Audit working papers are the documents which record all audit evidence

Audit evidence

Audit evidence is evidence obtained during a financial audit and recorded in the audit working papers.* In the audit engagement acceptance or reappointment stage, audit evidence is the information that the auditor is to consider for the appointment...

 obtained during financial statements

Financial statements

A financial statement is a formal record of the financial activities of a business, person, or other entity. In British English—including United Kingdom company law—a financial statement is often referred to as an account, although the term financial statement is also used, particularly by...

 auditing, internal management auditing, information systems auditing, and investigations. Audit working papers are used to support the audit work done in order to provide assurance that the audit was performed in accordance with the relevant auditing standards. They show the audit was:

• Properly planned;
• Carried out;
• There was adequate supervision;
• That the appropriate review was undertaken; & finally and most importantly;
• That the evidence is sufficient and appropriate to support the audit opinion.

Audit working papers are the property

Property

Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...

 of the auditor. In order to keep professional ethic, it cannot discover to third party without consent of the client unless limited specified situations mentioned in ISA 230 Documentation

ISA 230 Documentation

ISA 230 Documentation is one of the International Standards on Auditing. It serves to direct the documentation of audit working papers in order to assist the audit planning and performance; the supervision and review of the audit work; and the recording of audit evidence resulting from the audit...

 and required by law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

, the examples are court order

Court order

A court order is an official proclamation by a judge that defines the legal relationships between the parties to a hearing, a trial, an appeal or other court proceedings. Such ruling requires or authorizes the carrying out of certain steps by one or more parties to a case...

, for public interest

Public interest

The public interest refers to the "common well-being" or "general welfare." The public interest is central to policy debates, politics, democracy and the nature of government itself...

 and so on.

The forms of documentation may be flowchart

Flowchart

A flowchart is a type of diagram that represents an algorithm or process, showing the steps as boxes of various kinds, and their order by connecting these with arrows. This diagrammatic representation can give a step-by-step solution to a given problem. Process operations are represented in these...

, manual

User guide

A user guide or user's guide, also commonly known as a manual, is a technical communication document intended to give assistance to people using a particular system...

, narrative note, checklist

Checklist

A checklist is a type of informational job aid used to reduce failure by compensating for potential limits of human memory and attention. It helps to ensure consistency and completeness in carrying out a task...

 or questionnaire

Questionnaire

A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Although they are often designed for statistical analysis of the responses, this is not always the case...

.

Proper features of working papers

• Reviewed by auditors with supervisors noted.
• Signed, dated and approved by relevant level of audit staff with sufficient cross reference.
• With evidence of effective audit planning, work done, sufficient and quality evidence.
• Outstanding matters are cleared in due course.

There are a number of companies who offer electronic working paper tools for accountants.
The leading providers include:
Wolters Kluwer, CaseWare, Thomson, Data Prime Solutions, WorkPapers.Pro and Saltlake Infosolutions. Their products are ProSystemfx Engagement, CaseWare Working Papers, Engagement CS, Draftworx, WorkPapers and APEX Audit System respectively.