Founder's word

Our businessmen often perceive auditing as a regular systematic review, a necessary evil, and auditors as people who make a series of ridiculous demands. Diego Simeone of financial reporting - it is an auditor, that is, it can and should be. The auditor has the experience, knowledge and breadth to unify and harmonize the work achievements of all closely specialized participants in the preparation of financial reports, and his preventive role is usually much more useful and widely socially responsible, which, unfortunately, is not recognized by many company owners and directors.

The most precious part of the necessary visit to the doctor refers to his final sentences after the examination. I don't mean a prescribed therapy, nor a polite goodbye, but recommendations on what to do in order to prevent the same health problem in the future: physical activity, regular sleep, healthy diet, plenty of desirable liquids for the palate... This already belongs to a lifestyle, which is difficult to change and requires dedication, and often additional professional help. But, every effort in this regard pays off in many ways, more precisely - it pays off over the years.

All with the imperative to comply with the requirements of the law regarding the mandatory audit. As a car enthusiast, I can identify this with the heresies spread among drivers, who perceive their relationship with the car, traffic conditions and their own impulses, exclusively as a matter of daily routine.

In situations where the capital owner is, at the same time, most directly involved in the business and as a director, his knowledge and experience in the fields of economics and accounting are very important. And that very request can be quite delicate. It is logical for a pharmacist to start trading in pharmaceutical products, for an electrical engineer to register, for example, a Siemens agency, and for a talented journalist to start a publishing company. You will agree that in the sea of their sweat shed during education for the needs of the future profession, there is not even a drop that was shed to acquire knowledge about financial reporting.

Auditors are also highly educated persons who spend their working life in contact with people of different professional orientations and are familiar with the basics of business in the most diverse industries. Thanks to this, they also gain a huge breadth in understanding problems in everyday business, which company owners and directors are often not up to because during their formal education they did not have the opportunity to learn more about accounting issues. Here, the auditor assumes the role of an expert translator into a language that is "digestible" to business owners from any profession.

Even in the previous period, financial reports were not a kind of statement of the accounting sector in the company, although they were perceived as such, especially not at the time of application of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Namely, the financial reports are a statement of the company's management, i.e. a series of assertions behind which the management stands by law, and they refer not only to the accounting aspect of the report, but to the wider business and future plans, which are reflected in the company's financial position. So, financial reports are increasingly the result of multidisciplinary work by management, accountants, appraisers, lawyers, brokers, actuaries, and even experts specialized in other areas, depending on the company's activities.

The auditor has the experience, knowledge and breadth to consolidate and harmonize the work achievements of all these narrowly specialized participants in the preparation of financial statements. Diego Simeone of financial reporting - it is an auditor, that is, it can and should be. In cases where the auditor participates in the preparation of financial statements, he cannot perform their audit, but his preventive role is, most often, much more useful and widely socially responsible, which, unfortunately, is not recognized by many company owners and directors.

Born for much more

Furthermore, in the age of digital technologies, we are inundated with news about numerous frauds in the business operations of companies with the aim of obtaining illegal profits from dishonest actors in the market. Therefore, internal controls in companies are becoming more and more important in order to prevent illegal actions. But there is no force in this world, nor such a perfectly designed internal control system that would eliminate this risk. Perfect internal control is an ideal to strive for, something like faithfulness in love.

Again, I cannot think of a more competent person than the auditor, who would be able to participate in the creation and unification of the procedures, which would also be the result of a "joint venture" involving experts of various profiles.

Unnecessary procedures, in the end, increase the company's business expenses and reduce its competitiveness, while the absence of necessary procedures significantly increases the risk of illegal actions to the detriment of the company. The auditor is precisely the person who is able to find the right measure and extent of internal controls, to estimate how many kilograms that Russian ballerina walking on the tightrope should weigh without falling from a height.

Another area in which the auditor's support is necessary and insufficiently recognized is the harmonization of our regulations with the regulations applied in EU countries. In the process, we remain "lost in translation" in many areas, and when it comes to applying IFRS, an additional difficulty is that these standards are subject to frequent changes.

As many accountants are not very talented in languages, companies often find themselves in a situation where, according to our law, they have to apply the standards of this "accounting Bible" which was originally written in English, and the official translations into Serbian language are dramatically delayed. If the company were to hire an expert with a certified auditor's license, who is up-to-date with all IFRS changes and doesn't shy away from Anglo-Saxon vocabulary, it would have a huge advantage over the competition.

Auditors are available at every location in Serbia because they constantly travel, continuously gain experience by encountering different situations and problems in everyday business and have the privilege of learning from the best experts, whom few of the owners and directors of domestic companies have the opportunity to meet. But, therefore, they can use the auditor's knowledge for the benefit of their company. The first step is to realize that an auditor was not born to only audit financial statements.