Unit 10 Listen and Read:
Audit activities
Auditors, when performing the critical decisions referred to in each of the audit stages, undertake a structured set of activities. Strategic planning is long term planning and refers to the auditor's determination, in the client acceptance/retention stage, of the criteria by which prospective audit clients will be accepted. An audit firm may refer to the final list of criteria as the firm's strategic plan for prospective and existing audit clients. Tactical planning involves the identification, in the audit planning stage, of the criteria by which the audit approach will be determined. The end results of tactical planning are documented in the audit working papers as the tactical audit plan. Tactical planning thus requires the auditor to identify the factors that s/he will use to determine the audit approach, as well as to identify the relative emphasis on these factors. Operational planning is the activity of determining what and how much evidence the auditor requires to be gathered and evaluated, and when, how and by whom it should be gathered and evaluated. These plans are recorded in detail in the audit program.