Cowan, an engineer, is the president of Arco Engineering.

At a meeting of the board of directors, Cowan was asked to explain why audits of the company are made by (1) internal auditors, (2) independent auditors, and (3) government auditors. One board member suggested that the company's total audit expense might be less if all auditing was done by internal auditors. J. Cowan was unable to distinguish between the three types of auditors or to satisfactorily respond to the board member's suggestion.

Required

a. Explain the different kinds of audits made by each type of auditor.

b. Identify the sources of practice standards applicable to each type of auditor.

c. Comment on the board member's suggestion to have all auditing done by internal auditors.