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审计 拜见客户常见错误

Learner Material H_Handout 3: 10 Common Interviewing Mistakes
Mistake 1. Not taking time to develop rapport and not showing empathy with the client's situation.
Explanation
Examples / suggestions
? Rushing to get to the task and missing the opportunity to get to know the client ? Not clarifying the overall purpose of the meeting
When time is limited, you may be tempted to skip introductions, thank you’s for time, setting out purpose and the outline for the meeting - your attitude is rushed and flustered and focused only on the task Hint: Time spent getting to know the client is invaluable, building the relationship, putting yourself in the client’s shoes, showing interest and curiosity in what the client says. Time gained by skipping over this stage in the short term may lead to client difficulties / resistance later on. You may ask: “Have you checked that the year end balance is correct?” The client is likely to answer “Yes.” Hint: If you ask: “What have you done to ensure the year end balance is correct?” or “Why are you sure that the year end balance is correct?”, you will most likely learn more about the client’s reconciliation process and other controls in place which can provide audit evidence. You may need to ask your client the same question again as you do not remember all the necessary details after the interview (some clients may take over or are very informative - in your first year you may feel the “information overload”). Hint: It is key that you note down all salient points either during or immediately after the interview - before you move onto something else and the information is lost. You may not fully understand your client’s answer but you are afraid to ask. Hint: Simple questions such as “What do you mean by that?” or “What is the implication of this?” can help you and prompt your client to provide more details/explanations. Hint: You may avoid this by reading the prior year files and other information available and by asking colleagues who have worked on the assignment in past – they are a valuable source of information. You will find that often you walk out of client interviews with lot of reports and documentation for further analysis. Later as, you examine this information, you will have some follow up questions to ask.
2. Only listening for what you would like to hear
? Asking closed questions (with yes/no answers) ? Only confirming your own expectations rather than letting the client provide an explanation
3. Taking insufficient notes
? Not taking notes at all or ? Not completing your notes immediately after the interview, but rather a few days/weeks later
4. Not asking follow-up questions
? Incomplete understanding of the information provided by the client
5. Insufficient knowledge of the client and industry
? Relates to poor planning and preparation for the interview
6. Not asking for a time to ask subsequent / follow up questions
? Make sure that you agree follow up time with your client
YFHS/H_Handout_3 PwC
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Learner Material H_Handout 3: 10 Common Interviewing Mistakes
Mistake 7. Not listening to valuable extra information given during the interview
Explanation
Examples / suggestions
? If the client mentions a problem they have encountered during or following the financial year, you should follow it up as it may have audit implications - no matter whether it seems relevant to your area of testing or not ? Quite likely in large audit teams or in teams who do not communicate regularly; be aware that audit areas relate to each other and your work may overlap with someone else’s in the team ? Proper interview planning and preparation is invaluable for you to gain the trust of your clients and develop good working relationships with them – this will of course have a direct impact on your increased confidence ? Keep asking questions until you gather the necessary evidence to corroborate the explanation given by the client
Hint: Discuss the information with your team – someone else may need to follow the extra information up.
8. Asking the client questions other team members have already asked
For example payables are related to expenses, sales to receivables and bad debt provisions. Hint : Let the other team members know what are you working on, who you are going to interview and ask if anyone has any information which may be useful in your testing – some teams have daily briefing sessions where each team member briefs the others about his/her findings for that day.
9. Low confidence
You will often find that you have to interview client personnel who are much more experienced and senior in the field of accounting than yourself Hint: Accompany one of your more experienced colleagues to their client interviews (role of cointerviewer) and observe the process to gain more confidence; also get more experienced colleagues to introduce you to your client contacts and help you to establish the client relationship.
10. Not obtaining corroborative evidence
Do not just take the clients answer as the truth and not ask to see evidence/support. Sometimes the client will not be able to readily supply the evidence that you want to review, Clients tend to change the subject if they do not want you to dig into certain areas. Hint: You may need to give the client time to assemble the evidence and schedule a follow up meeting. -Be persistent and maintain your scepticism. Take time to evaluate and weigh-up what the client says – does it make sense?
YFHS/H_Handout_3 PwC
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