History of auditing and the birth of the audit profession

The word ‘audit’ comes from the Latin word ‘audire’ – to hear. The earliest role of an auditor was to assess, mostly by verbal enquiries and responses thereto. This form of checking activity was found in ancient Greece (around 350 BC), China and Egypt. The objective of such checking was to examine whether people with certain oversight responsibilities on behalf of others were not committing fraud, theft or tax evasion.