Audit & Assurance

Assurance services and 'adding value' are not usually viewed together, since the primary objective of an audit is to provide an independent opinion on a company's annual financial statements.

Moore Malaysia does not subscribe to this concept. We recognise the commercial importance of providing assurance on business controls so that there are no surprises. Equally, we understand the importance of providing proper advice to help clients develop their business.

The key to a valuable compliance service is the strength of the relationship between the client and the service team. This enables Moore Malaysia's work to be thoroughly and accurately planned and tailored to cater for specific needs.

By involving the most experienced members of our team right from the start, we will focus on the specific strategic needs of our clients. Moreover, we will be available throughout the year to discuss any development or any other matters that our clients choose to raise.

Generally our audit approach covers:

• audit strategy and planning;
• control and co-ordination;
• dealing with critical issues;
• provisional timetable;
• managing the transition.

Audit strategy and planning

Our audit strategy will be to adopt a risk-based approach, which will include a detailed risk assessment and an appraisal of the systems and controls that have been put in place to mitigate those risks. To achieve this, we seek to:

• develop a sound understanding of our client's business and its risks, and the way they are mitigated and controlled;
• build a strong relationship between our client's management team and our service team

The most important element of our approach is to agree to our client's expectations at an early stage. This will ensure that the key risks are identified and dealt with from the start. At the planning stage, we will discuss and agree specific matters, including reporting deadlines, which will save both time and expense. We will also produce a planning memorandum, set out the audit approach, the responsibilities of all parties involved and the feedback process. This planning memorandum ensures that we have the information we need to provide an efficient and seamless audit service, which includes advance notification to our clients to gather the relevant information so that it does not interfere with our client's daily workload.

Control and co-ordination

Overall co-ordination is the responsibility of the audit engagement partner, who maintains an involvement throughout the audit by monitoring progress and informing our clients of any unexpected deviations from the planned audit timetable. Our audit file reviews are normally carried out on-site. This is an integral part of our quality control process and also serves to identify any issues arising from our work at the earliest opportunity.

Dealing with critical issues

Proper planning and detailed risk review procedures would identify most potential critical issues. Liaison between our client's personnel and senior members of our audit team will also help.

Critical issues arising during the audit are immediately raised with the manager, who in turn will involve the partner and other technical experts if necessary. The partner has the responsibility for deciding how the matter should be handled and will refer any concerns or issues of importance to our clients through a pre-established communication process. The audit process involves continual and on-going liaison between all members of the Moore team and regular updates on progress to our clients.

Managing the transition

We have carefully developed our approach before starting new assignments. We understand that a change of auditors can cause disruption to our client's management team and accounting staff. We therefore take specific actions to manage this critical stage, including:

• the use of experienced senior personnel in key positions;
• detailed reviews of proposed audit and accounting timetables to ensure that they are achievable;
• effective documenting of our client's systems ensuring that our audit fieldwork is based on a thorough understanding of the way our client works.

That little bit extra...

We see keeping our clients abreast of developments as part of developing the relationship between us. And with the ongoing changes in the accounting and tax procedures, it is important that our clients are aware of new rules and regulations and how they affect our clients' businesses. We will keep our clients up-to-date with the new requirements and industry best-practice through regular meetings and seminars.