You have asked a question which almost contains the complete auditing..well telling u in short..Audit programme depends on the nature of business of the client and size of business. Audit programmes are always framed before auditing ...many a times in case of small organisations..they remain in auditors mind only and are not maintained verbally on papers..but in any case audit programmes are there. Audit programme is basically a step by step plan framed by an auditor for conducting audit,for effective delegation of work amongst the audit team to effectively complete the audit withing time ....points and steps of which may vary from client to client depending on many factors some of which can be:
1) size of business of client
2. nature of business.
3. volume of transactions and turnover of client.
4. internal controls employed by client.
5. Past experience of auditing the same organisation.
Then documents that are generally collected and viewed during the course of audit again depends upon the nature of business of the client. Some major checkings which almost count for more than half of any audit is..Thorough checking of purchase and sale/ service provided register reconciling them with related VAT , EXCISE and SERVICE TAX records and thorough checking of Bank Statement and cash book with its periodic reconciliation with related party ledgers and expenses.