First of all, correctly determine the importance.
Banks are different from ordinary companies, and their products are special and have great inherent risks. When preparing audit plans and carrying out audit tasks, certified public accountants should consider the characteristics of banking business and determine the importance level appropriately, such as determining the importance level of related projects according to the total assets, business income and total profits.
When determining the importance level of bank audit plan, we should pay attention to the different risk asset weights of banks. The assets with the minimum weight of zero are bank deposits; Second, the money deposited in the central bank; The credit loans or overdrafts to general enterprises and individuals have the greatest weight, and the risk weight is 100%. Bank funds are deposited in non-bank financial institutions or banks with relatively turbulent national political situation, which is more risky and has greater weight. The total amount of bank transactions has little effect on the importance. At present, the interest income of most banks in China accounts for about 80%-90% of the total income, and interest expenses account for the main part of all expenditures. Bank profits and losses are mainly generated from interest income and interest expenses. But the spread does not determine the profit and loss of the bank, and the loss of bad debts is the maw of embezzling the bank's profits. Some banks are engaged in foreign exchange and debt margin trading, and the amount recorded in the table is not large, but the number of contracts and transactions is large, and the possible losses are also great. Different business strategies of banks have different degrees of importance. Different types of banks have different importance. For example, the proportion of foreign exchange business of China Bank is relatively large, and the possibility of exchange rate risk and foreign exchange position gap is relatively large. However, there are many overseas branches and favorable conditions for diversifying risks, and the degree of foreign exchange risk may be smaller than that of other banks.
When determining the bank audit plan, you can assign a relatively low importance level to the bank cash. Due to the inherent sensitivity of cash and the effective internal control of banks on cash (such as double warehouse management, cross-checking, cash account book recording and warehousing system, etc.). ), the possibility of cash error is relatively small, generally do not need to conduct a comprehensive inventory of bank cash inventory, only need to sample and supervise the inventory. By checking the cash check register and cash account book of the cashier department of the bank, we can determine whether there is a cash misstatement, and obtain higher audit reliability with lower audit cost. However, we should pay more attention to off-balance-sheet business, because a large number of off-balance-sheet businesses of banks, especially bank guarantees, credit lines and forward foreign exchange transactions, may cause huge losses, so we should pay attention to collecting sufficient evidence and paying attention to their risks.
Proper determination of materiality level is helpful to identify bank misstatements that seriously violate regulatory laws and regulations. The business activities of banks are strictly restricted by financial supervision laws and regulations (for example, banks must meet the minimum capital adequacy ratio of 8% and maintain appropriate asset-liability ratio and loan-to-deposit ratio, etc.). ). Although small misstatements and audit differences are not important in quantity, they may be important in quality. Because its correction or disclosure is related to whether banks comply with regulatory laws and regulations, it is conducive to the banking regulatory authorities to find problems.
Two. Key areas of audit
At present, China's banks operate separately, with narrow business scope and single business variety. The main item of assets in bank accounting statements is loans, accounting for about 70% of total assets; The debtor's projects are mainly deposits, accounting for about 80% of the liabilities. The key areas of CPA's audit of bank accounting statements mainly include the following aspects.
(A) the quality of assets
This is a matter of life and death for banks. Banking supervision authorities pay special attention to the quality of bank assets. The focus of asset quality is the quality of loans. The evaluation of bank loan quality depends on scientific and reasonable risk judgment, classification and analysis system. The International Auditing Bulletin No.6 issued by the International Auditing Practice Committee (IASC) of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC)1990 in February clearly points out that auditors should consider the classification system of bank loan quality in the audit process. The Bank Audit published by American Institute of Accountants also puts forward that "in order to determine the scope of registered audit, accountants should consider the loan classification system of management authorities". At present, China mainly evaluates the quality of bank loans according to the general principles of loans, and divides loans into normal loans, overdue loans, sluggish loans and non-performing loans, and the last three are all non-performing loans of banks. The classification of bank non-performing loans in the General Principles of Loans is characterized by time division, which is intuitive, but it cannot truly reflect the quality of loans. Many countries in the world use the "five-level classification" (that is, loan risk classification) to classify the quality of bank loans, and classify loans into normal, concerned, secondary, suspicious and loss, and the last three categories are bank non-performing loans. The premise of the five-level classification is that banks can receive real and legal accounting statements and related materials submitted by borrowers on a regular basis. Its core lies in the bank's evaluation of the borrower's repayment ability, with the borrower's normal operating income as the main repayment source and the loan guarantee as the secondary repayment source. Through the continuous monitoring and analysis of the borrower's cash flow, financial strength, collateral value, repayment records and repayment willingness, we can judge the possibility of the borrower repaying the loan principal and interest in full and on time and the possible losses of the loan, and take corresponding management measures according to the risk status of the loan. However, the accounting statements submitted by most borrowers in China are incomplete, untrue and irregular, so it is difficult for banks to analyze and evaluate them. The technical operation requirements of the five-level classification method are relatively high, which has a great influence on the proportion of bad debt provision for banks. The People's Bank of China decided to formally implement loan risk classification management in all kinds of banks nationwide from June 5438+1 October1day, 2002.
It is the responsibility of the bank management to evaluate the loan quality regularly and strictly, but the CPA's evaluation of the bank's asset quality conforms to the principle of professional prudence and is a necessary work for auditing. Certified public accountants should pay special attention to whether the internal control system of bank loan management is sound and credible, evaluate the quality of bank assets by combining analytical tests with substantive tests, authenticate large loans and non-performing loans, and ask the bank management authorities to provide the inspection report of the bank supervision authorities for reference.
(2) Pay attention to the extraction of bank reserves, especially the extraction of bad debt reserves.
Bad loans from banks are inevitable. The bad debts of banks should be controlled within the level recognized by peers, especially within the risk tolerance of banks. Banks should not only be able to identify the hidden risk factors in loan business activities, but also take certain preventive measures against the consequences caused by risks. The loan reserve system is an effective way to prevent and resolve risks. Whether the bank withdraws the bad debt reserve in full has a great influence on the security, stability and profitability of the bank. The Financial System of Financial and Insurance Enterprises issued by the Ministry of Finance 1993 stipulates that banks should draw bad debt reserves according to the loan difference of 1%, and the bad debt reserves can be drawn according to the ratio of 3‰, or they can be written off after approval by relevant departments. In May, 20001year, the Ministry of Finance informed financial enterprises (including commercial banks) to unify bad debt reserves, bad debt reserves and investment risk reserves into bad debt reserves, and banks determined the proportion of bad debt reserves according to asset risks, with the highest being 100% and the lowest being 1%. The People's Bank of China also drafted the Guidelines for Withdrawing Loan Loss Reserves, requiring banks to withdraw special reserves for loans of concern, sub-category, doubtful category and loss category according to the reference ratio of 2%, 20%, 50% and 100% respectively. Banks can also draw a certain proportion of special reserves according to the country risk of loans.
The International Federation of Accountants pointed out that auditors should pay attention to and evaluate the rationality and adequacy of bad debt provision. Internationally, certified public accountants usually explain the main accounting policies approved by the board of directors for banks to withdraw bad debts, bad debt reserves and other reserves in the notes of their audit reports.
(C) Pay attention to the compliance of bank liabilities
Most of the bank debts are social liabilities, among which the most important item is deposits, followed by foreign loans, agency bank loans and interbank transactions. British law stipulates that bank liabilities must be "qualified". China stressed that bank deposits must be "compliant". Because bank deposits in China involve thousands of households, certified public accountants think that the response rate of credit card is very low and the effect is not good, and they are worried about violating the principle of bank secrecy for depositors. Therefore, there is almost no credit card for large bank deposits, and no other alternative methods have been adopted for verification. Therefore, according to the characteristics of bank liabilities, certified public accountants should analyze the variables of bank liabilities and judge the ability of banks to pay deposits. Under the background of the current world economic integration and the globalization of banking business, it should be noted that some overseas "non-resident deposits" absorbed by banks may not be included in the balance sheet; Pay attention to the abnormal situation of "offshore business" recorded in some banks' off-balance sheets; Pay attention to the possible phenomenon of "money laundering" and guard against operational risks and legal risks caused by negligence of bank liabilities.
(4) Pay attention to the confirmation of bank income.
Bank income has a great influence on the authenticity of profits. Bank shareholders, management authorities, the public and regulatory authorities all attach great importance to the profitability of banks. The confirmation of bank income shall comply with the provisions of the financial system of financial and insurance enterprises. In recent years, the operating environment of banks has changed greatly, and the income presents great uncertainty. Some provisions in the financial system can no longer adapt to the development of the economic situation and the changes in the operating conditions of enterprises, which directly leads to the overvaluation of income and assets in bank accounting books; Even some banks have made false payments, which have aggravated the operational risks of banks. Certified public accountants should use professional judgment to prudently confirm the income of banks according to the credibility of internal control of banks. According to the average balance of bank loans, interest rate grades and the ratio of short-term loans to medium-and long-term loans, the approximate income can be calculated and analyzed and rechecked; Verify the compliance of bank loan interest income by checking the interest calculation of large borrowers and non-performing loans; Test the accuracy of calculating interest by the bank computer system; Pay special attention to whether the bank continues to withdraw interest income that should not be accrued.
(5) Pay attention to the off-balance-sheet business of banks and related matters.
The off-balance-sheet business of banks can be simply divided into two categories: traditional and innovative. The characteristics of off-balance-sheet business accounting are as follows: (1) traditional business sets corresponding accounts, which occur at the same time and write off the same amount; (2) Innovative business accounting is complicated. Most spot transactions are accounted for on the balance sheet, while unexpired transactions are recorded off the balance sheet, such as option transactions and forward foreign exchange transactions. A large number of off-balance-sheet business accounting is an important feature that distinguishes banks from general enterprises. Off-balance-sheet business not only hides huge risks, but also may cause incomplete bank accounting information. Most of the off-balance-sheet businesses of branches of Chinese banks are traditional businesses, the head office may have many innovative businesses, and overseas branches may have many financial innovative businesses.
The audit of off-balance-sheet business of banks can reveal the problem of missing or not reporting off-balance-sheet business by checking the accounts, correspondence and contracts between banks and their subordinate banks and correspondent banks. Internationally, CPA will explain off-balance-sheet risks, bank contingent liabilities, unfulfilled financial contracts, capital and lease commitments in the notes to the audit report, and attach "unaudited supplementary information" to the audit report, including: capital adequacy ratio and liquidity ratio; Subdivision information, such as bank assets distribution, business area, main retail or wholesale business scope, etc.; Loan classification; Non-performing loans; Risk management measures, etc.
Third, pay attention to practical problems and guard against audit risks.
The problem of grass-roots branches (branches) of banks in China using interbank current accounts and occupying foreign exchange differences for off-balance-sheet operations is more prominent. Certified public accountants shall, in accordance with the requirements of Practice Notices No.7 and No.8, take active measures to conduct letters and certificates, use professional judgment to analyze the proportion of the average balance of interbank loans in the interbank interest expenses of the bank, consult the interbank statements of the bank and the letters and telegrams of the other bank inquiring about outstanding accounts, so as to avoid audit risks and joint liabilities caused by fraudulent acts of bank management authorities. When a certified public accountant sends a confirmation letter in the name of a bank, he shall require the registered bank to reply to the confirmation in a timely and accurate manner; Confirmation of domestic inter-bank current account shall require the other bank to affix a special seal for inter-bank current inquiry, and indicate the inter-bank number when replying; A foreign correspondent bank may request the other bank to add the signature of the authorized signatory when replying to the letter of credit. Because the bank has a fixed business place, a fixed communication network, relatively stable departments, a clear division of labor and a relatively perfect internal control system, it can make use of the bank's ready-made communication tools and normal channels in the bank for inter-bank communication. If the authenticated bank sends a reply by encrypted telegram, telex or fax, it can use it first after verifying the Testkey or sealing, but try to ask the other party to reissue the original through the post office for verification. SWIFT is a non-profit communication system of the international banking industry. The fixed format of system messages has the functions of automatic transmission, automatic billing and automatic liquidation. SWIFT checks the transaction amount and balance with member banks one by one every day. In my opinion, the SWIFT format can replace the reply of the bank agent for confirmation.
Internationally, it is generally not required to audit the accounting statements of bank branches separately; The accounting statements of a bank as a legal person must be audited by a certified public accountant and an audit report must be issued. However, the People's Bank of China requires that the annual accounting statements of branches of foreign banks established in China must also be audited by certified public accountants in China. Certified public accountants should prevent some branches of foreign banks from making use of China's different fiscal years and policies from other countries to artificially adjust the items and amounts of statements, cover up financial risks and evade financial supervision. When auditing the accounting statements of multinational banks, we should be more cautious, learn from the profound lessons of BCCI and Bahrain, and avoid audit risks. Because the business volume of banks is relatively large, there are many branches and they are widely distributed, and most of them rely on computers for networking operation, so the audit of bank accounting statements cannot rely entirely on the strength of an accounting firm. Therefore, we must make full use of the work of bank internal auditors and other certified public accountants, and invite experts to test and evaluate the control system of electronic computers. Using the work of internal auditors of banks, we should first check whether the bank has established a sound and credible internal control system and whether the system has been effectively implemented; Analyze and judge the ability level of bank internal auditors. However, the use of the work results of other certified public accountants and experts should be negotiated with the bank in advance and reported to the banking regulatory agency.