Audit system and dynamics in cooperatives

Cooperatives are independent organizations in which individuals come together voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and are managed democratically. Cooperatives are based on a participatory and transparent governance structure in which members have equal rights and each member has one vote. Their core principles include voluntary and open membership; democratic member control; member economic participation; autonomy and independence; education, training and information sharing; inter-cooperative cooperation; and responsibility to the community. These principles enable cooperatives to achieve the goals of sustainability, social justice and economic democracy. Unlike for-profit companies, cooperatives aim to ensure that income is distributed fairly among members or used for the benefit of the community, making them more socially and economically inclusive and equitable. In this study, a practical audit study was conducted on a sample cooperative within the scope of the "Regulation on the Audit of Cooperatives and Superiors", which was put into force by the Presidency on February 1, 2022. It is shown how the theoretical knowledge can be applied in practice, and the stages of the audit process and the issues to be considered in this process are detailed. For this purpose, it is aimed to provide users with an understandable road map by examining the recent changes in the legislation on cooperative auditing, which is considered to be quite complex. For this purpose, the systematics and dynamics of cooperative audits are tabulated and a sample audit application is presented. With Table 19, the external audit of a cooperative is designed in five stages. The first stage is whether the cooperative is within the scope of external audit, the second stage is whether the selected auditor meets the requirements, the third stage is the methods that can be used during the audit implementation phase, the fourth stage is the content of the audit report, and the fifth stage is the finalization of the audit report. Finally, in the last part, Tables 13.1, 13.2 and 13.3 and the sample application were prepared in a systematic manner and presented for the use of all relevant stakeholders. The audit simulation aims to test the applicability of the regulation and identify potential challenges in cooperative audits. The results emphasize the importance of independent audits to increase transparency and accountability in cooperatives. This study is expected to provide guidance to auditors and cooperative members who will conduct cooperative audits. Keywords: Cooperative, Cooperative History, Cooperative Audit, Cooperative Legislation, Regulation on Audit of Cooperatives and Superiors, Independent Audit in Cooperatives, Limited Independent Audit Standard, Cooperatives Law, Cooperativeism, Audit