How is the concept of due professional care described?

The concept of due professional care is primarily concerned with how audit competencies are applied in practice. This includes exercising diligence, attention, and skill in the audit process, ensuring that auditors approach their tasks with the necessary knowledge and thoroughness required to fulfill their responsibilities effectively. It emphasizes the importance of using professional judgment and maintaining a certain standard of quality in all audit activities.

Applying due professional care means that auditors should not only rely on their technical skills but also continuously update their knowledge and methodologies to maintain relevance in an ever-evolving environment. This is crucial for identifying risks, evaluating internal controls, and delivering valuable insights that contribute to improving organizational governance and performance.

In contrast, other choices, such as the average time spent on audits or how often audits are conducted, do not reflect the qualitative aspect of audit work that due professional care represents. Moreover, while checking compliance with laws is an essential function of audits, it does not encompass the broader obligation for auditors to apply their skills competently across various dimensions of the audit process.