Internal Control Evaluation and Audit Program Modification.
Abstract The purpose of this article is to suggest an outline for a body of theory, within which the auditor would find guides that stimulate the exercise of judgment in program planning, rather than mechanical aids that suppress this judgment. Fundamental to the formulation of such guides is an understanding of the concept of a minimum audit program, which the auditor adjusts to meet the weaknesses of a specific internal control situation. Comments concerning the necessary judgment process by which internal control is evaluated effectively suggest that over-all appraisal of internal control must be replaced with precise analysis. The article says that in analyzing internal control, the auditor must deal with specifics, not with generalities. The auditor must determine whether specific weaknesses exist, the irregularities thereby permitted, and the specific modifications of his program called for by these conditions. In this way many of the problems associated with the over-all, more subjective approach to internal control evaluation would be eliminated.