Substantive testing
In addition to testing controls, the auditor is required
to perform further procedures to gather evidence
from substantive procedures (substantive audit
evidence), which can include a combination of the
following:
• Physically observing or inspecting assets (such
as inventory or property, plant and equipment);
• Examining records to support balances
and transactions;
• Obtaining confirmations from third parties the
company does business with (such as its
suppliers, customers and in particular the banks
it uses);
• Checking elements of the financial statements
by comparison to relevant external information
and investigating any differences (for example,
using an external market index to check pricing
and valuations); and
• Checking calculations