What are the general consideration which auditors must bear in mind when evaluating audit evidence?

General considerations in evaluating audit evidence

Audit evidence will often not be wholly conclusive. The auditors must obtain evidence which is sufficient and appropriate to form the basis for their audit conclusions. The evidence gathered should also be relevant to those conclusions, and sufficiently reliable to form the basis for the audit opinion. The auditors must exercise skill and judgment to ensure that evidence is correctly interpreted and that only valid inferences are drawn from it.

Certain general principles can be stated. Written evidence is preferable to oral evidence;

Independent evidence obtained from outside the organization is more reliable than that obtained internally; and evidence generated by the auditors is more reliable than that obtained from others.