Environmental Risks: Doing Business In China

Abstract

Planning and conducting the audit of financial statements involves understanding the entity and the environment in which it operates.  First and foremost this requires identifying the risks faced by the entity.  Identifying these risks can be a complex and difficult task since the auditor needs to not only understand the entity’s risk process but also independently understand the risks facing the firm.  Tackling this task will involve a comprehensive review of the external and internal factors affecting the business.  It is possible many identified business risks are related to financial reporting risk and ultimately to audit risk.  Therefore, the auditor must understand the linkage between risks, controls and the audit.  The objective of this paper is to examine the risks faced by U.S. companies conducting business in China.  This paper attempts to identify a wide array of risks faced by U.S. companies to demonstrate how important it is for the company and the auditor to understand the business environment.