THE CHALLENGES IN AUDITING FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AT FAIR VALUE CONCEPT (FVC) IN DEVELOPING ECONOMIES: THE CASE OF REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

Abstract

Some balance sheet items are the result of judgments, including fair value estimates, so the relevant evidence is very complicated to collect by auditors, thus the risk of misstatements in financial statements is inevitably greater. The research objective of this paper is to: a) highlight the problems encountered by auditors from developing countries when auditing FV accounting estimates; b) identify the challenges that auditors from Serbia face in auditing FV accounting estimates; c) consider the possibility of adequately responding to these audit challenges in Serbia. The research confirmed that the problems of auditors in Serbia in the audit of FV estimates are generated by inefficient capital markets, and that they are primarily in the field of FV assessment which are connected  to the impossibility of applying the market model and higher volatility of  FV financial statements, as well as those in the field of auditing techniques used in providing assurance on the objectivity of FV assessments in various business activities, which requires additional training of auditors. Thus, the research confirmed the similarity of the problems in Serbia with the problems in the auditing FV estimates in developing countries.