Pre-requisites of an audit officer - Model All India GST Audit Manual 2023 [CBIC] - GST

2.7 Pre-requisites of an audit officer An audit officer, acting in close coordination with other members of his/her team and supervisory officers, is the lynchpin of an effective audit and should be equipped with a number of skills and relevant knowledge. These are summarized below. An audit officer should be able to answer the questions pertinent to a particular area of legal, technical, and interpersonal skill and knowledge. A list of competencies and an illustrative list of questions is given below:- Area of Competence (Skill-set/ Knowledge) Illustrative Questions 1. Have a well-drafted preplan for identifying areas of concern What to examine? How to examine? 2. Be well aware of the procedural aspects. Is the Officer well aware of the online/offline Audit modules? Is the Officer aware of the departmental guidelines? Have all the points noted in the audit plan been covered? Is the officer aware of the workflow and documentation/ recording system followed by the auditee? 3. Possess legal knowledge of legal provisions, changes in law, notifications, circulars, relevant case law, rates. Is the officer well aware of the legal provisions and changes thereto? Is there any specific guideline in any circular? Are there any court judgements that are applicable? 4. Possess knowledge of the industry / sector in which the taxpayer is active. Does the officer have a primary knowledge about the business pattern of the auditee with respect to the auditee s particular trade industry? Is the audit officer aware of the existing trade practices, conventions, and market trends? Section 133 of the Companies Act, 2013 read with Rule 7 of the Companies (Accounts) Rules, 2014 provides that the Final Accounts should comply with the Accounting Standards. Does the audit officer possess the knowledge of the prevalent Indian Accounting Standards? 5. Be able to compute dues. If the auditee is willing to deposit the dues, what to do? If the auditee is not willing to deposit the dues in accordance with the audit report, what are the next steps? 6. Skills for taxpayer engagement Is the audit officer unbiased and judicious in the course of audit? Is he/she tactful to gain the goodwill and confidence of the auditee and act as a motivator and a facilitator who ensures voluntary compliance? Does the auditor record technical lapses by the auditee which do not have any revenue implication, and have occurred due to oversight or ignorance, and ignore them on merit? Does the auditor discuss these with the auditee to improve the quality of compliance and make internal controls more robust? Does the auditor apprise the auditee of the provisions of the GST Act, Rules, and relevant notifications, circulars, and court decisions to encourage the taxpayer to make voluntary payment in the course of audit? Is the auditor transparent and discuss any Some important areas in which an auditor should check levels of compliance of the auditee are given in Exhibit 13 below: An attempt has been made to address the aforesaid issues in this Manual. While this Manual seeks to propose principles and procedures for audit, GST administrations have to ensure that skilled auditors are trained and deployed in adequate numbers to meet organisational requirements