Summary Flashcards
what kind of companies have Statutory requirements for financial statement audits?
Corporations Act ■ Public interest entity ■ Proprietary companies - Large - Small if directed ■ Companies limited by guarantee if rev >$1m
what is Information Risk?
“The risk that information on which a business decision is made is inaccurate”
what causes information risk? 4
■ Remoteness of information
■ Biases/ motives of the provider
■ Voluminous data
■ Complexity of transactions
what are the The benefits of an external audit? 4
■ access to capital markets.
■ lower cost of capital
■ A deterrent to inefficiency and fraud
■ Control and operational improvements
t2 whats the difference between General Controls and Application controls?
GC Manual and computer controls affecting the overall computer information system,
AC Controls over the processing of transactions within a specific accounting application, such as invoicing, purchasing and payroll
t2 what are 4 examples of general controls?
1: Segregation of I T duties
2: Control over programs
3: Control over data
4: Other general controls
t2 what are 4 examples of application controls?
■ Data preparation i.e. renumbered source docs
■ Data entry i.e. password access
■ Transaction processing and master file update. i.e. detect errors in data
■ Document and report generation i.e. controls to ensure reasonable outputs
t2 who is responsible for preparing financial statements? what are Financial Statements based on?
managers
judgement- factors determining impairment
estimations - i.e. useful life
choice - i.e. depreciation
t3 define auditing
A systematic process of objectively obtaining and evaluating evidence
regarding assertions about economic actions and events
to ascertain the degree of correspondence between those assertions and established criteria
and communicating the results to interested users.”
t3 Assertions fall into two categories what are they?
transactions and events
account balances
t3 what is underlying accounting data? what are examples of corroborating info?
- journal entiers, general and subsidiary ledgers, working papers and spreadsheets
- invoices, sales orders, shipping notes, POs, receiving report
t3 what are the 2 directions of testing? what assertion do they test?
tracing
source doc to journal entry
completeness
vouching
journal entry to source doc
occurrence
t3 shipping note to sales journal?
what is the direction of testing? what assertion if being tested?
tracing
completeness
t3 inventory records to physical inventory?
what is the direction of testing? what assertion if being tested?
vouching
existence
t3 physical inventory to inventory records?
what is the direction of testing? what assertion if being tested?
tracing
completeness
t3 sales journal to shipping note?
what is the direction of testing? what assertion if being tested?
vouching
occurrence
t3 audit evidence must be relevant and reliable, what makes evidence revealed?
Direction of testing - vouching vs tracing
Timeliness - how close evidence is to balance date
Appropriateness of procedure
t3 what are the four key steps to Performing Analytical Procedures?
- develop expectation about account
- determine level of difference that will be acceptable
- compare balance amount/ratio analysis to expectation
- investigate significant differences
t3 what can an auditor base their expectations on for analytical testing purposes?
- prior period results
- budget amounts
- relationships between financial items for the period
- compare to other firms/industry averages
- relationship between financial and non-financial data
t4 what are the two categories of testing?
- test of controls - effectiveness of controls in detecting, preventing and correcting material misstatements
- substantive testing -misstatements at assertion level
t4 what does the auditor do when testing controls? 4
- Applying a procedure to test a specific internal control that the client has put in place to meet an objective (assertion).
- identify the evidence source, and the attribute of interest
- determine the criterion for success (Tolerable Deviation Rate).
- determine sample size
t4 Select a sample of purchase orders and inspect for evidence of authorisation?
what assertions is being tested? what is the evidence source? what is the item of interest?
occurence
PO
managers signature
t4 what does the auditor do when carrying out substantive tests? 4
- Apply a procedure to test an assertion about a particular item in the financial statements.
- identify the evidence (information) source
- criteria for success (requirements of the accounting standards and materiality level).
- determine the method of evidence collection, and (where sampling is used) the sample size.
t4 what are two types of substantive tests?
- test of details i.e. account balance, class of transactions or disclosure.
- Substantive Analytical Procedures- relationships between accounting data and related information to
determine the reasonableness of relationships, and to identify unusual fluctuations.
t4 a substantive test of details, has which three sub categories?
- Tests of of Balances
- Tests of Transactions-validity of transaction classes.
- Test of Disclosures -required disclosures are made and that the overall presentation of the financial statements is satisfactory.
t4 sample of entries in the Sales Journal to the Shipping Order
what type of test is this? what is the direction of testing?what assertions is being tested? what is the evidence source?
- substantive Test of Transactions
- Vouching
- Occurrence
- sales journal, shipping note
t4 Compare the closing balance of Accounts Payable with those of previous years.
what type of test is this? what assertions is being tested? what is the evidence source?
- substantive analytical procedure
- completeness
- AP account
t4 Write to sample of the client’s debtors and ask them to confirm the balance owed to client.
what type of test is this? what assertions is being tested? what is the evidence source?
- substantive test of balances
- existence and rights and obligations
- third party confirmations and AR account
t4 what is an example of a Dual Purpose Test?
checking an invoice for
- signature - TOC
- check that account number is correct for the customs Substantive Test Of Transaction
t4 which test provides Indirect and Direct Evidence?
indirect evidence of misstatement - tests of control
direct evidence of misstatement - substantive tests
t4 whats the formula for the audit risk model?
AR = IR x CR x DR
t4 what principle is applied with the audit risk model?
the greater the risk of material misstatement the greater the amount of appropriate evidence needed
t4 if an auditors wants to be more certain about an audit opinion, what will happen to the level of audit risk? what does this imply for evidence and work load
the acceptable Audit risk level will be reduced - implying more appropriate evidence will be needed, therefore the auditor must do more work
t4 by setting the audit risk to a particular level what can the auditor do?
auditors seek a balance between the costs of an incorrect audit opinion and the costs of performing the additional work necessary to reduce audit risk.
t4 what are the 3 main causes of audit risk?
- nature and environment of entity
- effectiveness of controls
- effectiveness of audit procedures
t4 Inventory obsolete valuation is problematic.
what account is impacted and what is the potential misstatement?
- inventory
- inventory overstated
t4 Unusual pressures on management. Sales recognised before they are completed.
what account is impacted and what is the potential misstatement?
sales
sales overstated
t4 Complexity of transaction: Debt instrument
what account is impacted and what is the potential misstatement?
loans Loans (and equity) wrongly classified
t4 sales transactions not subject to ordinary processing
what account is impacted and what is the potential misstatement?
sales
Sales overstated or understated
t4 Judgement required for account balance of depreciation
what account is impacted and what is the potential misstatement?
dep expenditure
dep over/ understated
t4 Rapid change in technology
what account is impacted and what is the potential misstatement?
PP&E
Depreciation/ Carrying amount (useful economic life)
t4 what causes CONTROL RISK? which areas does it nee to be considered? 3
nature of entity’s internal controls
consider control risk in relation to each transaction cycle, account and assertion.
t4 what are the 3 main causes of control risk?
- Poor control environment
- Problems with information system
- Ineffective control activities
t4 which two risks in the audit risk model can the auditor not control?
AR = IR x CR x DR
IR
CR
t4 what is detection risk? what causes DR?
risk that the auditor will not detect a misstatement exists in an assertion that could be material, either individually or when aggregated with other misstatements
Detection risk arises because of the (in)effectiveness of the audit work
t4 what are the 3 main causes of detection risk?
- problems with planning
- Problems with collection of evidence
- Problems with interpreting results of testing
t4 how can an auditor reduce DR?
■ Appropriate planning, direction, supervision and review.
■ Decisions about the nature, timing and extent of audit procedures
■ The effective performance of the procedures and the evaluation of results
t4 how can the audit risk model be rearranged to plan for DR?
DR = AR / (IR x CR)
t4 what are the 3 steps in Applying the Audit Risk Model?
[1] Set a planned level of audit risk
[2] Assess inherent risk and control risk
[3] Determine appropriate level of detection risk.
t4 if both IR and CR are high, what impact will this have on DR? if they are low?
low level of detection risk
high level of detection risk
t4 how does the audit strategy change if control risk is low vs high?
low CR: high TOCs, reduced substantive testing
high CR: low TOCs high level of substantive testing
t4 what are two conents of the Working Papers?
permanent file
current file
t4 what is usually included in the permanent File?
overall details of the company
■ Copy of constitution
■ Chart of accounts
■ Ongoing contracts, e.g. loan agreements
■ Analysis of accounts of ongoing importance
■ Results of previous analytical procedures
■ Copies of significant correspondence
■ Extracts from minutes of meetings
t4 what is usually included in the current File?
details specific to the current audit?
■ Evidence of planning, including audit strategy
■ Details of the reviews undertaken by the
auditor of internal controls
■ The audit program
■ Results of audit tests
■ Other evidence relied on by the auditor
■ Working trial balance and related schedules
■ Draft financial statements
t4 what are 3 types of auditor experts? (areas)
■ Industry specialists
■ Functional specialists
■ Technical specialists
t4 what are the 3 levels of materiality?
■ Materiality for the financial statement as a whole.
■ A materiality level for specific classes of transactions, balances or disclosures.
■ Performance materiality.
t4 what does the Materiality for the financial statement as a whole imply? what is this specific to?
Maximum amount by which the financial statements could be misstated without affecting the decisions of users.
Entity/ Engagement specific.
t4 when assessing materiality of the whole statement it is important to set appropriate base, list types of bases and relative advantage 4
the appropriate base
- Net profit - relevance
- total revenue - stability
- total assets - predicability/stability
- equity - stability