Chapter 2 Organization and Structure of the Auditing Profess(5)

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reliability, electronic commerce, health care performance measurement, and assessing the quality of providers of elder care. In addition, the Committee considered, but did not develop business plans for, seven other assurance services.

2.2 TYPES OF AUDITORS

Auditors can be classified into three categories: independent, internal, and government. Independent auditors, also referred to as external auditors, and frequently as CPAs, CPAs in public practice, public accountants, or "outside" auditors, are never owners or employees of the entity that retains them to perform an audit, although they receive a fee for their services. Independent auditors perform financial statement audits to meet the needs of investors and creditors and the requirements of regulatory bodies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The audits typically result in an opinion on whether the financial

statements are fairly stated, in all material respects, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. Occasionally, CPAs perform compliance and performance audits. Increasingly, they perform attest engagements and provide other assurance services.

Internal auditors are employed by the entity they audit. The Institute of Internal Auditors has defined internal auditing as "an independent appraisal function established within an organization to examine and evaluate its activities as a service to the organization. The

objective of internal auditing is to assist members of the organization in the effective discharge of their responsibilities. . . . The internal auditing department is an integral part of the

organization and functions under the policies established by management and the board [of directors]." The primary function of internal auditors is to examine their entity's internal control and evaluate how adequate and effective it is. In performing that function, internal auditors often conduct performance (or operational) audits that are broadly designed to accomplish financial and compliance audit objectives as well.

The independence of internal auditors is different from that of independent (i.e., external) auditors. Internal auditors' independence comes from their organizational status-essentially, their function and to whom they report-and their objectivity. For external auditors,

independence derives instead from the absence of any obligation to or financial interest in the entity they were retained to audit, its management, or its owners.

Government auditors are employed by agencies of federal, state, and local governments. When the audit is of the government agency or department that employs the auditors, they function as internal auditors; when they audit recipients of government funds (including other government agencies), they act as external auditors. For example, auditors employed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture may audit the internal operations of that department; they also may audit the economy, efficiency, and program results of research funded by the Department of Agriculture but performed by others, such as colleges and universities. Most audits performed by government auditors are performance audits of economy, efficiency, and

programs, which include determining whether the entity being audited has complied with laws and regulations concerning economy and efficiency as well as those applicable to the program. 2