Reperformance is an evidence gathering activity performed by the auditor during the audit planning stage for the purpose of obtaining evidence as to the effectiveness of design of a control procedure.
Reperformance refers to the performance by the auditor of a procedure previously performed by client personnel. When the auditor reperforms the procedure, the auditor performs the procedure as it was designed to be performed e.g. in accordance with the client's manual of procedures. Reperformance can provide evidence that the theoretical design of the control is effective. i.e. that the control is capable of being performed in the manner in which it was intended to be performed. Where the control procedure is computerized, reperformance of the control may be performed using CAATs such as program code analysis, parallel simulation and test data.
Example 1: An entity may have as a control procedure the performance of a credit check on all customer orders. There may be a manual of procedures that sets out how this credit check is to be performed. In auditor to evaluate the effectiveness of the design of this control, the auditor may reperform the credit check e.g. by selecting a sample of customer orders and performing the credit check in the manner outlined in the manual of procedures. (If this control was computerized, the auditor may choose to use CAATs to reperform the procedure.)
Example 2: The auditor may reperform the counting of the inventory and reperform the subsequent reconciliation. That is, the auditor may, using the client’s count instructions as a guide, count 4 or 5 stock lines and agree the counts with the perpetual records. This provides evidence that the internal control procedure (inventory count instructions) can operate in practice the way it was designed to work in theory. Reperformance of a control procedure may provide more reliable evidence of the design effectiveness of a control procedure than evidence gathered through inquiry.
Reperformance of a control procedure is not considered a test of control as it does not provide evidence of the effectiveness of operation of a control procedure. However, reperformance may provide evidence of high reliability evidence of the effectiveness of design of the control, as the evidence gathered is, in most cases, largely independent of the client.
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