when an auditor is unable to give an unqualified opinion they will issue a qualified opinion a statement suggesting that the information provided is limited in scope and or the company being audited has not maintained gaap accounting principles 4
auditors assure potential investors that a company s finances are in order and accurate as well as provide a clear picture of a company s worth to help investors make informed decisions types of auditorsauditor qualificationsexternal auditors working for public accounting firms require a certified public accountant cpa license a professional certification awarded by the american institute of certified public accountants in addition to this certification these auditors also need to obtain state cpa certification requirements vary although most states do demand a cpa designation and two years of professional work experience in public accounting 56qualifications for internal auditors are less rigorous internal auditors are encouraged to get cpa accreditation although it is not always mandatory instead a bachelor s degree in subjects such as finance and other business disciplines together with appropriate experience and skills is often acceptable 7special considerationsauditors are not responsible for transactions that occur after the date of their reports moreover they are not necessarily required to detect all instances of fraud or financial misrepresentation that responsibility primarily lies with an organization s management team audits are mainly designed to determine whether a company s financial statements are reasonably stated in other words this means that audits do not always cover enough ground to identify cases of fraud in short a clean audit offers no guarantee that an organization s accounting is completely above board 8