Audit

Auditing refers to a systematic and independent examination of books, accounts, documents and vouchers of an organization to ascertain how far the financial statements present a true and fair view of the concern. It also attempts to ensure that the books of accounts are properly maintained by the concern as required by law. Auditing has become such a ubiquitous phenomenon in the corporate and the public sector that academics started identifying an "Audit Society". The auditor perceives and recognizes the propositions before him/her for examination, obtains evidence, evaluates the same and formulates an opinion on the basis of his judgement which is communicated through his audit report.

Any subject matter may be audited. Audits provide third party assurance to various stakeholders that the subject matter is free from material misstatement. The term is most frequently applied to audits of the financial information relating to a legal person. Other areas which are commonly audited include: internal controls, quality management, project management, water management, and energy conservation.

Auditing (Scientology)

Auditing is a practice wherein an auditor asks questions of another individual, known as a pre-clear, and then acknowledges their answer in a non-judgmental form. Auditing began as an integral part of the pseudoscientific movement Dianetics and has since, with the addition of the E-Meter, become a core practice in the belief system Scientology. Auditing is defined by the Church of Scientology as "the application of Dianetics or Scientology processes and procedures to someone by a trained auditor. One formal definition of auditing is: The action of asking a person a question (which he can understand and answer), getting an answer to that question and acknowledging him for that answer."

Some auditing actions use commands, for example "Recall a time you knew you understood someone", and some auditing actions use questions, for example "What are you willing for me to talk to others about?"

Description

"Auditing" in the context of Dianetics or Scientology is an activity where a person trained in auditing listens and gives auditing commands to a subject, who is referred to as a "pre-clear", or more usually as a "pc". While auditing sessions are confidential, the notes taken by the auditor during auditing sessions, and kept in the "pc folder(s)", are potentially subject to scrutiny by several staff members, especially if the pre-clear is later upset or having difficulty. The pre-clear never gets to see their own pc folder.