EDI And The Financial Auditor

Abstract

Entities are increasingly harnessing the power of electronic data interchange (EDI) to serve efficiently and effectively their constituents. In response, auditors of financial statements must adapt their evidence-gathering techniques. The client’s use of EDI causes the auditor to shift away from testing the dollar amounts in the financial state-ments and towards extensive tests of controls. Also, the experience level of the staff and the number of staff assigned to the job are adjusted in response to the presence of an EDI system. Besides changes to the audit, EDI brings new opportunities to accoun-tants serving their clients.