Audit Planning and Execution for Woolworths: A Six-Step Model

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AUDIT PLANNING
Audit planning can be explained as the process of developing and intending to execute the specific
guidelines before the auditing process is started. There are various advantages associated with the audit
planning step like it would keep the focus of audit specific, reduce the time and resources which are
required in the auditing process, keep the cost of auditing in control and also helps in developing better
transparency between the auditor and audited party (Arens, et al. 2000).
Audit planning is the first step of any auditing process and it would involve people from all areas of
auditing department and their input would be added in the final auditing plan. Audit planning develops
the overall strategy of the auditing process, thus it is very important that it is done appropriately as the
success and failure of a auditing process depends on how immaculately it is planned. Audit planning also
informs the auditors beforehand the key areas of concern where they need to put more focus while
doing auditing.
STEPS OF AUDIT FOR WOOLWORTHS
Standard procedure for auditing for companies like Woolworth is a six step model
1. To request the financial documents from Woolworths’s and keeping them secure.
In this step all the required financial documents would be requested from the company. These
documents could be available on public domain as well as with the internal auditor and different
departments of organization. A list of document request is handed over to company officials.
2. Developing auditing plan on the basis of financial documents.

All the information gathered is screened and auditor’s panel will develop a auditing plan on the
basis of information available. Resources are allocated and accountability of different members
of auditing team is decided. A time frame is also designed and informed to all members
associated (Ghose & Koliadis, 2007).
3. Scheduling an open meeting
Senior officials from organization as well as auditing team conduct an open meeting where all
key facts and areas are presented. Scope of the audit and its procedure is discussed openly and
any doubts and concerns are resolved at this stage of all parties involved.
4. Conducting onsite inspection and field work
Field work includes reviewing the documents, procedures both onsite as well as off site. Various
interviews are conducted and specific data is gathered which is closely scrutinized by the
auditing team. Data is compared with the standards of compliance and quality which are
applicable for the industry and any areas or loop holes are identified. If there is any concern the
officials are given an opportunity to explain themselves.
5. Developing an draft of the field work
A detailed report with findings of the audit is prepared and it is presented to both senior
members of the auditing committee and organization officers. Any issues and concerns can be
discussed at this stage as well.
6. Concluding meeting and finalizing report
Final meeting is organized. Auditors solicit the response from the organization officers regarding
their agreement or disagreement with the report. After final checks and remarks auditor’s final

report is published for the concerned stakeholders and authorities (Goodwin-Stewart & Kent,
2006).
REFERENCES
Arens, A. A., Loebbecke, J. K., Elder, R. J., Beasley, M. S., & American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants. (2000). Auditing: An integrated approach (Vol. 8). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall.
Ghose, A., & Koliadis, G. (2007). Auditing business process compliance. In International
Conference on Service-Oriented Computing (pp. 169-180). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Goodwin-Stewart, J., & Kent, P. (2006). The use of internal audit by Australian companies.
Managerial Auditing Journal, 21(1), 81-101.