Exam 7: Understanding and Testing the Clients System of Internal Controls

When VanesLanthier reviewed the different key activitiin the marketing department of a wholesaler of jewellery, she was performing an entity level review of:

What are the most common forms of documentation used by auditors to document their understanding of internal controls?

An example of a program change control is:

The concept that no one employee should be in a position both to perpetrate and hide errors or fraud in the normal course of their dutiis known as segregation of incompatible duties.

Explain the key elements of the control environment.

Theo Lillis performs the following application control procedures: (i)) Control totals: Input totals are balanced and reconciled (ii). Reasonable checks: Actual data is compared to expected data for reasonableness (iii). Sequence tests: Sequential data is reviewed and exception reports are produced for missing numbers. Which of the above application controls do these procedurapply to?

Controls can be classified as:

Transaction-level controls are implemented by businessto reduce the risk of misstatements due to error or fraud and to ensure that processare operating effectively.

As part of her annual review Roma Lazor reviews her client's draft financial statements for proper disclosurand compliance to accounting standards. This best describwhich control objective(s)?

Checklists and preformatted questionnairare particularly helpful:

Narrativinvolve the auditor describing in words each step of the flow of transactions from start to finish.

Benchmarking is an audit strategy that can be used to carry forward the benefit of certain application controls testing into future audit periods.

In larger entities, there are often limitations surrounding the entity's ability to put effective internal controls in place.

Which of the following statements is correct?

Control risk refers to the risk that the auditor's testing procedurwill not be effective in detecting a material misstatement.

The internal control objective of 'real' refers to controls in place to ensure that fictitious or duplicate transactions are not included in the books and records of the organization.

The Committee of Sponsoring Organisations (COSO) of the Treadway Commission has produced guidance for designing and implementing effective internal controls, as well as the effective monitoring of a system of internal controls. Explain the various aspects of this guidance and critically evaluate its impact at enhancing internal controls within companies.

Bazaar buys computers, parts, and related equipment and resells them at a mark-up to a loyal base of corporate customers. Competition is growing, but the market is favourable, and Bazaar offers excellent customer service, giving it a competitive advantage. The owner is very involved in most of the important operating decisions. His capable assistant steps in when necessary. The owner plans to implement a code of ethics at some point and also wishto improve certain controls. Bazaar is a medium-sized private company that operatmultiple warehouses, each carrying a mix of inventory items. The first type of inventory, which can be quite costly, consists of specialized computer hardware, desktop computers, and laptop computers. The turnover rate for this inventory is high since new technology is always emerging. Because the company orders months in advance, Bazaar occasionally overestimatdemand. After three or four months, products are difficult to sell, but they are kept because most cannot be returned to the supplier, and Bazaar is reluctant to hold liquidation salfor fear they would negatively affect the salat regular prices. The second type of inventory, parts and peripherals, generata significant portion of Bazaar's sales. This category includitems such as monitors, printers, and toner cartridges. The third type of inventory includsoftware packagranging from sophisticated operating systems to games. This inventory can be returned to suppliers if unsold after a certain period. This year, Bazaar implemented an integrated computer system to manage the general ledger as well as inventory, purchases, and sales. Salrepresentativenter orders into the saldatabase, and can modify the information, including quantitiand selling prices. Any changare usually made to orders before shipping. Problems result if representativmake changafter shipping, since they should issue credits instead. The timing differenccreate reconciliation problems for both customers and Bazaar when settling invoices. Also, sometimcredits have been issued in error. For example, the owner described one example where a credit was issued for a price adjustment made by a salrepresentative. The supporting paperwork stated that the credit had been issued in error (which seems to happen often) and the refund cheque was cancelled. However, the details of the refund cheque could not be located. When asked, the clerk said he left the cheque copion his desk and the next morning they were gone. He gave up looking for them. Electronic purchase orders require authorization from either the owner or his assistant through the use of a personal identification number (PIN). Each user has a specific PIN. Orders greater than $5,000 require the owner's authorization. Occasionally, the owner is not available. He has given one of the accounting clerks he trusts his PIN to be used for emergency situations. Before making a payment, the accounting department matchthe invoice to the authorized purchase order and the receiving slip. Other Information The owner noted that Bazaar's costs seem higher than expected, particularly since this year he decided to pay suppliers faster in order to benefit from discounts. According to his calculation, the cost of goods sold should have decreased by around 2% over last year, since most suppliers offer discounts and did not increase prices. Instead, he noted a 3% increase in costs. The salmix has not changed significantly from previous years. Purchasincreased and were distributed across the inventory typin amounts similar to the overall salmix. To help retain the salteam, stock options were given this year for the first time as an added form of compensation. The options are available of Bazaar's net income after tax is at least $5 million per year. Customers have 30 days to pay invoices, but most take advantage of a 2% discount offered for payment within 10 days. Customers make payments in full payments and discounts are reimbursed later by system-generated cheques. Chequmay be issued with or without supporting documentation. The owner noted he just received a memo from a clerk at one of the warehouses. It says the amount of damaged inventory has been gradually increasing over the past eight months. The clerk suggests this is because the forklift is not operating properly and items are being dropped as they are loaded for shipment. He wants the forklift replaced. He asks what he should do with the damaged inventory that has been piling up in a corner of the warehouse. He suggests holding a liquidation sale to get rid of it, Required: (a) Assess and conclude on inherent risk. Be sure to discuss items that both increase and decrease risk for a balanced discussion. (b) Assess and conclude on the control risk. (c) Based on your inherent and control risk assessment, conclude on detection risk. (d) Based on the risk assessment, what type of audit strategy should be implemented? (e) Identify five control weaknessat Bazaar. For each weakness, indicate the implication and make a specific recommendation how Bazaar can fix it. (f) What is the auditor's responsibility with respect to fraud when performing a financial statement audit? Assess the fraud risk at Bazaar and indicate what should be done when planning the audit.

As part of her yearly audit plan activities, Krystyne Sliz reviews audit working papers of previous years to determine the risk that a client's system of internal controls will not prevent or detect a material misstatement. This review refers to:

Which of the following is an element of the control environment?