PECB Auditor Behavior cheat sheet

Auditor Behavior

• ISO 19011 principles of auditing: integrity, fair presentation, due professional care, confidentiality, independence, evidence-based approach, risk-based approach - these are behavioral obligations, not optional values.

• Integrity: auditor reports findings honestly and truthfully; a finding is never suppressed or softened because it is commercially inconvenient for the client or the auditor's own organization.

• Fair presentation: audit conclusions, findings and reports reflect audit activities truthfully and accurately; significant obstacles encountered and unresolved divergences of opinion are disclosed in the report.

• Due professional care: auditors exercise care proportionate to the importance of the task and the confidence placed in them; competence alone does not satisfy this principle - judgment and diligence are required.

• Confidentiality: audit information is used only for audit purposes; disclosure requires explicit client authorization or a legal/statutory obligation - 'internal sharing' is not an automatic exception.

• Independence: auditors are independent of the activity being audited wherever practicable and act free from bias and conflict of interest; where independence is constrained, the auditor must declare the constraint and it is reported.

• Evidence-based approach: audit conclusions are reached only on verifiable audit evidence; hearsay, verbal assurance without corroboration, or undocumented claims do not constitute audit evidence.

• Impartiality and objectivity: the auditor's personal views, prior employment, or commercial pressure must not influence findings; auditor rotation or reassignment is the standard mitigation when objectivity is threatened.

• Professional skepticism is balanced by professional judgment: the auditor does not accept assertions at face value, but also does not presume misconduct; conclusions must be traceable to evidence.