ICAB hosts workshop on use of audit practice software

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) organised a workshop on “Implementation and Dissemination of Audit Practice Software for CA Firms in Bangladesh” on Sunday.

In his speech, Muhammad Farooq, president of ICAB, said that at one time, only the big four CA firms used audit software.

“Currently using this software has become an urgent tool for every CA firm,” he said, adding that using this software will greatly increase the auditability and reliability of audit reports.

This will increase the stakeholders' confidence in the audit report also. ICAB skilled resource persons will provide intensive training to all firms throughout the year on this software.

"If the audit system is not automated, it will be difficult to audit in the future," he further said.

Sayeed Ahmed, executive Director (Audit Practice Review) of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), said the main function of the FRC is to review audit reports regularly.

It will be easier and more accurate for the FRC to review the audit if all audit work is done in a certain manner. It will be possible to accurately monitor the audit firms, he thinks.

This will benefit the CA firm in return. The audit has to be completed in a specific process within a specific framework based on the International Standards on Auditing (ISA). Every CA farm needs to use this audit software, he added.

Maria Howladar, Member Council and Chairman of the Project on “Development and Implementation of Audit Practice Software for CA Firms in Bangladesh,” under the Committee for Project Development and Capacity Building of ICAB, introduced the Audit Software and its importance.

She said, this software will enhance capacity of ICAB members in performing audit based on international standards on auditing.

This software based audit will definitely reduces the hassle of keeping records of audit documents and at the same reduces the time of conventional process of audit, which also reduces the cost, she added.

ICAB CEO Shubhashish Bose said this software would play a vital role in establishing transparency, accountability and good governance. Proper audit of CA firms will enable the government to formulate an integrated policy that will help to ensure the development of the country, he added.

ICAB Vice President Sabbir Ahmed in his concluding remarks said, monitoring can save you from embarrassment. Without the right knowledge in automation, the right results of any software cannot be obtained, he said and added that automation will not work if the implementation process is not rightly undertaken.