Also known as: audits · audited · auditing · auditor · auditors · examination of accounts
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A formal examination of an individual's or organization's accounting records, financial situation, or compliance with some other set of standards.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Avalon Pharmaceuticals prepares annual financial statements for its last three fiscal years. Its board directs the corporate secretary to store the statements along with the accompanying audit reports in the company's secure digital archive. When a shareholder later requests the documents under the statute, the secretary produces both the statements and the audit reports without delay.
Arthur Abrams, an investor, challenges the structure of the board that oversees audits of public companies. He argues that the appointment process violates separation-of-powers principles because the board members exercise significant governmental authority without proper executive control.
Alice Atkins contributes $75 to a political committee. The committee's records of her contribution are subject to audit by the commission because the amount exceeds the statutory threshold for disclosure and review.
Andrew Avery enrolls his child in a private school participating in a state voucher program. State officials conduct an audit of the school's financial records to verify that public funds are used only for approved educational expenses.
Alexandra Armstrong, general counsel at Aether Technologies, receives an audit report revealing questionable payments by a foreign subsidiary. She immediately retains outside counsel to investigate the payments and preserve the company's privilege over the resulting communications.
Adam Anderson opens a franchise restaurant. The franchisor requires him to follow detailed accounting and auditing procedures that track daily sales, inventory, and royalty payments to ensure uniform compliance across all locations.
A corporation must keep all annual financial statements for its last three fiscal years and any audit or other reports concerning those statements. The statute also requires accounting records in a form that permits preparation of financial statements.
Yes. A compliance audit is a formal examination conducted to assess adherence to laws and regulations and therefore falls within the definition of an audit.
…the political repercussion of such violations will be insufficient to police the contribution provisions. Extensive reporting, auditing, and disclosure requirements applicable to both contributions and expenditures by political campaigns are designed to facilitate the detection of illegal contributions. Moreover, as the…