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+2348039399907, teshocki@gmail.com
2018/19
TABLE OF CONTENT
MONEY LAUNDRY 6
PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY 21
QUALITY CONTROL 27
TENDERING 28
ETHICS OF APPOINTMENT 39
Company law
Employment law
Income tax law
Labour law
Environmental Protection law etc.
1. Maintain a register of significant laws with which the entity has to comply.
2. Engage legal advisors to assist in monitoring legal requirement.
3. Institute and operate appropriate system of internal controls.
4. Develop, publicize and follow a code of conduct.
Auditor
As with fraud, the auditors are not, and cannot be held responsible for preventing non-
compliance but they should aim to be aware of those that could materially affect the
Financial Statements. There is unavoidable risk that some material misstatements in the
financial statements go undetected even though the audit is properly planned and
performed.
1. The auditor should obtain general understanding of the laws and regulations
affecting the entity, which includes procedures such as:
Use the auditor’s existing understanding of the entity’s industry, regulatory and
other external factors.
Enquire of management as to the laws and regulations that may be expected
to have a material effect on the operations of the entity.
Enquire of management concerning the entity’s policies and procedures
regarding compliance with laws and regulations.
Enquire of management the policies or procedures adopted for identifying,
evaluating and accounting for litigation claims.
2. The auditor should obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence of compliance with
other laws and regulations such as entity’s license to operate (non-compliance
may doubt going concern) that may have a fundamental effect on operations of
the entity.
3. The following procedures may indicate the instances of non-compliance such as:
Reading minutes
Enquiring from the company’s and external legal advisors.
Performing substantive tests of details of classes of transactions, accounts
balances and disclosures.
4. The auditor should obtain written representation from management and those
charge with governance that they have informed auditor about all known and
suspected non-compliance.
1. An understanding of the nature of the act and the circumstances in which it has
occurred.
2. Further information to evaluate the possible effect on the financial statements.
When evaluating the possible effect on the financial statements the auditor should
consider the following:
In exceptional cases the auditor may consider whether withdrawal from the engagement
is necessary.
Reporting of identified or suspected non-compliance
Communicate to those charged with governance, unless they themselves are
involved.
If management and those charged with governance are involved consider
reporting to next level of authority like audit committee.
Where no higher authority exists, or if the auditor believes that the communication
may not be acted upon or is unsure as to the person to whom to report, the
auditor shall consider the need to obtain legal advice
MONEY LAUNDERING
Money laundering is the process by which criminals attempt to conceal the true origin
and ownership of the proceeds of their criminal activity. In order to be able to spend
money openly, criminals will seek to ensure that there is no direct link between the
proceeds of their crime and the actual illegal activities.
Placement;
Layering.; and
Integration
In the UK, the basic requirements are for accountants to keep records of client’s identity
and to report suspicions of money laundering to the Serious Organized Crime Agency
(SOCA).
Note:
1. Concealing and tipping off (MLRO or any individual discloses something that
might prejudice any investigation) is itself a criminal offence.
2. The obligation to report money laundering act does not depend on the amount
involved or the seriousness of the offence.
Question
A) Comment on the need for ethical guidance for accountants on money laundering.
(4 marks)
B) The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) recommends
preventative measures to be taken by independent legal professionals and accountants
(including sole practitioners, partners and employed professionals within professional
firms).
Required:
Describe FOUR measures that assist in preventing professional accountants from
being used for money laundering purposes.
(8 marks)
Answers
Part A
1) In a jurisdiction where money laundry constitutes criminal offence, accountants
need guidance on the correct interpretation of the laws relating to money laundry. This
is because accountants are not lawyers and may lack technical understanding of the
money laundry laws.
2) Further guidance is needed to explain the interaction between accountant’s
responsibilities to report money laundering offences according to the law and auditor’s
responsibility to report to those charged with governance.
Part B
1) Audit firm should appoint a compliance officer with suitable level of seniority and
experience
The compliance officer will be responsible for:
receiving and assessing money laundering reports from colleagues
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2) The audit firm should ensure there is adequate training of its staff regarding:
4) The firm should maintain adequate records of the client including details of its
transactions.
Members should desist from any act that can bring disrepute to
Professional behavior
the accounting profession.
Members have the responsibility to maintain up-to-date
Professional
knowledge that will enable them to competently carry out their
competence work.
Members should be straightforward and honest in their
Integrity
professional dealings.
Auditors should not disclose client’s information to a third party
Confidentiality
without due permission from the client.
Threats to the fundamental principles (AFISS) - These are situations that make auditor not
to adhere to the fundamental ethical codes.
This is a situation where the auditor finds himself in a position he has
Advocacy
to defend or promote the interest of its client before a third party.
This threat arises as a result of the auditor becoming unduly
Familiarity
sympathetic towards its client as a result of long association
This threat arises when the auditor comes under intimidation by
Intimidation
dominant individual or aggressive atmosphere at the clients
This arises when personal interest of the auditor conflicts with that of
Self interest
the client
This threat arises when the auditor has to review or audit the work
Self-review
that he helps to carry out.
Audit firm should ensure that members doing the valuation work are not part of the audit
team
Auditor should obtain management’s acknowledgement that it is responsible for the result
of the valuation
Audit work done for the client should be reviewed by an independent accountant
The client should acknowledge that it is responsible for establishing and monitoring the
system of internal controls
The scope of work to be done should be set by the client’s management
The audit firm should ensure that members responsible for the internal audit service are
not part of the assurance team.
Contingent fee
This is a situation whereby the auditor’s fee depends on the outcome of uncertain future event.
IESBA code of ethics out rightly prohibit contingent fee for audit engagement. It creates self-
interest threat to objectivity. No level of safeguards will be adequate in this regards, contingent
fee arrangement should be rejected by audit firm.
Long association with audit client
This may lead to familiarity threat. The auditor may not see anything wrong in what the client is
doing now because it has always got things right in the past. This makes the auditor to lose his
professional skepticism as a result of the close relationship. It may equally lead to self-interest
threat because the auditor does not want to lose a source of income.
Safeguard
For listed clients, the IESBA code requires the key audit partner to be rotated after 7 years and
should not be involve in the audit for 2 years.
Recruitment of staff on behalf of audit clients
Provision of this service is not prohibited by the IESBA code. It could however lead to the
following threats:
Self-interest threat. This is because the firm will want to protect its fee income from the
recruitment. The firm may compromise quality in order to earn its own fee
Self-review threat. If the staff recruited is responsible for the financial statement, this will
amount to the firm auditing its own work.
Familiarity threat. The interaction made during the process of interview will create
familiarity with the staff. The firm may be less critical of the work of such employee based
on the impression created by the employees during the interview.
Possible safeguards:
Management threat. Depending on the seniority of staff and the position they are
assigned to work, the assigned staffs may be making management decision. In no way
should auditor be making management decision. It will lead to self-review threat because
the auditor will be part of the system he set out to audit.
Self-review threat. The seconded staffs will be auditing the work they help to prepare and
may never want to fault their own work. The other staffs of the firm on the audit team may
not want to fault the work prepared by their colleagues.
Familiarity threat. The seconded staffs will be familiar to the members of the audit team
and as a result the team may not be performed the audit with required level of
professional skepticism.
Self-interest threat. According to the IESBA code; if a partner or employee of the firm
serves as director or officer of an audit client, the self-interest threats created would be so
significant that not safeguards could reduce the threats to an acceptable level.
Possible safeguards:
The firm should ensure the seconded staffs do not take on management role or take any
management’s decision.
Seconded staffs should not be included in the audit team to the client
Audit work performed should be reviewed by an independent accountant
Auditors are not allowed to have financial interest in audit client as the following threats as it
could lead to self-interest threat to objectivity. This threat is so enormous that it may not be
surmounted by safeguards in place.
Safeguards
The auditor should dispose of the investment in order to continue with the audit. If the auditor
is interested in keeping his investments in the client, the he must resign as the auditor.
Auditors are prohibited from preparing financial statements for public entities (listed clients).
However, auditors may prepare financial statements for non-listed entities provided adequate
safeguards are in place to mitigate the effect of the threats. Offering this service will lead to
the following threats:
Self-review threats: auditor will be reviewing his own work if the financial statements
being audited are prepared by him
Self-interest threat: the fees charged for the service constitute self-interest threat. The
fee charged for this service may increase the percentage of total fees from the client
to more than 15% of income of the auditor.
Safeguards
Use of separate engagement team. The team that prepares the financial
statement should not audit it.
Review of the work done by an independent accountant.
In representing the interest of clients before a third party leads to ethical threats as the auditor
may lose his objectivity:
Advocacy threat: This is as the auditor found himself in a position defending the position
of clients
self-review threat will also emanate if the matter which is the subject of the investigation
will have an impact on the financial statements.
The IESBA code states that where a taxation service involves acting as an advocate for an
audit client before a public tribunal or court in the resolution of a tax matter and the amount
involved in material to the financial statements, the advocacy threats created would be so
significant that no safeguards could reduce it to acceptable level.
Question DEPECHE
You are a manager in Depeche, a firm of Chartered Certified Accountants. You have
specific responsibility for undertaking annual reviews of existing clients and advising
whether an engagement can be properly continued. The following matters arose in
connection with the audit of Duran, a company listed on a stock exchange, for the
year to 31 December 2008:
(1) The audit team included a manager, two supervisors, two qualified seniors
and six trainees. The final audit, which lasted approximately five weeks, was
very time-pressured and the team worked late into the night towards the end
of the audit. Duran’s staffs were very supportive throughout and paid for
evening meals that were brought in so that the audit team could work with
minimum disruption.
(2) Duran’s chief finance officer, Frankie Sharkey, was so impressed with the
commitment of the audit staff that he asked that Depeche pay them all a
bonus through an increase in the audit fee. In April 2009, Depeche paid all
the members of the team below manager status a bonus amounting to a
week’s salary. The bonus was processed through Depeche’s payroll, in the
same way as overtime payments, and recharged to Duran as part of audit
expenses.
(3) One of the points initially drafted for possible inclusion in the report to the
company’s audit committee concerned the illegal dumping of drums,
containing used machine oil, on nearby wasteland. Notes of discussions
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between the audit manager and Frankie show that it is the company’s
unwritten policy to disregard the local environmental regulations and risk
incurring the fines, which are only small, as it would be costly to use the
nearest licensed disposal unit. The matter is not referred to in the final report.
Required:
(a) Comment on the ethical and other professional issues raised by each of the
above matters. (10 marks)
(b)Discuss the appropriateness of available safeguards and advise whether or not
Depeche should continue as the auditor to Duran.
(15 marks)
Answers
Part A
them, it is likely that there will be a perception that their objectivity could
have been impaired.
■ That the bonus was not accepted at the manager level suggests that this
was considered to be a threat to objectivity. This consideration and the
decision to accept the bonus for other staff should have been
documented.
(3) Illegal dumping of drums
Frankie Sharkey’s intentional dumping of drums shows that management
of the company has no regard for environmental regulation. This cast
doubt on the integrity of the management. Depeche will have to re-
examine the validity of previous representation made by the management
to determine the extent of reliance that can be placed on such
representation.
Depeche should evaluate the financial implication of the breach and
determine if provision or disclosure is required in the financial statement.
The illegal dumping with the financial implication should be communicated
to those charged with governance. The fact that management intentionally
breaches environmental regulation should be equally communicated.
PART B
Available safeguards
■ The audit staff that collected the bonus should be removed from
the audit team.
■ The partner’s decision to accept the bonus should be investigated
by other partners in the firm.
■ To prevent future ambiguity, the firm should have a system in place
to determine the significance of hospitality
■ Audit work already performed should be reviewed by a partner who
was not part of the audit.
■ The gift of the hospitality should be disclosed to the audit
committee. Potential threat to the auditor’s independence and
available safeguards should equally be disclosed to the committee.
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ERROR
Error is an unintentional mistake. Auditors have the following duties regarding detection and
reporting of error:
There was duty of care at the time of the audit owed by the auditor to the 3rd party
The duty of care was breached by performing negligent audit by the auditor
The 3rd party has suffered a loss as a result of the breach
The report should contain a statement that management is responsible for the
underlying information
The auditor should clearly state in the report that it is only the intended recipient that can
rely on the report
Liability cap may be included in the engagement letter
The assignment should be strictly performed according to the terms of engagement
Use of liability disclaimer paragraph
Firm should develop a robust client acceptance procedure. This should ensure that only
client with manageable level of risk is accepted.
Firms should follow quality control procedures as contained in ISQC 1. This will reduce
the risk of performing negligent audit.
Auditors should work to the terms of the engagement.
Signing of limited liability agreement with client. The disadvantage of this is that the
auditor may not be conscious of quality anymore, knowing that arrangement exist to limit
his liability, and leading to poor quality audit. This may reduce the overall value placed
on the auditor’s opinion.
Question T U R N A L S
Turnals is an unlisted manufacturing company with 120 employees, projected sales of $12
million, and estimated profit before tax of $1.5 million. During the current year the
directors’ attention had been brought to a recently discovered fraud perpetrated by Mr.
Jones, the purchasing manager: He had set up a fictitious business that had invoiced
Turnals for goods that had never been supplied. The fraud had been going on for over two
years. Mr. Jones was immediately suspended from all duties and the police informed. During
their investigation, Mr. Jones admitted to the police that he had perpetrated a similar fraud at
his previous employers, who had not informed the police. When Mr. Jones had been
employed, no reference had been sought from his previous employers.
Mr Jones had responsibility for obtaining competitive quotes, checking and initially
approving new suppliers. Final approval was authorised by the Managing Director but in
practice this was a formality. Mr. Jones also raised most of the purchase requisitions based
on information supplied by the storekeeper and approved any requisitions made by other
members of staff.
The storekeeper’s responsibility was to match each delivery note to a copy of the purchase
requisition before the goods were taken into inventory. The two documents were then
sent to Mr. Jones who matched them with the purchase invoice before passing the invoice
to the payables ledger cashier for payment. When the storekeeper was on holiday the
system of internal control specified that a deputy should perform the delivery note
matching procedure. In practice this had always been done by Mr. Jones.
The fraud took place during the storekeeper’s holidays (4 weeks each year). It was
discovered when the cashier had to query one of the fraudulent invoices with the
storekeeper because Mr. Jones was absent on company business.
Subsequent investigation revealed that approximately $50,000 had been misappropriated by
Mr. Jones.
Garner & Co has been the auditor of Turnals for many years. The firm has 12 partners
and 60 audit staff. The internal control over Turnal’s purchase system was recorded and
tested for the first time during last year’s interim audit. In previous years a fully substantive
approach to purchases had been applied and no review of the internal controls over the
purchase system had ever been carried out.
No comments were made to management by the auditors on their findings from the interim
work on the purchase system.
Garner & Co had also acted as management and systems design consultants during the
implementation of Turnals’ purchase system at the beginning of last year. As a result the
directors believe that Garner & Co should be liable for the losses suffered by Turnals as
they employed the audit firm in a dual capacity.
Required:
(a) Describe the regulations and other audit practices that are designed to avoid conflicts of
interest in the provision of non-audit services to an audit client. (5 marks)
(b) Discuss why the following audit procedures may have failed to detect the above fraud:
(i) evaluation of the prescribed system of controls;
(ii) tests of controls on the authorisation of new suppliers;
(iii) analytical procedures.
(10 marks)
(c) Discuss the bases on which Turnals believe they have a claim against their auditors and
the likelihood of its success. (5 marks)
(20 marks)
Answers
Management of the firm should establish internal culture that promotes quality.
A staff with appropriate level of authority should be appointed as the quality control
manager. This person will ensure quality is maintained within the firm
Firm should ensure it has sufficient staff with required competence and capabilities
Firm should maintain a robust recruitment process
Continuous training of staff
The engagement partner should ensure that the team is appropriately qualified and
experienced. staff assignment should be based on competence and capabilities
All assignments should be adequately directed, supervised and reviewed
Acceptance or continuance of client relationship should be carefully evaluated
Engagement partner should ensure that audit evidence is sufficient and appropriate to
support the audit opinion.
All work should be properly planned and documented
AUDIT FEES
Audit fee constitute expense and companies may perceive it to be too high. The auditor must
therefore ensure that they can provide a quality audit for the price charged.
Auditors may use any suitable method to calculate fees, but the basis upon which the fee is
calculated should reflect the level of work done. Contingent fee arrangement is however
specifically prohibited by the IESBA code.
Identify the client’s requirements and state how your firm intends to meet them.
Explanation of your audit methodology and show to client how this will address client’s
requirements.
Discussion of other services offered by the firm that could be of interest to the potential
client.
Lowballing
This is a situation where firms charge less than market rate for an audit. This practice is
common when firms are tendering for new clients.
While Lowballing is not considered ethically wrong, the firm must ensure the following conditions
are strictly upheld:
The auditors must ensure they carry out an audit of required quality as dictated by
international standards of auditing
The auditors must ensure that the low audit fee does not create a situation where their
independence will be compromised.
ETHICS OF APPOINTMENT
Ethics of appointment is divided into two phase, procedures to follow before accepting a
nomination and procedures to follow after accepting nomination.
permission from client before making any contact with the incumbent auditor. In the
event that the company refuses to grant this permission, the nomination should be
rejected.
The firm should ensure that the removal of the outgoing auditor is legally done
The new auditor should request for a copy of the resolution passed at the general
meeting to confirm the validity of his appointment
The auditor should draft letter of engagement to be submitted to the directors of the
company
Question AGNESAL
(a) “Quality control policies and procedures should be implemented at both the level of the
audit firm and on individual audits.” ISA 220 “Quality Control for Audit Work”
Describe the nature and explain the purpose of quality control procedures appropriate to the
individual audit. (7 marks)
(b) You are the manager responsible for the quality of the audits of new clients of Signet, a
firm of Chartered Certified Accountants. You are visiting the audit team at the head office of
Agnesal Co. The audit team comprises Artur Bois (audit supervisor), Carla Davini (audit senior)
and Errol Flyte and Gavin Holst (trainees). The company provides food hygiene services which
include the evaluation of risks of contamination, carrying out bacteriological tests and providing
advice on health regulations and waste disposal.
Agnesal’s principal customers include food processing companies, wholesale fresh food
markets (meat, fish and dairy products) and bottling plants. The draft accounts for the year
ended 30 September 2008 show turnover $19.8 million (2007 $13.8 million) and total assets
$6.1 million (2007 $4.2 million).
You have summarized the findings of your visit and review of the audit working papers relating
to the audit of the financial statements for the year to 30 September 2008 as follows:
(1) Against the analytical procedures section of the audit planning checklist, Carla has
written “not applicable – new client”. The audit planning checklist has not been signed off as
having been reviewed by Artur.
(2) Artur is currently assigned to three other jobs and is working from Signet’s office. He last
visited Agnesal’s office when the final audit commenced two weeks ago. In the meantime, Carla
has completed the audit of tangible non-current assets (including property and service
equipment) which amount to $1.1 million as at 30 September 2008 (2007 $1.1 million).
(3) Errol has just finished sending out the requests for confirmation of accounts receivable
balances as at 30 September 2008 when trade accounts receivable amounted to $3.5 million
(2007 $1.6 million).
(4) Agnesal’s purchase clerk, Jules Java, keeps $2,500 cash to meet sundry expenses. The
audit program shows that counting it is ‘outstanding’. Carla has explained that when Gavin was
sent to count it he reported back, two hours later, that he had not done it because it had not
been convenient for Jules. Gavin had, instead, been explaining to Errol how to extract samples
using value-weighted selection. Although Jules had later announced that he was ready to have
his cash counted, Carla decided to postpone it until later in the audit. This is not documented in
the audit working papers.
(5) Errol has been assigned to the audit of inventory (comprising consumable supplies)
which amounts to $150,000 (2007 $90,000). Signet was not appointed as auditor until after the
year-end physical count. Errol has therefore carried out tests of controls over purchases and
issues to confirm the ‘roll-back’ of a sample of current quantities to quantities as at the year-end
count.
(6) Agnesal has drafted its first ‘Report to Society’ which contains health, safety and
environmental performance data for the year to 30 September 2008. Carla has filed it with the
comment that it is ‘to be dealt with when all other information for inclusion in the company’s
annual report is available’.
Required:
Identify and comment on the implications of these findings for Signet’s quality control policies
and procedures. (18 marks)
Answers
(a) QC procedures
Quality controls are the policies and procedures adopted by a firm to provide
reasonable assurance that all audits done by a firm are being carried out in
accordance with the objective and general principles governing an audit (ISA 220).
Supervisor’s assignments
The audit senior should have been assigned to the audit of trade receivables. This is
because receivable is more material than tangible non-current asset. Also, analytical
procedures showed that receivable is riskier than tangible non-current asset. The percentage
change in tangible non-current asset was 0% from 2007 to 2008 while it was 119% for
receivables.
The above points mean that assignment of staff has not been properly done. There
is indication that the firm may not have enough manpower to execute the audit
assignment.
Direct confirmation
Depending on the reporting deadline, there may still be time to perform a
circularisation. However, consideration should be given to circularising the most
recent month end balances (i.e. November) rather than the year end balances
(which customers may be unable or reluctant to confirm retrospectively).
Cash count
Gavin ought to know that the cashier should not have dictated when the cash should
be counted. He should have reported the request of the cashier to audit senior. The
shift of the counting date should also have been documented. Though the amount is
not material, but the trainee did not act properly in that situation.
The trainees do not appear to have been given appropriate direction. Gavin
may not be sufficiently competent to be explaining sample selection methods to
another trainee. A more senior staff should be doing this. This indicates that trainees
are not properly monitored.
Inventory
Given the nature of the service offered by the client, one would expect the auditor to
know that inventory would be immaterial. The company has no stock-in-trade, only
consumables used in the supply of services. The extensive work carried on the
inventory by the trainee may not be needed. Though, slightly material to total asset
at 2.1%, it is not material to the revenue. This shows that the auditor lacks
knowledge of the client’s business which is essential to performing a quality audit.
Report to Society
The assumption that the ‘report to society’ is meant to be other information that
need to just be reviewed for misstatement or inconsistencies may be wrong. There
may be a reporting requirement for Agnesal to publish a verifiable ‘report to society’
in which case it will be treated as other assurance service separated from the
external audit. Should this be the case, the auditor will have to have a separate
negotiation with the client and must also assess if it has enough knowledge to
handle such assignment.
Question VALDA
As manager responsible for prospective new audit clients you have received a
telephone call from an acquaintance of a client. The caller, Richard Stone, has
asked for your assistance concerning Valda Co, a supplier of electrical alarm
equipment. Business has boomed over the last two years due to reported
increasing crime rates. Turnover has nearly doubled and the company is very
profitable.
Mr Stone asks you for an estimate of the cost of a “cheap and cheerful” review
of the company’s accounting systems and internal controls and of a new computer
installation. The new computer is to be supplied next month, by R S Office
Equipment, subject to board approval. He suggests that you could spend a few
days looking at the systems’ flowcharts and documentation. He wants you to tell
him anything else that could be significant to the board’s decision to adopt his
proposals.
Although you are keen to gain the business, you inform him that you will write after
giving the matter further consideration.
Required:
(a) Identify and comment on the issues raised as they affect your decision to gain
the business. (10 marks)
(b) State what procedures you would adopt to clarify and agree the basis on which
your firm would undertake this work. (5 marks)
Answers
Availability of resources
The firm needs to ensure there are enough resources to perform the engagement.
Unavailability of skilled professionals may be the reason why Valda’s auditor is not
engaged for the service.
(b) Procedures
We would review the system’ flowchart and available documentations to determine
whether the information is detailed enough for the engagement.
We would agree the basis on which the fees will be charged with the client.
We would agree timetable with the client taking cognizance of the applicable
deadline
We would discuss with Mr Stone on the need to contact the current auditor of Valda
We would search Valda’s website or its audited report to confirm if Mr stone is a
director or a major shareholder
We would draft the engagement letter
INTERNAL AUDIT
Internal audit is the function in an organization that ensures that the system in operation runs
smoothly. Specifically, the internal audit ensures there is compliance with the system of internal
control of the organization. In addition, it ensures there is compliance with the regulatory laws
that affect the operations of the entity.
According to ISA 610 Using the work of internal Auditors, the external auditors may decide to
use the work of internal auditor. However, he must ensure this practice is allowed by the local
regulations as it is not permitted in some jurisdiction. Quality control of the internal audit work
must meet the standard required by the external auditor before reliance can be placed.
The following must be considered before the external auditor can rely on the work of internal
auditors
Objectivity of the internal audit function.
Technical competence of the internal audit function.
Whether there is smooth communication with the internal audit.
Whether the work was properly supervised, reviewed and documented.
Whether sufficient and appropriate evidence exist.
AUDIT COMMITTEE
This committee comprise of non-executive directors set up to improve the risk management
process of the entity and also review the financial statements.
Audit planning
Proper planning is required in audit of financial statements to avoid performing negligent audit.
Overall audit plan includes consideration of the following:
Knowledge of client’s business. How do you audit a business you know nothing about?
Understanding of accounting policies of client and reporting framework. If you lack
knowledge of the reporting framework, how can you spot deviation from it?
Assessment of risk and materiality.
Consideration of nature, timing and extent of procedures to perform in gathering
evidences.
Co-ordination, direction, supervision and review
AUDIT APPROACH
Audit approach refers to the strategy adopted by an auditor to carry out an audit
Types of audit approach
System based approach. This approach prioritizes testing and validation of client’s
system of internal controls. Substantive procedures will be directed to areas where there
is established weaknesses in internal controls. For areas where the internal controls are
established to be strong, less substantive testing will be carried out.
Risk-based approach. In this approach, the auditors assess the risks associated with the
client’s business, transactions and systems and direct their testing to risky areas. The
extent of detailed testing depends on the outcomes of risk assessment. ISA 315,
Identifying and Assessing the Risks of Material Misstatement Through Understanding
the Entity and its Environment (Redrafted) compels auditors to adopt a risk-based
approach to audits. Auditors are required to carry out risk assessments of material
misstatements at the financial statement and assertion levels, based on an appropriate
understanding of the entity and its environment, including internal controls
It lays too much emphasis on test of details. This may make the auditor overlook other
important issues like frauds and going concern problem.
It’s time consuming
Environmental risks
Increase in competition
Adverse weather condition
Financial risks
Cost of maintenance
Cost of any inputs
Increase lease obligations
Customer dissatisfaction lead to reputational damage and loss of revenue
Foreign exchange risk may reduce company income
Tax complications may lead to paying more tax e.g. wrong tax computation may to
paying fines
Compliance risks
Operational risks
Aged plants
Safety issues
Movement in revenue
Movement in finance cost
Movement in profit margin
The percentage increment or decrement of the following pair of items should ideally be fairly the
same. Compare the percentage changes in the items and explain any variance with possible
misstatement.
If the company operates overseas branch, the following risks should be identified
When customers are dissatisfied for whatever reasons, the following risks are possible
Inventory. Valuation may be wrong, in which case IAS 2 inventory is not followed
Contingent liabilities/provisions. Contingent liabilities may not be disclosed where
required. Provision may be understated or not made at all. Theses translate to not
complying with the provision of IAS 37
Intangible assets. Intangible assets may be overstated or wrongly classified as against
the provision of IAS 38. Impairment review may not be carried out in compliance with the
requirement of IAS 36. Of particular importance in this regard is the treatment of website
costs. It is only the expenditure in the development phase that may be capitalized.
Expenditure incurred before and after the development phase is to be expensed in the
period.
Leased assets. Assets may be wrongly classified and the lease obligation may be
wrongly calculated as against the treatment laid out in IFRS 16.
Control risk- is the risk that the system of control put in place by the management will fail to
detect material misstatement.
Detection risk- is the risk that the procedures performed by the auditor will fail to detect
material misstatements
If both control risk and inherent risks are low, the overall audit risk will be low. The auditor will
perform less substantive testing
If both control risk and inherent risks are high, the auditor needs to reduce the overall audit risk
by keeping the detection risk as low as possible giving that it is the only component of the audit
risk the auditor can control over. To do this, the auditor will need to test more details
Analytical procedures
Analytical procedures consist of the analysis of significant ratios and trends including the
resulting investigations of fluctuations and relationships that are inconsistent with other relevant
information or which deviate from predictable amounts.
Auditor must apply analytical procedures at the planning and review stage of the audit. In
addition it may be used as substantive procedures to obtain audit evidence
According to international standard of auditing, analytical procedures include:
Board minutes
Discussions or correspondence with the client at the year end
Industry information
The Importance of Analytical Procedures at The Planning Stage of Audit: ISA 520 Analytical
Procedures
Enable the auditor to obtain understanding of the company being audited.
It helps the auditor identify possible risk and respond appropriately and timely.
ISA: 315, identifying and assessing the risk of material misstatement through
understanding the entity and environment makes it a requirement for auditor to perform
analytical procedures at the planning stage of the audit to identify and assess the risk of
material misstatement at the financial statement and assertion levels.
Through analytical procedure, the auditor may become aware of unusual transactions in
the financial statement which call for investigations.
Through examination of ratios, the auditor may become aware of situations that indicate
risk of misstatement.
Figures used are likely to be in draft form: - subsequent adjustment to these figures will
invalidate analytical procedures performed.
Information will not cover the entire accounting period e.g. seasonal variation may distort
information making analytical procedures misleading.
Information may not be prepared on the same basis as the previous year.
Information may not be available before the year-end accounts are produced.
To develop business understanding at the planning stage of the audit e.g. profit margin
may be compared with industry trend
To identify key audit risk so as to allow the auditor direct work to key risky areas and
reduce chance of unnecessary work
Net profit
Compare actual revenue and profits for like 3 years with projected revenue and profit.
Compare actual and budgeted figured on the following expenses
Staff cost
Training cost
Property cost
Calculate and make comparison of the following ratios
Return on capital employed
Earnings per share
Gross and Net profit margin
The followings are the factors which the auditor should consider when using analytical
procedures as substantive procedures:
Availability of information
Reliability of the information
Relevance of the available information
Source of the information. Information from independent sources are generally more
reliable than internal sources
Comparability of the information available
Proof in total test can be used to assess the reasonableness of items in the statement of
comprehensive income such as depreciation, wages and salary change.
For depreciation and amortization, the expected change for the year can be calculated
by applying the depreciation policy for each class of asset to the opening balance and
factoring in the acquisitions and disposal in the year.
For wages and salaries, the average numbers of employees can be taken and multiplied
by the average salary for the year to get an estimate of the salary charge for the year-
any pay rise should be factored into the calculation.
Comparisons of current year figures to prior year figures can be made for immaterial
items to form an assessment about the reasonableness of the figure. Comparison can
also be made with budget figures for the year.
Accounting ratios can be used as analytical procedures to provide audit evidence. The
ratios can be calculated for prior periods and for comparable companies.
Materiality of the item involved. Analytical procedure would be used for those items that
are not material to the financial statements. It is not suitable to use only analytical
procedure on items that are material.
The accuracy with which the expected results of analytical procedures can be predicted
Analytical procedure can be used to proof in total for specific items in the accounts e.g.
depreciation, staff costs
Analytical procedures are more suited to large volume transactions. The auditor needs
to test if the controls are effective to determine the extent of reliability
1. Nature
2. Value
3. Impact.
There is an inverse relationship between the risk and the materiality. The higher the risk
the lower the materiality level and vice versa. When materiality level is set at lower level
then the auditor will have to verify more transactions.
Performance materiality is set at much lower level than the overall materiality so that
small misstatements in aggregate should not cross the overall materiality level.
Following are the benchmarks for the materiality:
Profit after tax 5%-10%
Revenue 0.5%-1%
Total assets 1%-2%
The following factors may affect the identification of an appropriate benchmark:
Gathering evidences
Students will be required to suggest audit procedures for specific matters raised in an
examination scenario. To be able to do this, students need strong knowledge of
accounting standards. Students must first identify the accounting issues in the questions
before prescribing procedures.
1. Valuation of certain types of assets for example land and building, plant and
machinery.
2. Determination of quantities or physical conditions of assets.
3. Determination of amounts using specialized techniques for example pensions
accounting.
4. The measurements of work completed and work in progress on contracts.
5. Legal opinion.
The risk that the expert’s objectivity is impaired increases when the expert is:
1. Employed by the entity.
2. Related in some other manner to the entity, for example by being financially
dependent upon or having an investment in the entity.
(a) Legal advice obtained from the local solicitor on the outcome of the claim by Netherfield
Manufacturing; (6 marks)
(b) Valuation of the investment properties by the independent valuer; (7 marks)
(c) Valuation of the construction contract by the internal valuer. (7 marks)
(20 marks)
Answers
(a) Solicitors advice
Enquire into the background of the local solicitor and establish that he/she has no
connection with the company or with the officers of the company.
The auditor should investigate the experience of the solicitor – ideally he should be a
specialist at this type of litigation.
Compare the previous opinion given by the solicitor against the actual outcome to
determine accuracy of his opinion.
The reputation of the solicitor should also be considered and his/her track record in the
past in advising the company should also be taken into account.
The information supplied for the solicitor and the correspondence with the solicitor
should be inspected.
The auditor should also consider the valuation of other investment properties in a similar
area with those contained within the portfolio of his client.
ISA 570 summarizes the main responsibilities of both management and auditor regarding going
concern. The going concern assumption is a fundamental principle. Readers of the financial
statements would assume the entity is viable unless it is clearly stated otherwise
Responsibilities of management
Responsibilities of Auditor
The auditor should obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence about the appropriateness of
management’s use of the going concern assumption in preparing the financial
statement.
Based on the evidence collected, the auditor should conclude whether there is a material
uncertainty about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern.
Auditor should determine the implication on the auditor’s report. If there is material
uncertainty on the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern and this has been duly
disclosed by the management, there will be no need to qualify the auditor’s opinion,
otherwise qualified opinion will need to be issued.
The auditor shall remain alert throughout the audit for audit evidence of events or
condition that may cast significant doubt on the entity’s ability to continue as a going
concern
Note: The auditor shall cover the same period as management in the evaluation of
management’s assessment of going concern
The following range of indicators may be used by both the auditor and the management in
making assessment of going concern:
Financial indicators
Analytically compare key financial ratios. Any adverse movement could indicate going
concern problem e.g. drop in profit margin, decrease in interest cover, decrease in current
ratio.
Operating indicators
The following factors could indicate going concern problem
Note: any of the above points constitutes matters to be considered regarding going concern
problem when asked by the examiner
The auditor should evaluate management’s future plan to sustain the entity’s going
concern. E.g. management’s plan for the expansion of its business or invest in new
projects.
The auditor should consider the availability and sufficiency of finance available to fund
any future business expansion or new projects.
The auditor should obtain direct confirmation from the entity’s bank on its readiness to
provide the needed finance for the entity.
The auditor should assess the viability of management’s plan e.g. by assessing the
market research report.
The auditor should evaluate management’s cash flow forecast to determine if the
underlying assumptions are reasonable
Auditor should obtain written representations from management regarding its plan for
future and the feasibility of the plan.
Note: these are general procedure; students should make sure that the procedures they
prescribe are tailored to the fact of the scenario given in an examination
If the use of the going concern is appropriate but there is material uncertainty on the
going concern and required disclosures are inadequate the auditor would issue a
qualified or adverse opinion depending on the pervasiveness of the uncertainty to
financial statements.
If the auditor disagrees with the basis of preparation, an adverse opinion will be issued
because it is pervasive to the financial statements.
Where the accounts have been prepared on an alternative basis, e.g. break up basis,
and the disclosure to this effect is considered not adequate, the auditor’s report would
need to be modified on the ground of inadequate disclosure
If there is clear indication that the entity will be liquidating its assets and there is no
adequate disclosure, regardless of the basis of preparation of the financial statements,
an adverse audit opinion should be expressed. The use of the “except for” qualification
or disclaimer of opinion would be grossly inappropriate in this situation.
Client with going concern problem applying for a loan: - Audit implication
If the client is unable to obtain the loan, the financial statement must contain disclosures
regarding the material uncertainty over going concern. The auditor’s report should
contain a going concern uncertainty paragraph discussing the uncertainty and referring
to the note.
If the financial statements do not contain the disclosures, the auditor’s opinion would
need to be either qualified or adverse
Audit Procedures in respect of an entity with going concern problem applying for bank loan
to fund a project
Obtain & review the forecasts and projections and assess if the assumptions
used reflect business reality.
Obtain written representation confirming from management that the assumptions
used in the forecasts and projections are considered achievable.
Obtain & review the terms of the loan to see if the client can make the
repayments required.
Consider the sufficiency of the loan requested to cover the costs of the intended
project.
Review the repayment history with the client’s bankers to form an opinion as to
whether the client has any history of defaulting on payments.
Obtain confirmation from the banker of their intention to provide the finance.
Discuss with management, to ascertain if any alternative providers of finance is
considered.
Obtain a written representation from management stating management’s opinion
as to whether necessary finance is likely to be obtained.
IAS 2 Inventories
IAS 2 requires that inventory should be valued at the lower of cost and net realizable value.
The method used in allocating costs to inventory needs to be selected with a view to providing
the fairest possible approximation to the expenditure actually incurred in bringing the inventory
to its present location.
Notes:
It is permitted to value inventory at market price at year end only if the rate of turnover
and fluctuations in the market price is very high, but this is a departure from IAS 2 and
as such needs to be adequately explained and justified in the financial statement.
LIFO is not acceptable method of valuing inventory under IAS 2.
Base inventory valuation is not acceptable.
Selling price less gross profit margin is an acceptable method of approximating to cost of
inventory
Cut-off. Inventory will be undervalued or overvalued if cut-off has not been appropriately
applied.
Counting. Inventory will be undervalued if not all inventory items have been included in
count.
Inventory will be undervalued or overvalued if the valuation methods are incorrect
Disposal group: the assets of a discontinued operation are a disposal group per IFRS 5.
IFRS 5 requires that a disposal group is recognized as held for sale where the assets are
available for sale in their present condition, the sale is highly probable and the sale should be
expected to take place within 12 months.
According to IFRS 5:
The assets in disposal group should be measured at the lower of their carrying amount
and the fair value less cost to sale.
The assets should not be depreciated.
The assets should be presented separately in the statement of financial position.
If products are different from the products of the continued operations, then it is arguable that a
component has been closed as part of a single coordinated plan to dispose of a separate major
line of business. In this case, there should be separate disclosure in the financial statements.
If the discontinued operations are not separately identifiable either by products or geographical
location, there is no need to make separate disclosure.
SETTER STORES
the year ended 31 January 2013. The draft financial statements of Setter Store recognise total
assets of $300 million, revenue of $620 million and profit before tax of $47.5 million.
Setter Stores Co owns a number of properties which have been classified as assets held for
sale in the statement of financial position. The notes to the financial statements state that the
properties are all due to be sold within one year. On classification as held for sale, in October
2012, the properties were re-measured from carrying value of $26 million to fair value less cost
to sell of $24 million, which is the amount recognised in the statement of financial position at the
year end.
Required:
Comment on the matters to be considered, and explain the audit evidence you should
expect to find during your file review in respect of each of the issues described above.
Solution
Matter to consider
Materiality:
Fair value of the asset: 24/300*100 = 8% is material to the statement of financial position.
Impairment:
(26-24)/620*100% = 0.3% is not material to the statement of profit or loss
(26-24)/47.5*100% = 4.2% is not material to the statement of profit or loss
For asset to be classified to be classified as held for sale, the following conditions, according to
IFRS 5 must be met.
The asset is available for immediate sale
There is management commitment to dispose the asset
The asset must be recognized at the lower of its carrying value and the fair value less costs to
sale. If this has not been done, the value of the asset may be misstated.
IFRS 5 does not permit the depreciation of assets held for sale. There is need to confirm that
the assets classified as held for sale were not depreciated.
There is need to consider if adequate disclosures have been made in the account regarding the
assets classified as held for sale. Information such as the following should be disclosed:
The description of the assets
Circumstances surrounding the sale of the assets
The details of the impairment and the amount recognized in the account
Audit Evidence
A copy of board minute at which the disposal of the asset was discussed and
authorization granted to ascertain management’s commitment to the sale.
A copy of minutes of meetings held with any prospective buyer to ascertain effort of
management in finding buyer for the assets.
Copies of correspondences with prospective buyers of the assets.
Written representation by management that the assets will be sold within stated period to
confirm commitment.
A copy of depreciation schedule to confirm that the assets held for sale were not
depreciated.
Copy of valuation report used to determine the fair value of the assets
IAS 8 states that a company should only change its accounting policy towards an item if
required to do so by an accounting standard or if the change in policy would give a more reliable
and relevant reflection of the substance of the transaction
In a case where for example there is prior year overvaluation of inventory, comparative figures
should be restated in the financial statements and adjustments should be made to the opening
balances of reserves for the effect. The effect should equally be adequately disclosed in the
notes to the account e.g. the prior year profit might have been wrongly calculated because of
the wrong valuation of the inventory. This will have a cumulative effect on the retained earnings.
There should be no specific reference to the corresponding figure in the auditor’s report merely
because they have been restated (ISA 710). However, if the corresponding amounts have not
been properly restated or appropriate disclosures have not been made, the report should be
modified with respect to the corresponding figures.
Compare prior year accounting policies with the current policies to determine if there is
any change in accounting policies.
If there is any change in policy, auditor should ensure effect of the change is applied
retrospectively to comply with the requirement of IAS 8
The auditor should recalculate any restated figure in statement of changes in equity due
to prior period error.
The auditor should ensure adequate disclosure is made in the notes to the account
regarding any change in accounting policies and error.
IAS 8 requires prospective adjustment where is change in accounting estimate. The followings
give situation of change in accounting estimate:
Auditor should familiarize himself with the way management assess and make estimates
in the financial statements
Auditors should obtain understanding of the relevant accounting framework to be able to
assess the validity and correctness of the estimate made by managements
Auditor should enquire from management if there is any change in accounting estimate
in the current period and assess the justification for the change
Auditor should obtain management representation that estimates made are valid
Financial asset:
According IFRS 9, the business model for holding an asset will determine if the asset should be
recognized at amortise cost, fair value through other comprehensive income (FVOCI), or the fair
value through profit or loss (FVPL). Financial assets should be initially measured at fair value.
Financial asset that meets the above conditions is first recognized at fair value and
subsequently at amortised cost.
Financial asset measured at fair value through other comprehensive income (FVOCI)
Financial assets are measured at FVOCI if the following conditions are met:
The objective of holding the asset is to collect contractual cash flows and selling the
assets
The asset’s contractual cash flows represent solely payments of principal and interest
Financial asset that does not meet the condition for amortised costs and FVOCI should be
measure at fair value through profit or loss. Financial assets in this category should be initially
and subsequently measured at fair value. All changes in fair value should be recognized in the
profit or loss.
Equity instrument
Equity instruments held for trading should be measured at fair value according to IFRS 9. Any
change in fair value should be recognized in the profit or loss. Any gain or loss that crystalize at
measurement should be taken to statement of profit or loss. If an equity instrument is not held
for trading, entity can make an irrevocable election to classify the equity instrument as fair value
through other comprehensive income and it must be subjected to fair value measurement at
each year end.
Note
Once an election is made regarding equity instrument, all fair value changes excluding
dividend should be recognized in other comprehensive income
No reclassification from OCI to profit or loss can be made. Movement within equity is
however allowed
Financial liabilities
Financial liabilities are measured at amortised cost unless:
The financial liability is held for trading and is therefore required to be measured at
FVTPL. This includes derivatives that are not part of a hedging arrangement
The entity elects to measure the financial liability at fair value through profit or loss.
IFRS 9 gives option for some liabilities, which would normally be measured at amortised
cost to be measured at FVTPL if, in doing this would eliminate or reduces an accounting
mismatch.
IFRS 9 splits gains and losses on financial liabilities designated at FVTPL into two as follows:
Amount of change in fair value attributable to changes in credit risk of the liabilities. This
should be presented in other comprehensive income. Gain or losses recognized
comprehensive income cannot be subsequently transferred to profit or loss.
Other gain and losses to be recognized in the profit or loss
YES NO
Going by the above, preference share is to be classified as liability while ordinary share is equity
According to IAS 32, an equity instrument is:
A non-derivative that includes no contractual obligation to deliver a variable number of
own equity instruments, or
A derivative that will be settled only by the issuer exchanging a fixed amount of cash or
another financial asset for a fixed amount of its own equity instruments.
NOTE
If the auditor is unable to obtain adequate evidence on material financial instruments, he should
consider impact of this on his audit opinion. In a situation where the client is unwilling to bear the
costs of obtaining valuation for the financial instruments, auditor should determine whether this
constitute imposed limitation.
Management lack of relevant technical knowledge to determine the correct value of the
financial instruments.
Management lack of knowledge of the relevant financial reporting framework.
Management’s lack of adequate internal controls over activities relating to financial
instruments
Credit risk. The other party to the contract may default thereby creating financial loss on
the part of the company
Liquidity risk. The financial instruments may become unmarketable thereby making it
difficult to realize expected cash inflows from the financial instruments
Market risk. Fluctuations in the market price of the instruments may create financial loss
Audit Evidence
Audit procedures
Review disclosures made to ensure adequacy
Review assumptions used in the valuation for reasonableness
Evaluate whether value obtained is reasonable by comparing with auditor’s own
estimate or other third party source
Obtain management representation that it’s assumptions are valid
Engage the service of auditor’s expert to confirm reasonableness of management’s
value
REVENUE: 98 MILLION
PROFIT: 15 MILLION
TOTAL ASSET: 134 MILLION
a small treasury management function was established to manage the company’s foreign
currency transactions, which include forward exchange currency contracts. The treasury
management function also deals with short-term investments. In January 2015, cash of $8
million was invested in a portfolio of equity shares held in listed companies, which is to be held
in the short term as a speculative investment. The shares are recognized as a financial asset at
cost of $8 million in the draft statement of financial position. The fair value of the shares at 31
May 2015 is $6 million.
Required:
a) Evaluate the audit risks to be considered in planning the audit of Ted Co.
b) Recommend the principal audit procedures to be performed in the audit of The portfolio
of short-term investments.
Solution
Transactions may not re-translated to the functional currency at the date the transaction
occurred which may lead to either understatement or overstatement of the amount
involved.
Payable and receivable figures may not be re-translated at year end closing rate which
may lead to over/under statement of assets and liabilities.
NOTE:
Advance payment received when the recognizing criteria of IFRS15 are yet to be treated as
deferred income. An equal liability should also be recognized against the deferred income.
According to IFRS 15, the following five steps should be applied in order to recognize revenue:
To understand the above five steps better, let us consider a simple scenario below:
A company agreed to supply a machine free in order to earn a servicing contract of three years.
The total price of the three years servicing contract is $5000. If the machine was not supplied
free, the following price applies:
Machine: $2,500
Servicing: $1,000 per each year of servicing ($3,000 for three years)
Step 1: Identify the Contract-Agreement to supply the machine and to service the machine for
three years.
Step 2: identify the performance obligation-the performance obligation includes the supply of
machine and servicing of the machine for three years
Step 3: Determination of transaction price-transaction is $5000
Step 4: Allocation of transaction price:
Supply of machine- $5000 X 2500/5500= $2,272.7
Servicing of machine- $5000 X 3000/5500=$2,727.3
Step 5: Matching revenue to the performance of obligation
Revenue relating to the supply of machines should be recognized in the current accounting
period provided the following conditions are met:
The risks and rewards incidental to the ownership of the machine has been transferred
to the client.
Control of the machine has been transferred to the customer. Control can be evident
through the transfer of legal title to the goods in the form of invoice or receipts or other
legal documents as the case may be.
Note: sales should not be recognized when the performance obligation is yet to be met
The revenue relating to the servicing cost should be recognized to the extent of the performance
of the obligation i.e. the $2,727.3 should be spread across the three years recognizing
$2,727.3/3 per year of servicing.
SITUATION WHERE THE RISKS AND REWARDS HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED BUT THE
SELLER RETAINS THE GOOD IN HIS OWN PREMISE BASED ON THE AGREEMENT WITH
THE BUYER
Sales will be recognized in this case if the risks and rewards have been transferred provided
there is no agreement to the contrary. Should there be a clause in the sales agreement which
make the seller responsible for the theft or damage of the goods then the risks and rewards still
remain with the seller which means no sales was made. If there is fees charged by the seller for
keeping the goods in its own premises, this represents a separate sales of service which should
be recognized as the obligation is performed taking cognizance of cut-off.
Audit risks
Over-statement of revenue: if there are clauses in the sales agreement which indicate that the
seller is responsible damage or theft of the goods, then, no sales should be recognized.
Recognition of sales in this case is against the dictate of IFRS 15.
Understatement of inventory: the goods that should have been accounted for under inventory
would have been wrongly recognized as sales leading to understatement of inventory.
Audit procedure
The auditor should evaluate the sales contract documentation to determine whether risk and
rewards has been transferred to the buyer.
Consignment Inventory
This refers to inventory held by one party but legally owned by another party. Items should be
accounted for according to the substance of the transaction rather than legal form. Consignment
inventory should never be recognized as a sale. It is otherwise known as agency sale
Note: if the agent never exercises his legal right to return the goods before payment the
commercial reality is that the consignment is a purchase from the date of delivery.
Audit procedures
The auditor should examine the terms of the sale in order to establish whether:
Note: Any cost that cannot be recovered through the contract should be recorgnised as expense
in the period in which it is incurred. Example of these costs is rectification cost on mistake made
by the contractor.
Audit risk
Overstatement of revenue: revenue would be overstated if the whole contract price is
recorgnised in a single accounting period instead of spreading over the entire contract period.
Wrongly calculated percentage of completion constitute risk of misstatement: this could lead to
either over or under-statement of profit.
Irrecoverable costs recorgnised may be wrongly recognized as part of total cost: Irrecoverable
costs like rectification cost should be recorgnised in the period it is incurred and should not be
spread. This would lead to understatement of cost and overstatement of profit
Audit procedures
Onerous Contract
This is a contract which is expected to generate overall loss i.e. total contract revenue minus
total contract price = loss
According IFRS 15, the whole loss should be recognised immediately (both loss to date and
loss be incurred in the future). Then, provision should be created against the loss to be incurred
in the future.
Audit Risk
Over-statement of profit: the whole loss should be recorgnised in the period it is determined the
contract would generate overall loss.
Under-statement of liability: loss relating to the future period should be provided for in the
liability section of the statement of financial position
Audit procedures
Recalculate the overall loss to establish the amount
Discuss with management on the need to recognise the whole loss in the period
Current liability
Deferred income; this represent the amount by which the cash received is more than the
revenue recognized in the statement of profit or loss.
Current provision; the provision recognized against the loss to be incurred on onerous contract.
Non-current asset
PPE used for the contract is recognized at carrying amount minus accumulated depreciation.
Question
TED CO
REVENUE: 98 MILLION
PROFIT: 15 MILLION
TOTAL ASSET: 134 MILLION
Computer games are largely sold by Ted co through retail outlets, but approximately 25% of
Ted Co’s revenue is generated through sales made on the company’s website. In some
countries Ted Co’s products are distributed under licenses which give the license holder the
exclusive right to sell the products in that country. The cost of each license to the distributor
depends on the estimated sales in the country to which it relates, and licenses last for an
average of five years. The income which Ted Co receives from the sale of a license is deferred
over the period of the license. At 31 May 2015 the total amount of deferred income recognised
in Ted Co’s statement of financial position is $18 million.
Required:
Evaluate the audit risks to be considered in planning the audit of Ted Co.
Solution
Detection Risk: the auditor may not understand how the website functions which would limit his
ability to obtain sufficient evidence to ascertain the assertions on sales made through the
website. At 25% of the total revenue, the sales though the website is material to the statement
of profit or loss. In addition, it may be particularly difficult for the auditor to carry out control test
over the sales made through the website as this may require the use of software which the
auditor may not understand.
High risk of fraud: Website sales is susceptible to fraudulent order. Fraudulent order made
through websites may be captured in the revenue which cause it to be overstated.
Issues related to revenue recognition stated below constitute audit risk:
The system may not properly apply cuff-off which means revenue may be wrongly
recognized. This may lead to overstatement or understatement of the revenue
The treatment of income from license may be out of tune with the requirement of IFRS
15 revenue from contracts with customers. If the risks and rewards associated to the
license has been transferred to the purchaser, the Ted co must recognize all the
revenue in the year license was sold. In this case, deferring the income would have
understated Ted co’s revenue. If, however management of Ted co still retain control over
the usage of the license through its involvement in the operation of the license, then, the
risk and rewards would not have been transferred. This means the revenue should be
spread over the period of the license to comply with IFRS 15 revenue from contracts
with customers. The risk here is that period of recognition may not be correct which may
either understate or overstate revenue.
Further questions:
Describe audit procedures regarding the revenue from the sales of license and State expected
audit evidences
IAS 10 Events after reporting period & subsequent events for auditor
A subsequent event is any event occurring after the date of the financial statement being
audited. It can either be classified as adjusting event or non-adjusting event according to IAS 10
Adjusting events
An event after the reporting period that provides further evidence of conditions that existed at
the end of the reporting period, including an event that indicates that the going concern
assumption in relation to the whole or part of the enterprise is not appropriate. An entity must
adjust the amount recognized in the financial statements to reflect the new information
discovered after year end.
Non-adjusting events
An event after the reporting period that is indicative of a condition that arose after the end of the
reporting period. An entity shall not adjust the amount recognized in its financial statements in
respect of the non-adjusting events discovered after year end. However, the entity is required to
make adequate disclosure of the non-adjusting event in its financial statements if it is material.
The nature of the event and an estimate of its financial effect should be disclosed.
Material non-adjusting events must be disclosed in the note- explaining the event and its
financial implication.
Auditor’s concern
The auditor needs to consider whether the events have been properly accounted for in
accordance with the requirements of IAS 10 Events after the reporting date
Discuss with management on the need to make adjustments for adjusting events
Review any adjustments made in the financial statements to ensure adequacy
Audit procedures for restructuring cost discovered after the year end (Non-adjusting event)
Verify that management has included a note disclosing this event in the financial
statements as required by IAS 10
Agree the estimated cost of the restructuring to related calculations and supporting
documentation
Review the details of the announcement made on the restructuring and agree the details
to the disclosures made in the financial statements.
Review board’s minutes for details of the plan and verify that it has been approved by
the board
It provides evidence about the valuation of the brand at the reporting date (the brand as
an intangible asset may be overvalued).
The net realizable value of inventory may be less than cost
The value of the brand may be impaired
The auditor has an active duty to perform procedures to identify any subsequent events.
The auditor should perform procedures to identify events that might require adjustment
or disclosure in the year-end financial statements.
The auditor should consider the impact on the audit reports and whether modification is
necessary to the audit report
Events occurring after the date of auditor’s report but before the financial statements are issued.
In this period:
In the event that management fails to make adjustment to the account regarding the
subsequent event, the auditor should take the following steps:
The auditor should take necessary step to prevent reliance on the report
The auditor should speak about the event at the general meeting of members
The auditor should seek for a legal advice
The auditor should consider resigning from the engagement.
On management’s revision of the financial statements, the auditor should carry out further
procedures as follows:
Deferred tax
IAS 12 Requires that deferred tax is calculated at a rate of tax that is substantively enacted and
expected to apply to the period when the deferred tax is to be settled, it must have been passed
into law, not merely suggested or announced.
A deferred tax asset arising as a result of unused tax credit should only be recognized if and
only if, it is probable that there would be sufficient future taxable profit against which the tax
credit could be utilized. If the deferred tax asset can no longer be utilized, it should be written
off.
Audit concern
Check that the increase or decrease in provision will not be material to profit in order to explain
the implication for the audit
Audit Evidence to sought
Check the arithmetical accuracy of deferred tax and corporate tax computations.
Agree the figures used to any tax correspondence and financial statements.
Obtain profitability forecasts and ensure there are enough forecast taxable profits for the
losses to be offset against.
Evaluate the reasonableness of the assumptions used in the profitability forecast.
Assess the length of time it will take to generate enough profits to offset the tax losses
and judge whether recognition of the asset should be restricted.
Audit concern
Deferred tax arising from revaluation may be wrongly recognized in the profit or loss statement
in which case the operating profit or loss will be overstated. Also, the treatment would go
against IAS 1 presentation.
Joint arrangement: An arrangement of which two or more parties have joint control
Joint control: The contractually agreed sharing of control of an arrangement, which exists only
when decisions about the relevant activities require the unanimous consent of the parties
sharing control.
Joint operation: A joint arrangement whereby the parties that have joint control of the
arrangement have rights to the assets, and obligations for the liabilities, relating to the
arrangement
Joint venture: A joint arrangement whereby the parties that have joint control of the arrangement
have rights to the net assets of the arrangement
Joint operation: the following should be recognized in the financial statements of joint operator
according to relevant accounting standards
Joint venture: A joint venturer recognises its interest in a joint venture as an investment and
shall account for that investment using the equity method in accordance with IAS 28
Investments in Associates and Joint Ventures unless the entity is exempted from applying the
equity method as specified in that standard. [IFRS 11:24]
Notes:
if a party with interest in joint venture lacks joint control, then, its interest should be
accounted for as ordinary investment under IFRS 9 unless it has significant influence
over the joint venture, in which case it accounts for it in accordance with IAS 28.
Interest in in a joint venture is determined solely on existing ownership interest. Possible
exercise of potential voting rights is not considered in establishing joint control.
In most cases, a separate legal entity with joint control is classified as joint venture
If the company does not have the power to appoint an equal number of board members
in order to make joint decisions, then the investment cannot be treated as joint venture.
Read the minutes of the board meetings to confirm the approval of the investment and
understand the structure of the investment.
Review the minutes of meetings between the two companies involved in the joint venture
to establish that control is equally between them.
Review the list of directors of the joint venture company to establish the companies are
equally represented on the board.
Review the legal document from the joint venture to establish number of shares
purchased and assessed if this amount to joint control.
Read legal document to establish how profit is shared.
Read legal document to establish voting right attached to shares.
Quoted prices in an active market for identical assets or liability that the reporting entity
can assess at the measurement date.
Quoted price for similar asset in active markets or for identical or similar assets in non-
active markets.
Using the entity’s own assumptions about market exit value.
INHERENT RISK
Measurements of fair value are subjective in nature because they generally involve
making estimates based on a number of assumptions, management may not be
sufficiently experienced or skilled to make these assumptions
Deliberate manipulation by management in order to obtain a favorable figure for fair
value in the financial statement making them inherently more difficult to audit
The estimates of fair value involve complex calculations making them inherently difficult
as the likelihood of an error is higher in complex calculations.
CONTROL RISK
Making estimate for fair value is likely to fall outside the system of controls set up by the entity to
deal with regular transactions since they are likely to take place once in a year.
DETECTION RISK
There is risk that the audit team may lack the knowledge to make assessment of the fair value
measurement and may rely too heavily on the work of auditor’s expert.
Cost model. This refers to the cost of asset minus the accumulated depreciation
Revaluation model. This refers to the fair value of the asset minus subsequent
accumulated depreciation and impairment losses. The revaluation model can only be
used if the fair value of the asset can be measured reliably.
NOTE
IAS 16: Requires that each part of an item of PPE with a cost which is significant compared to
the total cost of the item must be depreciated separately. Failure to follow IAS 16 in this regard
could lead to misstatement of the book value of the asset and depreciation expenses.
IAS 16 Property, plant & equipment requires all assets in the same class to be revalued. The
standard also requires disclosure of the revaluation policy of the entity.
assets should be recognized at cost and depreciated over their useful Economic lives.
If asset is revalued, the excess of the revalued amount over the carrying amount should
go to revaluation reserve in the equity
If revalued asset is disposed, the balance on the revaluation reserve should be
recognized as income in the statement of changes in equity and should not be
recognized as current profit
Cost of assets not correctly calculated (only directly attributable costs of bringing the
asset to its useable condition should be added net of any trade discount)
Trade discount is not removed from recognised cost which over-state the value of asset
Use of wrong depreciation rate which does not reflect consumption pattern
Revaluation gain may be wrongly recognised as realized profit which over-state the
profit
Depreciation of revalued asset is not adjusted to new useful life revealed after
revaluation
Newly acquired assets may be omitted from the asset register which lead to
understatement of assets and depreciation
Assets disposed during the period are not removed from the asset register which lead to
over-depreciation and over statement of asset in the financial statement. Over-
depreciation leads to understatement of profits
Training costs may be wrongly capitalized. Training costs, according to IAS 16 should
be expensed as it does not meet recognition criteria.
Take a sample of assets from the asset register and trace to physical location to confirm
existence
Take a sample of assets from physical location and trace to assets register to confirm
completeness.
Inspect purchase invoices to confirm the cost of assets and the dates on the invoice
should confirm the cut-off is proper.
Dismantling costs
Dismantling costs should be capitalized as non-current assets, and a provision created against
them.
Note: Account should be taken care of the effect of discounting if it is material to the account,
and should be included in the statement of profit or loss to represent the unwinding of the
discount.
Audit procedures in respect of the carrying amount of Plant, Property and equipment (PPE)
under construction
Verify cost of the PPE by reviewing the contract with the contractor
Agree cost of the PPE to invoice
Inspect the asset at year end to assess the stage of completion. Use this to confirm the
reasonableness of the management’s expert report
Review the management’s expert report concerning stage of completion at the end of
reporting period and estimate cost of completion
Agree finance cost to the terms of the finance contract and payment made
Recalculate capitalized amount to ensure accuracy
Review the basis of capitalization to ensures it agrees with IAS 16
Discuss with management on the consideration of possible impairment
Audit risks
Interest costs on asset that is ready for its intended use may be wrongly capitalized. This
would over state asset and under state expenses or over state profits
Interest costs on a non-qualifying assets may be wrongly capitalized
Audit evidence
Audit procedures
Inspect copy of the loan agreement to confirm the interest rate used is correct
Confirm interest payment to cashbook and bank statement
Physically inspect the asset for existence and to confirm it is still under construction
Recalculate the capitalised borrowing costs to confirm its correctness
IFRS 16 Leases
Classification and recognition of leased asset
A leasee must recognize a right-to-use an asset and record a corresponding lease liability for all
leases of more than 12 months provided the asset is not of low value (below $5,000).
Interest on the lease liability should be recognized as a finance charge in the statement of profit
or loss.
Depreciation
Leased asset should be depreciated over the shorter of the lease term and the useful life of the
asset.
Audit risks
Non-lease component of the lease may be wrongly recognized as part of the lease
Right of use asset may be wrongly estimated
Use of wrong discount rate in calculating present value of lease payments
Wrong classification of lease liabilities between current and non-current
Audit Evidences
Copy of the note Confirming that adequate disclosure was made in the account
Copy of schedule showing how lease obligation and write of se asset were derived
A copy of the lease agreement to assess the terms and condition and also confirm the
period of the lease
Copy of recalculation carried out on the finance charge relating to the leased asset
Copy of the bank statement and cashbook showing lease payment
Audit procedures
Recalculate the depreciation charge to confirm accuracy
Assess the lease contract agreement to confirm the lease term
Confirm lease payments to the bank statements and cashbook
Assess adequacy of information disclosed about the leased asset as required by IFRS
16
Recalculate interest on lease liability to confirm accuracy
Physically inspect the leased asset to confirm existence
Example
In December 2014, a leisure centre complex was sold for proceeds equivalent to its fair value of
$35 million, the related assets have been derecognised from the Group statement of financial
position, and a profit on disposal of $8 million is included in the Group statement of profit or loss
for the year. The remaining useful life of the leisure centre complex was 21 years at the date of
disposal. Adder Group is leasing back the leisure centre complex to use in its ongoing
operations, paying rentals annually in arrears. At the end of the 20-year lease arrangement, the
Group has the option to repurchase the leisure centre complex for its market value at that time.
The Group’s draft consolidated financial statements recognise total assets of $150 million, and
profit before tax of $20 million for the year ended 31 March 2015.
Required:
In respect of the issues described above:
Comment on the matters to be considered, and explain the audit evidence you
should expect to find in your review of the audit working papers.
Solution
Materiality
Sales proceed 35M
Profit (8M)
Carrying amount 27M
27/150*100= 18% of the group’s total recognized asset. This means that the deionized asset is
material to the group’s statement of financial position.
8/20*100 = 40% of the group’s profit recognized. This means that the profit wrongly recognized
is material to the group’s profit and loss statement.
Given that Adder group will be using the asset for majority of its useful life (20 years), it must
continue to recognize and depreciate the asset since control was not passed to the buyer. The
following corrections would be required:
As the asset was not depreciated for the remaining four months in the year, $0.45 million
should be debited to profit or loss statement (27/20*4/12 = 0.45M).
As the group’s asset was understated by the carrying amount of the derecognized asset,
it is necessary that $26.55 million is recognized as asset (27-0.45)
Liability of the group has been understated by $35 million being the proceeds of the
disposal. There is need to record a liability equal in amount to the cash of $35M
collected.
In substance, the transaction is a secured loan and there is need to recognize finance
charge spread throughout the 20 years.
If the above adjustments are not made, the auditor’s opinion will be modified as the
company would have disobey
Review of the agreement signed by the two parties to confirm that Adder group
retains control of the asset through continue use
Evidence of physical inspection of the asset to confirm that Adder group continue to
use it for business purpose
Confirmation of the $35 M in the bank statement and cash book
Confirmation of the fair value of the asset through review of expert’s report
Minutes of board meeting to confirm sale of the asset and the amount
Copies of insurance documents to establish that Adder group is responsible for the
insurance
Recalculation of the depreciation charge
Recalculation of the finance charge
Discussion with management on the need to recognize finance charge
Copies of re-drafted financial statements to confirm adequate adjustment was carried
out
SETTER STORES
the year ended 31 January 2013. The draft financial statements of Setter Store recognise total
assets of $300 million, revenue of $620 million and profit before tax of $47.5 million.
A sale and leaseback arrangement involving a large property complex was entered into on 31
January 2013. The property complex is a large warehousing facility, which was sold for $37
million, its fair value at the date of the disposal. The facility had a carrying value at that date of
$27 million. The only accounting entry recognised in respect of the proceeds raised was to
record the cash received and recognise a noncurrent liability classified as ‘Lease obligations’.
The lease term is for 8 years, while the remaining useful life of the property complex was 20
years. The present value of the annual lease payments is $16 million.
Comment on the matters to be considered, and explain the audit evidence you should
expect to find during your file review in respect of each of the issues described above.
Solution
Materiality:
Carrying value of asset sold: 27/300*100 = 9% material to the statement of financial position
Fair value of assets: 37/300*100 = 12.3% material to the statement of financial position
Right-of-use of asset: 16/37*27 = 11.68. net overstatement of asset = (27-11.68)/300*100 =
5.1% material to the statement of financial position.
According to IFRS 16 leases, if the buyer owns substantial benefits of the asset, sale would
have been made and the asset should be derecognized by the seller. However, in this case
right-of-use of asset should be recognized on plant property and equipment. Also depreciation
should be calculated on the right-of-use of asset over 8 years.
The present value of the annual payments which in this case is $16 million should be
recognized as liability. Interest should be calculated on this liability and recognized in the profit
or loss statement.
Since sales has taken place, profit or loss should be calculated and recognized in the profit or
loss statement as: (27-11.7)/27*(37-27) = $5.7 million.
The asset of the company was overstated by $27 million while it was understated by $11.7
million to give net overstatement of 27-11.7 = $15.3 million. This is a material amount as
calculated above and should be adjusted for. The auditor should consider modifying his opinion
should the company failed to make necessary adjustment
Audit Evidence
A copy of the lease agreement signed by both parties to ascertain the terms
Copy of valuation report to confirm the fair value of the property
Copy of auditor’s expert report to confirm the fair value of the property
Recalculation of the present value of the lease payments to confirm arithmetic accuracy
Agreement of cash of $37 million received to bank statement and cash book to confirm
receipt.
Copy of draft account to confirm the necessary adjustment have been made
Physical inspection of the property to ascertain setter stores co is actually using it.
Copies of correspondences with the buyer to establish if there are any changes in the
terms of the contract.
Long term benefit includes payment with shares which is dealt with by IFRS2, share based
payment and pension payments.
A pension payment refers to the money that would be paid to employees at the end of their
employment contract. There are two types of pension plan considered by IAS19 the defined
contribution and defined benefit plan.
Correct amount of pension expense may not be recognized in the profit or loss
statement by the entity which will lead to overstatement of profit.
Employees who have cease to be employee may not have been removed from the
scheme which may lead to over-provision of pension expenses and thus overstate
liability and understate profit.
The defined pension contribution may be misclassified as defined contribution plan
which may leads to wrong presentation in the financial statements.
Analytically compare the pension expense recognized in the profit or loss statement for
the current year with prior year to expose any unexpected fluctuation.
Review the terms of the pension contract to ensure proper classification.
Inspect the pension contract documentation to determine the amount of the contribution
required from the entity.
Obtain the number of employees in the scheme and recalculate the pension expense to
ensure the amount recognized is correct.
Obtain list of employees who have cease to be employee and ensure that they have
been removed from the scheme.
Liability
Opening balance X1
Finance cost (discount Rate x X1) X Debit P & L : Credit Liability
Service cost X Debit P & L : Credit Liability
Benefit paid (X) Debit Liability : Credit Asset
Expected closing balance XX1
Re-measurement component (XX2-XX1) xx Recognized in other comprehensive income
Fair value of liability at year end XX2
Use of wrong discount rate to calculate return on pension asset which lead to overstating
of assets
The effect of Past service costs may be ignored which lead to understating of liabilities
New employees joining the scheme may be wrongly omitted from calculation of liabilities
which understate the liabilities.
The auditor may lack knowledge of estimating the fairs values of pension asset and
liabilities which increases the detection risks
Auditor may have to depends on the knowledge of experts because of the complex
actuarial calculation involved in the deriving the fair values of pension asset and
liabilities which increase the detection risks
Benefit paid may not be removed from the pension asset and liability thereby overstating
both assets and liabilities
Re-measurement components may be wrongly recognised in the operating profit instead
of recognizing it in the other comprehensive income thereby overstating the operating
profit
Audit risks
Just as we systematically allocate the cost of a non-current asset over the useful life in line with
the matching concept, IAS 20 requires that Govt. grant should be recognized as deferred
income in the statement of financial position. There is risk that this may not be done leading to
liabilities being understated and profit being overstated.
IAS 20 requires that a grant is recognized only when there is Reasonable assurance that the
company will meet the condition attached to the grant. Where there is doubt over this, a
provision should be recognised in line with IAS 37. There is risk that this will not be done
thereby understating liabilities and overstating profits.
Obtain the grant document and review the terms to verify the amount of grant.
Determine the period the grant covered by reviewing the grant document to ensure the
grant income is correctly spread.
Revision of the terms and condition attached from the grant document to determine the
consequence of any breach on terms.
Review correspondences with relevant government agencies to determine if there has
been any breach of terms.
Obtain representation from management that the condition of the grant will be met.
Functional currency- is the currency of the primary economic environment in which the entity
operates. It is the currency in which the entity normally generates and spends cash, and that in
which transactions are normally denominated. All transactions in currencies other than the
functional currency are treated as transactions in foreign currencies
Non-monetary items- Items that will not be received in a fixed or determinable amount of cash.
Also described as items that will not be paid out in a fixed or determinable amount of cash. It
includes the followings:
Inventory
Prepaid expenses
Equity securities
Investment properties
Property, plant and equipment
Intangible assets
Deferred income
Government grant
Audit risks
Companies that transact across borders are likely to be transacting in in foreign currencies. The
audit of such companies have the following risks to look out for:
Transactions may not be re-translated to the functional currency at the date the
transaction occurred which may lead to either understatement or overstatement of the
amount involved.
Monetary items like payable and receivable figures may not be re-translated at year end
closing rate which may lead to over/under statement of assets and liabilities
Non-monetary items may be wrongly translated at closing rate instead of transaction
date
Recognition of exchange gain or loss on non-monetary items may not be consistent with
recognition of gain or loss on the item
Audit procedures
Review sample of transactions conducted in foreign currency and confirm they are
translated using spot exchange rate at the date of transactions
Enquire from management how it obtains currency exchange rate and confir its
authenticity
Recalculate translated transactions using appropriate rate and check it conforms with
management’s figures
Review draft financial statements to confirm that monetary items are retranslated using
closing rate
Confirm that closing exchange rate used is in conformity with prevailing official exchange
rate
Audit procedures:
Note: A provision for restructuring costs (e.g. the closure of a business segment) should only
be recognized if a formal plan had been in place and there has been a public announcement
regarding the plan. If these conditions are not satisfied, the plan should only be disclosed in the
note to the account as a non-adjusting event in line with IAS 10 Events after reporting period
Obtain direct confirmation from the entity’s bank to confirm availability of finance to
complete the asset
Obtain written management’s representation to confirm commitment.
Assess the result of any test carried out on the asset to confirm the technical feasibility
of the asset
Agree period of capitalization correct by reference to date of completion of the capital
project to be sure capitalization is in line with IAS 38
Agree finance cost to loan contracts - interest rate should be agreed to finance
agreements, recalculation of the finance charge should be carried out.
it must be probable that the company will gain future economic benefit attributable to the
asset
The cost of the asset must be capable of being measured reliably.
If an item does not meet both the definition of intangible asset and recognition criteria given
above, the expenditure on such item should be recognized as expense in the period. IAS 38
Intangible Assets requires that amortization method should reflect the pattern of benefits. If the
pattern of benefit cannot be reliably determined, straight method should be adopted.
The asset may be wrongly amortized when the asset is yet to be ready for operation in
the manner intended by management.
Inappropriate estimation of useful life would lead to understatement or overstatement of
profit & carrying amount of the intangible assets.
If there is an indication of impairment, management is required to compare the
recoverable and the carrying amount to ascertain if there is impairment.
Before an asset can be recognized an intangible asset, the entity must have gained
control over the use of the asset. I.e. the risk and reward must have been transferred to
the entity.
Intangible asset (e.g. operating license) granted at no cost can be recognized at its fair
value if the fair value can be correctly measured.
If there is a legal or constructive obligation to dismantle an asset after its useful life,
provision should be made and should be included in the cost of the asset.
Internally generated goodwill should not be recognised
SETTER STORES
the year ended 31 January 2013. The draft financial statements of Setter Store recognise total
assets of $300 million, revenue of $620 million and profit before tax of $47.5 million.
The statement of financial position includes an intangible asset of $15 million, which is the cost
of a distribution licence acquired on 1 September 2012. The licence gives Setter Stores Co the
exclusive right to distribute a popular branded soft drink in its stores for a period of five years.
Comment on the matters to be considered, and explain the audit evidence you should
expect to find during your file review in respect of each of the issues described above.
Solution
Matter to consider
Materiality
15/300*100 = 5% material to the statement of financial position.
An intangible asset can only be recognized in the financial statement according to IAS 38 if the
following conditions are met:
It is probable that future economic benefit associated with the intangible asset will flow to
the organization. It is important for management of setter store to prove that the
economic benefit will be derived from the distribution license.
The cost of intangible asset can be reliably measured.
The cost of the distribution license should be amortised over its useful life of 5 years.
Amortisaton should start from 1 September 2012. This means amortization should be charged
for 5 months to the year ended 31 January 203 as 15/5*5/12 = $1.25 million. This means asset
has been overstated as $15 million was recognized in the financial statement instead of 13.75
(15-1.25). however, this amount is not material to the statement of financial position at 0.4% of
total asset and 2.6% of the profit after tax.
Audit Evidence
A copy of the purchase document to confirm the cost and the 5 year term of the license
Confirmation of the amount paid in the bank statement and cashbook.
Copy of sales forecast to confirm the future economic benefit of the license
Minutes of meeting with management regarding the necessary changes needed in the
account regarding amortization of the license.
Impairment
Impairment refers to a fall in the value of an asset. An asset is impaired when the recoverable
amount of such asset is less than its carrying amount.
If an asset is impaired, the value of the asset as recognized in the financial statement should be
reduced by the value of the impairment. The amount of the impairment should be debited to the
statement of profit or loss to reduce the profit.
Indicators of impairment
Audit procedures
IAS 41 Agriculture
Agricultural activity – This involves the management of the transformation of a biological asset
for sale into agricultural produce or another biological asset.
Biological asset – This includes living animal or plant.
Agricultural produce – This includes harvested produce of the entity’s biological assets.
Biological transformation – This involves the process of growth, degeneration, production, and
procreation that cause an increase in the value or quantity of the biological asset.
Recognition
Biological assets or agricultural produce are recognised when the following conditions are met:
Fair Value Gains and Losses to Be Recognised in the Profit or Loss Statement
The gain or loss on initial recognition of biological asset which is the difference between the
opening value and the closing value at the year-end is included in profit or loss in the period in
which it arises. Subsequent change in fair value is included in profit or loss in the period it
arises.
The gain or loss on initial recognition of agricultural produce is included in profit or loss in the
period in which it arises.
Audit risks
Fair value used may be wrongly estimated which may overstate assets or profit.
Getting fair value may be particularly difficult in situation where the asset is not
traded on established market.
Wrong application of IAS 41 to non-agricultural assets (see section below).
Risk of making inadequate disclosure
Property held for use in the production or supply of goods or services or for
administrative purposes (IAS 16 Property, Plant and Equipment applies).
Property held for sale in the ordinary course of business or in the process of construction
or development for such sale (IAS 2 Inventories applies).
Property being constructed or developed on behalf of third parties (IAS 11 Construction
Contracts applies).
Owner-occupied property (IAS 16 applies).
Property leased to another entity under a finance lease (IAS 17 applies).
Recognition
Investment property should be recognised as an asset when it is probable that the future
economic benefits that are associated with the property will flow to the entity, and the cost of the
property can be reliably measured.
Initial measurement
Investment property is initially measured at cost, including transaction costs. Such cost should
not include the following:
Start-up costs.
Abnormal waste or initial operating losses incurred before the investment property
achieves the planned level of occupancy.
Subsequent measurement
An entity can choose between the fair value and the cost model. The accounting policy choice
must be applied to all investment property. Change of policy is permitted only if this results in a
more appropriate presentation. IAS 40 notes that this is highly unlikely for a change from a fair
value model to a cost model.
Cost model
Under this model, investment property is measured in accordance with requirements set out for
that model in IAS 16, plant property and equipment (cost less accumulated depreciation and
less accumulated impairment losses).
Partial own use
If the owner uses part of the property for its own use, and part to earn rentals or for capital
appreciation, and the portions can be sold or leased out separately, they are accounted for
separately. Therefore, the part that is rented out is investment property. If the portions cannot be
sold or leased out separately, the property is investment property only if the owner-occupied
portion is insignificant
Inter-company rentals
Property rented to a parent, subsidiary, or fellow subsidiary is not investment property in
consolidated financial statements that include both the lessor and the lessee, because the
property is owner-occupied from the perspective of the group. Such property will be investment
property in the separate financial statements of the lessor, if the definition of investment
property is otherwise met.
Audit procedures
Discuss with management the purpose for which the asset is held and decide if it meet
definition of investment property according to IAS 40
Review the criteria used by the entity to classify asset as investment property to
determine if it conforms to IAS 40 investment property
For investment properties recognized at fair value, discuss with management how fair
was determined and assess for reasonability
Obtain list of disposed investment properties and trace to the ledger to be sure they
have been derecognized
Obtain list of newly acquired investment properties and trace to the ledger to be sure
they are all captured
Equity-settled share based payment- one in which the entity receives goods or services
as consideration for equity instruments of the entity. It includes shares or share options.
Cash-settled share based payment- one in which the entity receives goods or services
by incurring a liability to the supplier that is based on the price (or value) of the entity’s
shares or other equity instruments of the entity.
Transactions in which the entity receives goods or services and either the entity or the
supplier of those goods or services have a choice of settling the transaction in cash (or
other assets) or equity instruments.
Credit entries
Measure at the fair value of the equity instruments granted at grant date.
The fair value is never re-measured.
The grant date fair value is recognised over the vesting period.
The fair value will be charged to profit or loss equally over the vesting period, with
adjustments made at each accounting date to reflect the best estimate of the number of
options that will eventually vest
Shareholders’ equity will be increased by an amount equal to the charge in profit or loss
If employees decide not to exercise their options, no adjustment is made to profit or loss
Measure at the fair value of the goods or services received at the date the entity obtains
the goods or receives the service.
If the fair value of the goods or services received cannot be estimated reliably,
measure by reference to the fair value of the equity instruments granted.
If the counterparty has the right to choose whether a share-based payment transaction is
settled in cash or by issuing equity instruments, the entity has granted a compound
instrument (a cash-settled component and an equity–settled component).
If the entity has the choice of whether to settle in cash or by issuing equity instruments,
the entity shall determine whether it has a present obligation to settle in cash and
account for the transaction as cash-settled or if no such obligation exists, account for the
transaction as equity-settled.
Disclosure requirements
The following disclosures are required by IFRS 2
Information about the share-based payment transactions that existed during the period
Information on how the fair value of the goods or services received, or the fair value of
the equity instruments which have been granted during the period, was determined
Information on expenses which have arisen from share-based payment transactions, on
the entity’s profit or loss in the period
Audit risks
Review contractual documentation for the share-based payment scheme and agree the
following to the management calculation of the expense:
Number of employees in scheme
Number of options per employee
Length of vesting period
Grant date of the share options
Any performance condition attached to options
Re-perform the management calculation of the share-based payment expense, ensuring
fair value is spread correctly over the vesting period.
Agree fair value of the options to a specialist report calculating the fair value.
Compare methods used for estimates with prior years to ensure consistency
Assess whether the specialist report is reliable and objective.
Check that the fair value is calculated at the grant date.
Discuss the reasonableness of the percentage staff turnover assumption with human
resources department.
Obtain written representations from management confirming that the assumptions used
in measuring the expense are reasonable and that there are no share-based payment
schemes in existence that have not been disclosed to the auditors.
Recalculate the fair value calculated by using the model adopted by management
Business combination
IFRS 12
Disclosure of interest in other entities requires disclosure relating to the consequence of
changes in a group’s ownership interest in a subsidiary which does not result in a loss of
control.
The following points should be noted as they present source of audit risks:
IFRS 3 requires the recognition of contingent liabilities on the acquisition date at fair value if
they
are reliably measurable, irrespective of whether the obligations are probable. The audit risk here
is that contingent liabilities may not be captured by the parent entity which in this case
understate the liabilities of the company
IFRS 3 does not allow for the recognition of contingent assets. The audit risk here is that
contingent assets is wrongly recognized thereby overstating assets
Acquisition-related costs are not included as part of the consideration transferred, but rather
expensed as incurred example of this costs include advisory, legal, accounting, valuation, other
professional or consulting fees and administrative costs. The audit risk here is that these costs
will be recognized as consideration used in calculating the Goodwill leading to overstatement of
assets.
If the parent company is expected to incur restricting costs post-consolidation but there is no
present obligation, no liabilities would be recognized at the date of acquisition. The audit risk
here is that restructuring costs without present obligation would be recognized thereby
overstating liabilities.
Acquisition of asset or group of assets may not be termed as business acquisition under
business combination as there must be an identifiable process acquired which should lead to
production of outputs.
Discussion with management on how fair value of assets was arrived at.
Agreement of management’s method in deriving fair value with IFRS 13.
Discussion with management on the need to test goodwill for impairment.
Recalculation of any additional depreciation due to adjustment of assets to fair value.
The company is managed by a Board of three directors with a dominant managing director who
owns 93% of the share capital. The directors and senior management are largely remunerated
by a “performance bonus” based on new sales. The company does not have an audit
committee.
Required:
(a) Describe the procedures an audit firm should undertake before accepting a potentially
high risk audit such as that of Abacus Leasing. (5 marks)
(b) Describe the factors in relation to the audit of Abacus Leasing that would affect your
assessment of risk. (7 marks)
(c) Describe the audit work that you would undertake to determine the correct accounting
treatment and disclosure of:
(i) The leases;
(ii) The bad debts allowance in respect of lease receivables. (8 marks)
Answers
A request to communicate with the previous auditor. A refusal of this would inevitably
lead to a refusal by the auditor to tender.
The previous auditor should be asked if there are any circumstances of which they are
aware that would have a bearing on the prospective auditor’s willingness to tender.
A visit to the firm to make a preliminary assessment of the audit risk with particular
attention being focused on the system of controls and activities of the company.
We need to conduct assessment on the ability of the client to pay the audit fee. The
financial position of the client may not be sound and there may be a serious risk of non-
payment of the audit fee.
The suspicious circumstances in which the previous auditors resigned, particularly the
reasons for the audit qualification. It would appear that there are poor internal controls at
Abacus Leasing, and further, it seems management are reluctant to improve them.
Obtain and inspect copies of all different types of lease agreements to ensure
classification is correct.
Enquire on how management determines the fair value of the leased asset and
determine it is reasonable using auditor’s knowledge of the business.
The auditor should review the costs of asset recognised to ensure they are stated net of
any trade discounts
The auditor should reconcile the original cost of the leased asset with the purchase
invoice and the payment made.
The auditor should recalculate minimum lease payments using an appropriate discount
rate.
The discount rate used in calculating the minimum lease payment should be compared
with market interest rates to confirm the appropriateness of the rate.
The auditor should review the company’s procedures for recovery of receivables which
have breached the terms of the agreements. As these procedures are known to be weak
further tests of detail (substantive procedures) should be performed to confirm the value
of the lease receivables.
Question SELLERS
You are planning the final audit of the financial statements of Sellers, a manufacturing company.
The following events occurred shortly after the end of the reporting period:
(1) One of the company’s largest customers, Bramley, notified Sellers of its intentions to go
into liquidation with an outstanding debt of $260,000. Seller’s directors consider that the current
allowance for bad debts will cover any potential loss.
(2) A writ was issued against Sellers by a former sales director who is claiming $90,000 for
breach of his service agreement following his dismissal during the year under review. No
provision has been recognised in respect of this claim.
(3) A fire at the company’s warehouse destroyed all inventory held there. This inventory is
valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value amounting to $1,800,000 in the financial
statements.
(4) Half of the sales force was made redundant and a provision has been made for
redundancy payments amounting to $400,000.
Required:
For EACH of the four events:
(i) Explain the effect, if any, on the financial statements (8 marks)
(ii) State the matters you would consider and the audit evidence you would obtain to be able
to draw a reasonable conclusion on which to base the audit opinion. (12 marks)
(20 marks)
Answers
(1) Bad debt – $260,000
(i) Effect on financial statements
As Bramley is one of Sellers “largest customers”, the outstanding balance is presumably
material to trade receivables.
Specific allowance, calculated on a prudent basis, should be made against the amount due from
Bramley at the end of the reporting period. The year-end general allowance should be
recalculated in accordance with Sellers’s accounting policy.
Steps being taken by Sellers to find new customers to lessen the impact of the loss of
this major customer (which may otherwise have implications for the appropriateness of
the going concern assumption).
Whether any goods have been manufactured to specific orders for Bramley. Such goods
should be separately identified in year-end inventory as their net realisable value may be
less than costs if an alternative customer cannot be found.
The steps which have been (are being) taken to recover the amount due (e.g. attending
the creditors meeting arranged by the liquidator).
Audit evidence
A copy of Bramley’s account balance in Sellers’s receivables ledger (i.e. year- end
balance and post year-end transactions).
After-date (post year-end) cash receipts from Bramley.
Correspondence with the liquidator to establish the amount of debt (if any) most likely to
be recovered.
Insurance policy documents (if Sellers is insured against such losses).
The reason(s) for which the former sales director was dismissed. If he was guilty
of wrongdoing or misconduct he may be the one in breach of contract.
The nature of the alleged breach of the service agreement.
Materiality of the amount of the claim to the financial statements
Whether the company intends to contest or counter the claim or negotiate an out-
of- court settlement.
Audit evidence
To what extent have inventories have been replaced since the fire.
To what extent the manufacturing processes were disrupted (if at all) by the loss
of raw materials.
Whether orders or customer goodwill been lost due to delays in dispatching
goods to customers.
Audit evidence
Insurance policy to confirm the extent to which loss of inventory, is covered and
on what basis (e.g. replacement cost or historic cost).
Correspondence with insurers/loss adjusters to ascertain whether the claim will
be settled in full.
Sales order books to identify any significant loss of customer goodwill.
Cash book payments to suppliers for “emergency” purchases of raw materials.
Any cash book receipt of insurance monies.
Audit Evidence
Schedule showing the make-up of the provision for agreement to payroll and
personnel records.
Post year-end cash book payments to confirm amounts originally provided.
Redundancy notices/board minutes to confirm the date on which the decision
was made.
Communicate clearly with the component auditors about the scope and timing of their
work on financial information related to components and their findings
To obtain sufficient appropriate evidence regarding the financial information of the
components and the consolidation process
To express an opinion whether the group financial statement are prepared, in all material
respects, in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework
If the engagement partner concludes that it will not be possible to obtain sufficient
appropriate evidence due to restriction imposed by group management and that the
possible effect of this will result in a disclaimer of opinion, then they must not accept the
engagement.
Significant components
If significant risk of material misstatement of the group account has been identified in a
component that is audited by another auditor, the group auditor shall evaluate the
appropriateness of further audit procedures performed in response to the assessment.
If the component it not considered significant then the group auditor shall simply performed
analytical procedures at group level.
ISA 600 co-operation between auditors in respect of group audit
The group Engagement team has the right to require from auditors of subsidiaries the
information and explanations they require, and to require the group management to obtain the
necessary information and explanations from subsidiary. if The degree of corporation is limited
by factors such as the component auditor not being subject to the requirement of ISA,s, but of
different national practice. ISA 600 states that the group auditor should not accept a group audit
if there are restriction on his communication with component auditors.
Factors to be considered by the group auditor in relying on the work of component auditor
Ethics: the group auditor should consider whether the component auditor complies with
required ethical requirements. The component auditor should be subjected to the same ethical
requirements as the group auditors irrespective of the local regulations applicable.
Professional competence: The group auditor should check whether the component auditor
understand IAS and must make sure the work performed by the component auditor is in
conformity with international standards. He must make sure the component auditor understand
IFRS and have sufficient resources and skills to perform the required work.
Procedures that should be performed to determine the extent of reliance to be placed on the
work of component auditor:
Audit procedures to carry out as part of the planning and evaluation of the work of the
component auditors
The group auditor should review the component auditor’s working papers to determine
the adequacy of work performed by component auditor.
The group auditors is responsible for setting the materiality level for the group financial
statements as a whole, and for components which are individually significant, this would
be set at a lower level than the materiality level of the group as whole. The component
auditor will then perform a full audit based on the component materiality level.
Depending on whether the component is significant or not to the group’s financial
statements, the group auditor should review the component auditor’s overall audit
strategy and audit plans and perform risk assessment procedures to identify and assess
risks of material misstatement at the component level.
The group auditor should discuss with the component auditor on the component’s
business activities that are significant to the group, and the susceptibility of the
component to material misstatement of the financial statement due to fraud or error.
The group auditor should review the component auditor’s documentation of identified
significant risks of material misstatement.
The group auditor should review a questionnaire completed by the component auditor
highlighting key issues identified during the audit.
The group auditor should evaluate the effect of any uncorrected misstatements on the
group’s financial statements
After reviewing the component’s auditor’s work, the group auditor should determine
whether any additional procedures are necessary to gather audit evidence.
The revised group structure will need to be ascertained to ensure all relevant entities are
consolidated.
The issue of component auditor should be discussed. Before reliance can be placed on
the work of the component auditor, Independence and competence of the auditor need
to be assessed.
Materiality of the new company will need to be assessed in relation to the group as a
whole in order to determine the extent and nature of work to be done.
The audit plan will need to address the calculation and accounting treatment of goodwill.
Goodwill must be calculated by comparing the cost of the investment with the fair value
of the net assets of the subsidiaries at the acquisition dates.
The auditor will need to assess the method used by management to obtain the fair value
of net assets acquired.
Impairment of goodwill should be assessed.
Information regarding accounting policies of the new subsidiary should be obtained as
this will need to be reconciled so that the consolidation adjustment can be quantified.
The way in which the group identifies intercompany balances/transactions will need to
be established.
The audit plan should contain a list of all the companies within the group so that
completeness of intercompany balances can be confirmed.
Toy Co
2013 2012
REVENUE $18M $17M
PBT $2M $3
TOTAL ASSET $58 $59
YEAR ENDED 31 March 2013.
The component auditors of Toy Co, the overseas subsidiary, have been instructed to provide
the Group audit team with details of a court case which is ongoing. An ex-employee is suing Toy
Co for unfair dismissal and has claimed $500,000 damages against the company. To comply
with local legislation, Toy Co’s individual financial statements are prepared using a local
financial reporting framework. Under that local financial reporting framework, a provision is only
recognised if a cash outflow is virtually certain to arise. The component auditors obtained verbal
confirmation from Toy Co’s legal advisors that the damages are probable, but not virtually
certain to be paid, and no provision has been recognised in either the individual or consolidated
financial statements. No other audit evidence has been obtained by the component. (7 marks)
Required:
In respect of each of the matters described:
(i) Assess the implications for the completion of the Group audit, explaining any
adjustments that may be necessary to the consolidated financial statements, and
recommending any further procedures necessary; and
(ii) Describe the impact on the Group auditor’s report if these adjustments are not made.
Adjustment required
All companies in the group should use the same accounting policies. In line with IAS 37
provisions, contingent liabilities and contingent provision is required when it is probable that
there would be outflow of economic benefit to settle an obligation and this amount can reliably
be measured. In this case, a provision of $ 500,000 should be recognized as current liabilities
and the same amount should be changed against the profit.
Further audit procedures
Obtain direct confirmation from TOY CO’s legal adviser that it’s probable the claim would
be successful.
Inspect count documents relating to the claim to establish the $ 500,000.
Inspect correspondence between toy co and the ex-employee to establish the possibility
of out-of- court settlement.
Given that the amount involved is material to the group’s profit (25% of PBT),
The group audit report will be modified with qualified except for opinion. This would only happen
if sufficient and appropriate has been obtained by the auditor that the amount of the claim is
probable.
Drake Retail acts as the retail outlet for approximately 60% of the combined output of Loopy and
Snoopy. It values its inventories at the lower of cost and net realisable value. Inventories mainly
consist of goods held for resale. Cost is computed by deducting the gross profit margin from the
selling value of inventory. When computing net realisable value, an allowance is made for any
future mark downs to be made on inventory.
The directors of Cuckoo Group wish the following accounting policy note to be included in the
group financial statements regarding inventory: “Inventories are stated at the lower of cost and
net realisable value and comprise raw materials (including bullion), work in progress and
finished goods.”
Required:
(a) Describe the audit procedures which you would carry out before placing reliance upon
the work of the auditors of Loopy. (7 marks)
(b) Discuss whether you feel that the current accounting policies adopted by Cuckoo and its
three subsidiaries regarding inventory and work in progress are acceptable to you as group
auditor. (7 marks)
(c) Discuss the problems which may arise when determining which overhead costs are to
be incorporated into the inventory valuation of manufacturing companies such as Loopy and
Snoopy. (6 marks)
(d) Discuss whether you feel that the accounting policy note regarding inventory and work in
progress provides adequate information to the users of the group financial statements. (5
marks)
(25 marks)
Answers
(a) Reliance on the work of component auditors
Reliance will not be placed upon the financial statements of Huey until the audit procedures
carried out by their auditor (the component auditor) have been reviewed by the parent
company’s auditor (the group auditor). Before any approach is made to the auditor of Huey plc,
the directors of Donald plc will be informed of the intention to communicate with the component
auditor. The component auditor is under a statutory duty in this case to co-operate with the
group auditor.
The auditors of Loopy should be informed in advance of the standard and scope of the work
required and any reporting deadlines, and the component auditor should discuss any potential
problems they foresee with the group auditor.
An assessment of the materiality of amounts in the financial statements of Loopy should be
made to determine the nature of the procedures to be carried out by the group auditor.
Furthermore, an assessment of the risk inherent in the audit of Loopy will be made. A meeting
should be schedule with the component auditor to obtain knowledge of the following:
the previous and current financial statements of Loopy (including analytical procedures);
the terms of the component auditor’ engagement and any restrictions placed upon their
work;
the standard of the work of the component auditor and the nature and extent of their
audit examination;
the independence of the auditor of Loopy
A questionnaire should be used to review the audit procedures used by the component auditors
If Loopy is of material significance a review of the working papers of the component auditor may
be required. This may involve a further visit to the subsidiary company as it is important that the
group auditor is satisfied that the audit has been carried out in accordance with acceptable
auditing standards, and that the component auditor’ audit opinion is reasonable and reliable.
If the auditor is not satisfied with the work carried out, the auditor should arrange for additional
tests to be performed by the auditor of Loopy. Only in exceptional circumstances will the group
auditor perform more tests as the component auditor is responsible for the auditor’s report on
Loopy’s financial statements.
This practice is quite common place when dealing with commodities. It represents a departure
from the usual valuation rules as inventories are stated at above their cost. IAS 2 “Inventories”
does not deal with this issue and the requirement of the standard to show inventory at the lower
of cost and net realisable value has obviously been dispensed with. It can be argued that in the
case of commodities, it may be necessary to depart from IAS 2 and apply alternative accounting
practices. The financial statements are likely to be more helpful to users if the commodities are
shown at market value and this is generally justified in order to show a true and fair view.
However, it will only be acceptable as a valuation model where the company’s principal activity
is the trading of commodities, the commodities do not alter in character between purchase and
sale, the commodities can be traded on an organised market and the market is sufficiently liquid
to allow the company to realise its inventory close to the valuation price. It would appear
therefore that in the case of Donald plc., the policy is acceptable.
(ii) Loopy
IAS 2 requires that the comparison of cost and net realisable value should be done on an item
by item basis or by groups of similar items. In the case of Huey plc the comparison has been
carried out on a total inventory basis. Thus the group auditor will request the component auditor
to carry out a net realisable value test on an item by item or group basis. Further, the LIFO (last
in, first out) method of inventory valuation is not acceptable by IAS 2 and therefore inventory will
need to be revalued in order to conform with the standard if the financial statements are not to
be qualified. (This is dependent upon the materiality of the amount in the context of the group
accounts.)
(iii) Snoopy
This accounting procedure is effectively showing inventory at base inventory value in profit or
loss and at FIFO (first in, first out) valuation in the statement of financial position. Base inventory
is not an acceptable method of valuing inventory under IAS 2. Inventories should be stated at
the same value in both the statement of profit or loss and statement of financial position under
existing accounting conventions.
(iv) Drake Retail
This company sells high volumes of various small items of inventory. Invariably in this type of
trade, similar mark-ups are applied to groups of inventory items. In this situation, a
disproportionate amount of time can be spent determining the cost of the year-end inventory.
The most practical method of valuing year-end inventory is to record inventory at selling price
and converts it to cost by removing the mark-up.
IAS 2 says that this method is acceptable only if it can be demonstrated that the method gives a
reasonable approximation to actual cost.
(c) Overheads in inventory valuations
IAS 2 defines costs as “that expenditure which has been incurred in the normal course of
business in bringing the product to its present location and condition”. Certain costs are not
costs of bringing the inventory to its present location and condition. These include storage costs,
selling costs and administrative overheads. However, in certain circumstances it is possible to
argue a case for their inclusion in inventory valuation. For example if firm sales contracts have
been entered into for the sale of inventories, the inclusion of selling costs incurred before
manufacture can be justified under IAS 2. Storage costs may be incurred prior to further
processing and these costs should be included in the cost of production. The standard
recognises that in the case of smaller organisations there may not be a clear distinction of
management functions and that this cost may be allocated to production on fair basis.
Another problem is that IAS 2 requires overheads to be included in inventory on the basis of a
company’s normal level of activity. “Normal” is not defined in the standard but normal level of
activity is established by reference to the budgeted or expected level of activity over several
years. What is “normal” is obviously left open to subjective assessment particularly during the
initial years of a business or in a recession. The standard is unhelpful in this area and the
acceptability of the overhead allocation based on normal activity is effectively left to mutual
agreement between the auditor and the client.
to ensure that inter-company transactions and balances are correctly treated in the
group accounts;
to check the auditors’ work and the accounts of companies not audited by you.
Required:
(a) Describe the audit work you would perform to verify that inter-company profit in inventory
has been correctly accounted for in the group accounts. (5 marks)
(b) Briefly describe the effect the following would have on your review of the work of the
subsidiaries’ auditors and on your opinion on the group accounts:
(i) The size of the subsidiary – whether it is small or large;
(ii) If the auditor’s report on the subsidiary’s accounts is qualified;
(iii) If the subsidiary is a banking company. (5 marks)
Answers
(a) Profit in inventory
The auditor should identify inventory which is part of inter-group trading by carrying out
suitable analysis of inventory balances in a supporting schedule.
The auditor should review the transfer pricing arrangements between the individual
companies by examining the invoices for the items concerned and making enquiries of
the supplier companies of the basis of cost structure.
The calculations used by the group accountant to eliminate the profit should be validated
by reference to the data on transfer pricing and inter-group trading.
The inter-company inventory thus reduced to true cost should be traced to the final
inventory summary to verify that it has been included.
The auditor should verify that the closing balance of inventory is correct by recalculating
the inventory figures and adjusting for the unrealized
AUDIT REPORT
The financial accounts of the audited entity give true & fair view.
The financial accounts of the entity have been prepared in accordance with the
applicable financial reporting framework
The basis of opinion should be shown immediately above the opinion paragraph. ISA 705
requires them be headed as:
“Basis for Disclaimer of Opinion”
“Basis for adverse opinion”
“Basis for Qualified Opinion”
Management imposed limitation on the scope of audit; matter to consider and action to be taken
by the auditor
This explains information that is rightly not present in the financial statements but which is so
important for user’s understanding of them that it needs to be highlighted in the auditor’s report.
Examples of when other matter paragraph is used:
When prior period’s financial statements have not been audited at all or audited by
another auditor
2013 2012
REVENUE $18M $17M
PBT $2M $3
TOTAL ASSET $58 $59
YEAR ENDED 31 March 2013.
Chairman’s statement
The draft chairman’s statement, to be included in the Group’s annual report, was received
yesterday. The chairman comments on the performance of the Group, stating that he is pleased
that revenue has increased by 20% in the year. (6 Marks)
Required:
In respect of each of the matters described:
(i) Assess the implications for the completion of the Group audit, explaining any
adjustments that may be necessary to the consolidated financial statements, and
recommending any further procedures necessary; and
(ii) Describe the impact on the Group auditor’s report if these adjustments are not made.
OTHER INFORMATION
The auditor is required by ISA 720 read other information published in the annual report to
identify any material inconsistency between audited and non- audited information.
In this case, there is inconsistency between the claim of their chairman (non-audited) and the
audited financial statement. As against the claim of the chairman, the revenue only increased by
5.9%.
The auditor should review audit work performed on revenue which of the information is
materially misstated. If review shows the financial statement to be materially misstated, the
auditor should request management make necessary adjustment. Any adjustment made by
management should be audited by the auditor for adequacy.
In the case where the chairman statement is found to be incorrect, this inconsistency should be
brought to the notice of those changed with government. If management refuses to adjust the
figure, the auditor will include other information section in the audit report. The inconsistency will
be explained in this section. In addition, this should also state his responsibility regarding other
information in the annual report.
Materiality of the component to the group financial statements. According to ISA 600, a
component is significant to the group where a chosen benchmark is more than 15% of
the same figure for the group. Possible benchmark includes: profit before tax; total
assets; and sales. Materiality must be determined at both the component and group
level
The group auditor should consider whether there is sufficient and appropriate audit
evidence to support the qualified opinion
If the entity is a material component, the group auditor should review the component’s
auditor’s evidence in relation to the qualified opinion
The group auditor should determine if there is need for further audit evidence.
If evidence showed that the qualification is inappropriate, the group auditor should
request the component auditor to redraft its auditor’s report.
The group auditor should consider the impact of the qualification on the group’s audit
report
If the qualification of the component’s report is deemed appropriate by the group auditor, the
following steps should be taken:
The group auditor should discuss the issue with the group management
The group auditor should request that the group management ask the component’s
management to adjust its financial statement. If this is done, the auditor will perform
further audit procedure on the adjustment, if the adjustment is adequate, the component
auditor will re-issue its audit report.
If the component’s management refuse to correct the material misstatement but the
effect of the misstatement has been corrected in the group financial statements, the
components audit report will remain qualified, but the group’s auditor’s report will not be
qualified
If there is no adjustment in both the components’ account and the group’s account in
respect of the material misstatement, the group’s audit opinion will be qualified ‘except
for’ because of the material misstatement.
Note: should there be any need to qualify the group’s opinion in respect of a material
misstatement in the account of a component, the work of the component auditor should
never be referred to in the group auditor’s report
2013 2012
PBT $2M $3
SOLUTION
TRADE RECEIVABLES
ADJUSTMENT REQUIRED
Information from the administrator suggest the receivable has been impaired by 90%, i.e. the
recoverable amount of the receivable is (10% x $1.6m) 0.16m.
This means impairment of (1.6m – 0.16) 1.44m should be recognized against the receivable.
Also, 1.44m should be recognized as expense in the statement of profit or loss. This is in line
with IFRS 9 financial instrument and IAS 10 events after reporting period (adjusting event).
If the above adjustment is not made, the group audit report will be modified with qualified except
for opinion. This is because the value of the impairment is material to the group financial
statement (80% of revenue; 72% PBT).
Basis of qualified opinion would be included to employ the reason for the qualification.
Inspect correspondences between the company and terrier administrator to confirm that 10% of
the receivable will be recovered. Check after year end receipts to establish any amount received
from terrain co.
Re-calculate the impairment amount to ascertain arithmetic accuracy obtain direct confirmation
that the 10 % of the receivable would be received.
Those charged with governance’ is defined by ISA 260 as the persons who are responsible for
given strategic direction to the entity. Example of this is the board of directors of an entity. The
board is held accountable for whatever happens to the entity.
According to ISA 260, the followings should be reported to those charged with governance:
ISA 265 requires the auditor to communicate identified deficiencies in internal control that, in the
auditor's judgement, are of sufficient importance to be brought to the attention by the entity.
In addition to the timely communication of deficiencies to management, ISA 265 requires the
following to be communicated to those charged with governance:
Description of the deficiencies and their possible effects on the financial statements.
The auditor should clearly state that he is not responsible for the design of the
internal control system.
The auditor should state that the reported deficiencies are those discovered in the
course of the audit.
Question THETA
In January 2009, the head office of Theta was damaged by a fire. Many of the company’s
accounting records were destroyed before the audit for the year ended 31 March 2009 took
place. The company’s financial accountant has prepared financial statements for the year ended
31 March 2009 on the basis of estimates and the information he has been able to salvage. You
have completed the audit of these financial statements.
Required:
(a) Draft, for inclusion in the auditor’s report, wording appropriate to Theta. (5 marks)
Note: You are not required to reproduce the auditor’s report in full.
(b) Explain the reasons for your audit opinion. (3 marks)
(c) Explain and distinguish between the following forms of modified report:
(i) Emphasis of matter
(ii) Qualified opinion
(iii) Disclaimer of opinion
(iv) Adverse opinion. (8 marks)
Answers
Introductory paragraph
We have audited the accompanying financial statements of Theta, which comprise the
statement of financial position as at March 31 2009, and the statement of comprehensive
income, statement of changes in equity and statement of cash flows for the year then ended,
and a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory notes.
Auditor’s responsibility
Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on conducting
the audit in accordance with international standards on auditing. Because of the matter
described in the basis for Disclaimer of opinion paragraph, however, we were not able to obtain
sufficient appropriate audit evidence to provide a basis for an audit opinion
The fire has resulted in limitations in audit work and evidence necessary to form an
opinion cannot be obtained.
It is a matter of fact that accounting records adequate for audit purposes have not been
kept and all information and explanations necessary for audit purposes have not been
received.
The effect of the limitation is so material and pervasive that it is not possible to express
an opinion on the financial statements.
Distinctions
There are three issues which distinguish the form of modified reports
EITHER the matter does not affect the auditor’s opinion as in case (i)) or it does affect the
opinion as in cases (ii), (iii) and (iv)
If the audit opinion is affected, then:
EITHER there is sufficient appropriate evidence on a matter for the auditor to disagree with the
amount, treatment or disclosure in the financial statements as in case (iv));
OR there is insufficient evidence due to scope limitation as in case (iii)).
EITHER the matter is “so material and pervasive’ as in cases (iii) & (iv)
OR not so material and pervasive as in case (ii)) resulting in an “except for” opinion
Other assignments
Matters to consider before accepting any Non-audit assignment
Content of report
Level of assurance. This will usually take the form of negative assurance as the work will
be less detailed compared to statutory audit. This type of work only relies on analytical
procedure and enquiry in gathering evidences
Deadlines
Limitation of liability. Liability to third party should be discussed
Distribution of report. The use of the report will normally be restricted to the intended
users
Types of evidence to be sought for
Engagement letter
Fess to be charged
Review Engagement
A review engagement is a professional engagement in which the auditor performs procedures
designed to enable the auditor to obtain the moderate level of assurance required to provide a
negative assurance report. Review engagement is an alternative to audit for companies not
required to carry out statutory audit.
In a negative assurance report the auditor states whether anything has come to the auditor’s
attention that causes the auditor to believe that the assertions do not present a true and fair
view, or otherwise comply with the criteria laid down for the engagement.
In review engagement, the auditor primarily uses enquiry and analytical review procedures to
gather evidence. Audit procedures in review engagement do not include inspection,
confirmation or observation procedures as in audit engagement, however, the evidence
gathered must be sufficient to enable the auditor to provide a moderate level of assurance.
Agreed-Upon Procedures
An agreed-upon procedures engagement is one in which a practitioner is engaged by a client to
issue a report of findings based on specific procedures performed on subject matter. The client
engages the practitioner to assist specified parties in evaluating subject matter or an assertion
as a result of a need or needs of the specified parties.
In an agreed-upon procedure engagement, the auditor does not express an opinion or negative
assurance. Instead, the auditor issues a report that details the specific procedures performed
and the results of such procedures. Users of the report assess for themselves the procedures
and findings reported by the auditor and draw their own conclusions from the auditor’s work.
The report is restricted to those parties that have agreed to the procedures to be performed
since others, unaware of the reasons for the procedures, may misinterpret the results.
Examples of situations in which agreed-upon procedures may be used include:
results of the company over a relevant time period and report on this in terms of relevancy for
the proposed transaction.
Due diligence review would typically involve a review of the following areas:
historical financial results;
current financial position
forecast financial results
working capital requirements
employee entitlements provisions
valuation implications
risks and opportunities
Taxation implications.
Forecast
ISAE 3400 defines a ‘forecast’ as prospective financial information prepared on the basis of
assumptions as to future events which management expects to take place and the actions
management expects to take as of the date the information is prepared (best –estimate
assumptions).
Projection
Projection is defined as prospective financial information prepared on the basis of:
(a) hypothetical assumptions about future events and management actions which are not
necessarily expected to take place, such as when some entities are in a start –up phase or are
considering a major change in the nature of operations, or
(b) A mixture of best-estimate and hypothetical assumptions.
In effect a forecast is an informed opinion on what will happen and a projection is an opinion on
what might happen in certain circumstances. Often a one-year forecast is given together with a
five year projection.
Prospective financial information can include financial statements or one or more elements of
financial statements and may be prepared:
Auditor’s Responsibilities
In an engagement to examine prospective financial information, the auditor should obtain
sufficient appropriate evidence as to whether:
Assess inherent and control risk as well as limit his or her detection risk.
Consider the sufficiency of external sources and internal sources of information
supporting the underlying assumptions.
Assess the consistency of the assumptions and the sources from which they are
predicated.
Assess the consistency of the assumptions themselves.
Assess the reliability and consistency of the historical financial information used.
Evaluate the preparation and presentation of the prospective financial statements to
ensure conformity with relevant standards
Obtain a client representation letter to confirm that the responsible party acknowledges
its responsibility for the presentation of the prospective financial statements and the
underlying assumptions.
The nature of the assumptions, that is, whether they are best –estimate or hypothetical
assumptions
The period covered by the information
The intended use of the PFI
Whether the information will be for general or limited distribution. “General use” means
that the statements will be used by persons not negotiating directly with the responsible
party. “Limited use” refers to situations where the statements are to be used by the
responsible party alone or by the responsible party and those parties negotiating directly
with the responsible party.
Competence and experience of the preparer
Level of assurance to be provided
Make enquiry of the preparer of the forecast and verify that they are competent
Perform analytical procedures on historical information to confirm reasonableness of the
forecast
Obtain direct confirmation from major trading partners of the client that they will continue
to deal with the client
Agree salary payment to payroll
Discuss sources of cash inflow in the forecast and evaluate the validity of the reasons
obtained
Obtain a written confirmation from loan provider if any
Obtain and review the financial statement of loan provider to assess whether it has
sufficient fund available
Should there be any claimed subsidy, inspect the application made for the subsidy to
confirm the amount of the subsidy
In addition to the above, inspect correspondence with the subsidy awarding body to
assess the likelihood of getting the subsidy
Cast the cash flow forecast
Agree the opening cash position to cash book and bank statement
Review the forecast and assess if the assumptions used reflects business reality.
Obtain written representation from management confirming that the assumptions in the
forecast are achievable.
Assess the sufficiency of the loan requested to cover the intended expenditure.
Discuss any other source of finance being considered by management and assess the
likelihood.
Forensic Auditing
Forensic Accounting
This refers to use of accounting, auditing and investigative skills to conduct an examination into
company’s financial affairs. Forensic accounting refers to the whole process of investigating a
financial matter, including potentially acting as an expert witness if the fraud comes to trial.
Forensic Accounting provides an accounting analysis that is suitable to the court which will form
the basis for discussion, debate and ultimately dispute resolution.
Forensic Accounting includes:
Reconstructing records accidentally or intentionally destroyed
Vouching and tracing transactions and validation of supporting documentation
Analyzing financial results
Determining the completeness and accuracy of financial reports
Forensic Audit
Forensic auditing refers to the specific procedures carried out in order to produce evidence.
Audit techniques are used to identify and to gather evidence to prove
Forensic Investigation
The utilization of specialized investigative skills in carrying out an inquiry conducted in such a
manner that the outcome will have application to a court of law.
Advocacy threats. The audit firm may be promoting interest of the client in court as they
are concerned about losing their audit fees
Self-review. The self-review threat arises because the investigation is likely to
involve the estimation of an amount. If the amount as quantified by the auditor is
material to the financial statement, the auditor will be auditing his own work
competence of the investigation team could severely undermine the credibility of the evidence
presented at court.
Confidentiality
Normally accountants should not disclose information without the explicit consent of their client.
However, during legal proceedings arising from a fraud investigation, the court will require the
investigator to reveal information discovered during the investigation. There is an overriding
requirement for the investigator to disclose all of the information deemed necessary by the
court.
Outside of the court, the investigator must ensure faultless confidentiality, especially because
much of the information they have access to will be highly sensitive.
Professional behaviour
Fraud investigations can become a matter of public interest, and much media attention is often
focused on the work of the forensic investigator. A highly professional attitude must be
displayed at all times, in order to avoid damage to the reputation of the firm, and of the
profession. Any lapse in professional behaviour could also undermine the integrity of the
forensic evidence, and of the credibility of the investigator, especially when acting in the
capacity of expert witness.
During legal proceedings, the forensic investigator may be involved in discussions with both
sides in the court case, and here it is essential that a courteous and considerate attitude is
presented to all parties.
Question FLASHMARK
Flashmark is an audit client of your firm and manufactures household furniture. It has a year end
of 30 June.
On 13 November 2008, a fire destroyed the company’s factory complex, which included the
area used for storing raw materials. The fire was caused by an electrical fault. The factory has
now been rebuilt and the company recommenced trading in May 2009.
The finance director of Flashmark produces monthly management accounts; in these, inventory
and cost of sales are estimated, based on sales figures less assumed margins. At 30
September and 31 March, the company conducts full physical inventory counts for its own
purposes in addition to its year-end count. The results of these counts are compared with the
management accounts for September and March and adjustments are made to reflect the
physical quantities and their appropriate values.
The finance director has contacted your firm to provide a certificate in support of his claim for
losses of profits and loss of inventories arising as a result of the fire.
Required:
(a) Identify and comment on the issues raised as they affect the extent and scope of this
assignment. (8 marks)
(b) State the information you would seek and the procedures you would perform in order to
reach an opinion on the company’s claim for losses of profits and loss of inventory.
(7 marks)
(c) Outline the form and content of your report accompanying the claim. (5 marks)
Answers
(a) Issues raised
Prospective financial information
The financial information on which a certificate is required is for a period (not yet expired) in
respect of which the annual audit has yet to be undertaken. The losses of profits will essentially
be forecasts of the finance director’s best expectation of the most likely results of 6 months
trading after the fire.
Assumptions
The finance director will have had to make assumptions which reflect his judgment as to the
conditions prevailing during the period of non-trading activity. Some assumptions will be highly
subjective.
Scope
The investigation will encompass the raw material inventory valuation, loss of profits calculation
and statement of assumptions.
Management’s responsibilities
Management’s responsibility for the assumptions and other matters of judgement and opinion
should be confirmed in a letter of engagement.
Report required
Although the finance director has requested a “certificate”, it will not be appropriate for his
claims to be “guaranteed” in any way. The form and content of the report(s) required must be
established before the assignment can be accepted. It would be equally inappropriate for
opinions in “true and fair” terms to be required.
Timescale
As for all professional work, the assignment should be carried out with a proper regard for the
technical and professional standards expected. It is unlikely that the level of skill and care
necessary for forming opinions in these areas can be exercised within a restricted timescale.
Access to information
There should be unrestricted access to all information and explanations necessary to form an
opinion on the company’s claims. It may be necessary to discuss sensitive issues, for example,
relating to the cause of the fire and any police investigation.
Prior year audit
Some relevant information is probably included in the prior year audit working paper file as the
fire is likely to have occurred before the auditor’s report was signed (or even before the field
work was completed). Some verification work may have already been undertaken, for example,
for disclosure of the financial effect of this non-adjusting event after the reporting period.
Current year audit
It may be expeditious to perform certain audit work while undertaking this assignment (e.g. to
avoid having to repeat or extend tests at a later date). In particular, the insurance claim is likely
to constitute a receivable balance at 30 June 2009.
Engagement letter
All relevant matters concerning responsibilities, scope of work and reporting requirements
should be set out in a letter of engagement which the finance director should acknowledge in
writing before work on the assignment commences.
(b) Information
Insurance cover, terms and conditions including sums insured and deductibles.
Specifically:
whether raw material inventory is insured for replacement cost or a written down
value;
how gross profit is defined (e.g. the amount by which turnover and closing
inventory exceed opening inventory and specified operational expenses)
Latest amounts declared for consequential loss cover (e.g. based on last year’s audited
financial statements).
Results of 30 September 2008 (and earlier) inventory counts. The quality as well as the
quantity of slow-moving items should have been noted (at least for last year- end).
Monthly profits for the 6 months of disruption, the previous 6 months and the
corresponding amounts for the previous year.
Industry statistics, for example, % increase/decrease of monthly trading compared with
prior year.
Procedures
Inspect the insurance policy and obtain details of any claims already submitted, for
example, in respect of damage to buildings (which could include cleaning costs which
might otherwise be claimed as consequential loss).
Compare inventory quantities claimed to have been lost against September inventory
count quantities. Substantiate significant increases, for example, to purchase invoices
dated in the period 1 October to mid-November.
Compare management’s assumptions and policies with those normally adopted for the
preparation of management accounts and annual financial statements and investigate
any inconsistency
Agree the client’s valuation of all significant raw material inventories to historic or current
purchase invoice data (as appropriate).
Agree the basis of the client’s loss of profits calculation to that specified in the insurance
policy.
Agree the make-up of costs deducted from lost sales and ensure they are allowable
under the terms of the insurance policy.
Purpose of report and for whom it is prepared (e.g. to the directors of Flashmark).
The financial information investigated, i.e. the valuation of lost inventory and loss of
profits.
The date of the event (13 November) and the nature of the disruption, i.e. fire followed
by periods of closure and rebuilding.
Scope of investigation undertaken, for example, in accordance with the terms of the
letter of engagement and ISA 920 Engagements to Perform Agreed-Upon Procedures
Regarding Financial Information.
Principal assumptions and judgements relating to the valuations concerning, for
example:
the net realisable value or replacement cost of inventory:
the basis of verifying the quality of inventory destroyed
Summary of results and findings
Opinions e.g. “assumptions not contradicted”
Qualification, for example, “except for” all necessary information and explanations
having been received from the client.
provided. The large house is in a poor state of repair, and will require considerable structural
alterations, and repairs to make it suitable for an old people’s home, and in particular new
furniture and fittings, decoration of the whole house, and specialised equipment.
Mr. Lawrence and his wife propose to work full-time in the business, which he expects to be
available for residents six months after the purchase of the house. Mr. Lawrence has already
obtained some estimates of the conversion costs, and information on the income and expected
running costs of the home.
Mr. Lawrence has received about $30,000 from his redundancy, and expects to receive about
$30,000 from the sale of his house (after repaying his mortgage). The owners of the house he
proposes to buy are asking $50,000 for it, and Mr. Lawrence expects to spend $50,000 on
conversion (i.e. building work, furnishing, decorations and equipment).
Mr. Lawrence has prepared a draft capital expenditure forecast, a profit forecast and a cashflow
forecast which he has asked you to check before he submits them to the bank, in order to obtain
finance for the old people’s home.
Required:
(a) Identify and comment on the issues you would consider before undertaking such work.
(5 marks)
(b) Describe the factors you should consider in verifying each of the three forecasts.
(15 marks)
Answers
(a) Considerations before undertaking work
Before accepting such an engagement the accountant must ensure that he has sufficient
time, skilled staff and experience to perform the work.
If he is reasonably confident of the viability and stability of the proposed business and
foresees no limitations imposed on his work by management then he can accept the
engagement.
An engagement letter should be issued to confirm the nature, responsibilities and scope
of the work. The letter should emphasise that management are responsible for the
forecasts.
In planning his work the accountant needs to obtain a good understanding of the
residential home market.
Income – The majority of income will arise from room lettings. It will be unlikely that Mr.
Lawrence will have 100% occupancy when the home becomes operational. Therefore it
will be necessary to establish that realistic estimates of income have been obtained.
There should obviously be no income in the period when the home is being renovated.
The reasonableness of the rate per room should be checked with any Health Authority
guidelines and brochures of homes of a similar type.
Staff costs – The major item of expenditure will be staff costs. The accountant should
enquire whether the ratio of residents to nursing staff is reasonable and complies with
what the Health Authority regard as desirable. The rates of pay for the staff should be
verified by reference to local newspapers, staff agencies and any other homes of a
similar type.
Rent and water rates – can be verified by reference to local authority data or from
surveyors correspondence.
Electricity and gas – this will be subjective and based upon the accountant’s experience
with similar types of business.
Food – an estimate of the cost of each day's meals per head should be obtained. This
should be reasonable in comparison with similar organisations.
Telephone – there will be an initial charge for installing the telephone and a reasonable
estimate of expenditure should be made.
Insurance – this will include public liability insurance, employer’s liability insurance and
fire insurance. Correspondence with Mr. Lawrence’s underwriter should reveal estimates
for these.
Interest – the interest charge should be based upon Mr. Lawrence’s capital requirements
at the rate applicable to overdrafts of unincorporated businesses.
Depreciation, advertising etc – verify by reference to the outlays on plant and equipment,
and advertising rates from the local press.
Verifying the capital expenditure line in the outgoings part of the forecast with the capital
expenditure forecast.
Verifying the pattern of cash inflows with the profit and loss account income section.
Verifying the payment of overheads, telephone, electricity and gas, with the profit and
loss account and establishing that the total paid in the year is broadly equivalent to the
annual charge plus or minus a year-end accrual.
Verifying that rates are prepaid on the due dates and that the cash forecast makes
provision for taxation.
Checking that the computations on the cash flow forecast are consistent with the profit
forecast
Audit procedure
Obtain a copy of the entity’s environmental policy to establish compliance target.
Assess whether the likelihood of the entity’s policy in achieving objectives.
Discuss how the policies were implemented with management.
Observe implementation of policies.