Chapter 4 Flashcards
What are the 2 reasons that companies would issue incorrect financial statements?
- Errors
2. Fraud
What are accidental errors in recording (or failing to record) transactions or in applying accounting rules?
Errors
What occurs when a person intentionally deceives another person for personal gain or to damage that person?
Fraud
What is the difference between an error and fraud?
An error is accidental while fraud is intentional
What is the use of one’s occupation for personal enrichment through the deliberate misuse or misapplication of the employer’s resources?
Occupational fraud
What are the 3 elements that are present when fraud occurs?
- Opportunity
- Motivation
- Rationalization
What can be done to help minimize fraud?
Eliminating one of the 3 elements that are present when fraud occurs
Of the three fraud elements, which one do companies have the greatest ability to eliminate?
Opportunity
What is a formal procedure that attempts to eliminate the opportunity element of fraud?
Internal controls
What represents plans to safeguard the company’s assets and improve the accuracy and reliability of accounting information?
Internal control
Who are entrusted with the resources of both the company’s lenders and owners?
Managers
Who acts as stewards or caretakers of the company’s assets?
Managers
What are two of the highest-profile cases of accounting fraud in U.S. history?
The collapse of Enron and WorldCom
Who used questionable accounting practices to avoid reporting billions in debt and losses in its financial statements?
Enron
Who misclassified certain expenditures to overstate assets and profitability?
WorldCom
True or False:
The auditor can’t have any type of relationship with the company
True
What act established a variety of guidelines related to auditor-client relations and internal control procedures?
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act
Who has the authority to establish standards dealing with auditing, quality control, ethics, independence, and other activities relating to the preparation of audited financial reports?
The Oversight board
Which of the following statements is NOT true of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOA) of 2002?
a. All companies in the U.S. fall under its provisions.
b. It helped establish guidelines for internal control procedures.
c. It helped establish corporate executive accountability.
d. It helped establish guidelines for auditor-client relations.
a. All companies in the U.S. fall under its provisions.
Which companies does the SOA apply to?
Companies who are required to file financial statements with the SEC
What are the policies and procedures that help ensure that management’s directives are being carried out?
Control activities
What identifies and analyzes internal and external risk factors that could prevent a company’s objectives from being achieved?
Risk assessment
What sets the overall ethical tone of the company with respect to internal control?
The control environment
What is required of internal activities and reporting of deficiencies?
Continual monitoring
List the 3 ways to detect fraud
- Auditors
- Reconciliations
- Performance Reviews
Who signs a report each year certifying adequacy of internal controls?
CEOs and CFOs
Who provides an opinion on management’s assessment of internal control over financial reporting?
Auditors
Can Auditors test all accounts?
No
Why can’t Auditors test all accounts?
It’s too timely and costly
Activities such as authorizing transactions, recording transactions, and maintaining control of the related assets should be separated among employees is an example of what preventative control?
Separation of Power
Assets and accounting records must be kept safe and accessible only to authorized personnel is an example of what preventative control?
Physical Control
Only personnel with authorization should be allowed to collect money, process transactions, or make purchases is an example of what preventative control?
Proper Authorization
Employees should be trained to carry out their job and must be made aware of any internal control procedures, ethical responsibilities, and channels for reporting irregular activities is an example of what preventative control?
Employee Management
Only authorized personnel should have passwords to conduct electronic business transactions; firewalls are maintained to prevent unauthorized access; and the system’s antivirus software should be regularly updated is an example of what preventative control?
E-Commerce Controls
If a company places cash receipts from the day in a safe or bank deposit box, this would be an example of:
a. Separation of duties
b. Physical control
c. Reconciliation
d. Performance review
b. Physical control
What are internal control systems easily susceptible to?
Collusion
What occurs when two or more people act together to circumvent (avoid) internal controls?
Collusion
Who are the ones who must take final responsibility for the establishment and success of internal controls?
Top executives
Everyone in the company has an impact on the operations and effectiveness of internal control, but who must take final responsibility?
a. Internal auditors
b. Top executives
c. The firm’s attorney
d. The majority shareholder
b. Top executives
Fill in the Blanks:
Anything that matures ________ or less is considered cash
3 months
Fill in the Blank:
Anything that matures 3 months or less is considered _____
Cash
Fill in the Blank:
Anything that matures ________ or less is considered _____
- 3 months
2. Cash
Which of the following would NOT be considered a cash equivalent?
a. Credit card sales for the day
b. Debit card sales for the day
c. Money orders received from customers
d. Certificate of deposit (CD) that matures one year from now
d. Certificate of deposit (CD) that matures one year from now
What are generally defined as investments that mature within three months from the date of purchase?
Cash equivalents
What is an important control used by nearly all companies to help maintain control of cash?
Bank Reconciliation
What matches the balance of cash in the bank account with the balance of cash in the company’s own records ?
The bank reconciliation
What occur when the company records transactions either before or after the bank records the same transactions?
Timing differences
What 2 things do we need to identify in order to understand why the company’s balance and the bank’s balance differ?
- Timing differences
2. Any errors
List 2 cash transactions recorded by the company, but not yet recorded by its bank
- Deposits Outstanding
2. Checks Outstanding
What are cash receipts of the company that have not been added to the bank’s record of the company’s balance?
Deposits Outstanding
What are checks the company has written that have not been subtracted from the bank’s record of the company’s balance?
Checks Outstanding
On a bank reconciliation sheet does checks outstanding go under the bank’s side or the company’s side?
The bank’s side
On a bank reconciliation sheet does deposits outstanding go under the bank’s side or the company’s side?
The bank’s side
On a bank reconciliation sheet is the deposits outstanding a positive or negative amount?
A positive amount (your depositing money)
On a bank reconciliation sheet is the checks outstanding a positive or negative amount?
A negative amount (your writing a check)
What are items that cannot be located on the bank statement?
Reconciling items
On a bank reconciliation sheet what does the bank’s cash balance begin with?
The per bank statement