do?

•    Audit other information provided to the members of the organisation, for example, the directors' report.
•    Check every figure in the financial report – audits are based on selective testing only.
•    Judge the appropriateness of the organisation's business activities or strategies or decisions made by the directors.
•    Look at every transaction carried out by the organisation.
•    Test the adequacy of all of the organisation's internal controls.
•    Comment to shareholders on the quality of directors and management, the quality of corporate governance or the quality of the organisation's risk management procedures and controls.

What can't auditors do

•    Predict the future – The audit relates to a specific past accounting period. It does not judge what may happen in the future, and so cannot provide assurance that the organisation will continue in business indefinitely.
•    Be there all the time – The audit is carried out during a defined timeframe, and auditors are not at the organisation all the time. The prime purpose of the audit is to form an opinion on the information in the financial report taken as a whole, and not to identify all possible irregularities. This means that although auditors are on the look-out for signs of potential material fraud, it is not possible to be certain that frauds will be identified.