Hvilket ansvar samt forpligtelser eksterne revisorer har i forbindelse med besvigelser

Abstract

This thesis investigates the responsibility and obligations of an auditor in regarding with fraud and the discovery of fraud in a company. Scandals about fraud have received attention in the media and auditors and their responsibilities in this connection have been under scrutiny. The questions have been whether the auditors have performed their audit duties with professional skepticism and good accountancy practice. To investigate these duties the thesis will further investigate four of the biggest fraud cases in Denmark; IT Factory, OW Bunker, Hesalight and Brita Nielsen-case. Fraud is where a fraudster harms a company financially in order to gain an unfair personal financial advantage, and due to this it is important for companies to detect and stop any possible fraud.
The most used form of fraud is accounting manipulation and misuse of assets according to ISA 240. These can be difficult to detect why the auditor should have developed audit procedures that can indicate any risk of fraud in the company.
The stereotype fraudster can be characterized as a man in his 36-45’s, whom have been employed for mere that six years and has a medium to high educational background. Usually the fraudster will be a part of the daily management in the finance or sales department.
According to the fraud triangle fraud can occur when these three components occur: incentive/pressure, opportunity and justification. The model may be difficult for the auditor to use, as justification is not an observable entity. Therefore other models can be applied, such as the weight of the fraud-model and the fraud diamond-model in which the auditor can observe the capacity as well as the fraudster's personal integrity.
The responsibility and obligations of an auditor are to report whether the company's accounts are true and without significant errors. The auditors must therefore perform audit procedures that may capture any risks of fraud or other errors and thereby be able to evaluate whether the financial statements are true.
The analyze of the four cases show the auditor has a responsibility to carry out the audit with professional scepticisms and good auditing practice and thereby possibly discover any fraud.