Origin and Evolution of Auditing

Origin of Audit comes from the word “Audire” but the evolution of Auditing as a financial accountability field in the advent of the Industrial Revolution. The word “AUDIT” has Latin origins (audio, audire, means listening). During the time this word has known a lot of definitions and classifications. In general, it is a synonym to control, check, inspect, and revise. Auditing existed primarily as a method to maintain governmental accountancy, and record-keeping was its mainstay. From the time of ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, the practice of auditing the accounts of public institutions existed.

Checking clerks were appointed in those days to check the public accounts. To locate frauds as well as to find out whether the receipts and payments are properly recorded by the person responsible was the main objective of auditing of those days. It wasn’t until the advent of the Industrial Revolution, from 1750 to 1850, that auditing began its evolution into a field of fraud detection and financial accountability. Businesses expanded during this period and brought in large scale production, steam power, improved facilities and better means of communication. This resulted in the origin of the joint-stock form of organizations. Shareholders contribute to the capital of these companies but do not have control over the day to day working of the organization.

Management was hired to operate businesses in the owners’ absences, but the shareholders who have invested their money would naturally be interested in knowing the financial position of the company. So they found an increasing need to monitor their financial activities, both for accuracy and fraud prevention. This originated the need of an independent person who would check the accounts and report the shareholders on the accuracy of the accounts and the safety of their investment.

In the early 20th century, the reporting practice of auditors, which involved submitting reports of their duties and findings, was standardized as the “Independent Auditor’s Report.”

The increase in demand for auditors leads to the development of the testing process. Auditors developed a way to strategically select key cases as representative of the company’s overall performance.

This was an affordable alternative to examining every case in detail, and it required less time than the standard audit.