Audit of production costs. Its advantages and highlights

Audit, in fact, is an independent examination of the calculations and reporting of an economic enterprise for the purpose of checking accounting records, as well as the completeness of the reflection of all operations performed in accounting, the accuracy of reflecting the figures in financial documents and the compliance of accounting records with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Comprehensive audit affects all financial indicators of the enterprise and is divided into different stages. Audit of production costs is an obligatory integral part of the audit of the enterprise as a whole. After all, in the process of its implementation, weak points of production are identified at certain stages of the manufacturing process, as well as irrational types of expenditures are manifested, optimal ways of reducing all types of costs are investigated, any hidden opportunities for increasing profits are developed.

The audit of the costs of production is carried out according to the thematic program, which includes the planning of the audit, the assessment of audit risks in direct dependence on the overall state of accounting and internal control in the enterprise.

Checking costs, or otherwise auditing the cost of production, primarily begins with the collection of information and study of the production process. Further, a continuous, selective or visual inspection of all costs (attributable to cost and not attributable) follows. Simultaneously with these questions, the correctness of accounting in general is investigated.

The main points, which are paid close attention during the expert audit of production costs, are the accounting methods used, the use of estimates for individual orders at various stages of the production process. The most important points in the audit of production costs include the reasonableness of the allocation of the cost part for the reporting time periods. Evaluation of the correctness of the consumption of auxiliary materials (fuel, technical oils, electricity and others) also plays a big role in the control. Checking the calculation of depreciation costs for fixed assets, the validity of the inclusion of intangible costs and low-value assets in the cost of manufactured products is carefully studied and verified according to the actually submitted primary documents.

The control of the correctness of the calculation of wages for the basic working personnel and auxiliary workers is also included in the audit of the costs of production. In the process of transporting finished products to warehouses, commercial costs arise (packaging, product advertising, business trips, etc.). All these costs are also carefully checked and verified. After all, indirect production costs also affect pricing and the selling cost of products produced by the enterprise.

After checking the validity of assigning the cost part to the cost price and identifying the correctness of cost accounting, the expert (auditor) carefully studies issues related to the taxable base. It also checks the timeliness of the implementation of mutual settlements of the enterprise with the budget for all mandatory taxes and payments. Audit of the accounting of production costs is very valuable for the enterprise, as its results will allow managers to reduce or eliminate irrational expenses altogether, and minimize possible future production costs. The whole production process is carried out taking into account the correct planning of the residual quantity of production stocks in the warehouse. Produce output, avoiding idle production capacity and, as a consequence, the emergence of unplanned costs for payment of forced downtime to the main workers and support staff.