Reference no: EM133259498

Assignment - Accounting Question

Q1. Rick is an independent auditor. The audit committee of the board of directors of Eastern Corporation asked Rick to audit Eastern's financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2014. Rick explained the need to make an inquiry of the predecessor auditor and requested permission from the management to do so. Eastern's management agreed and authorized the predecessor auditor to respond fully to Rick inquiries.

a. Explain The information that Rick should obtain during its inquiry of the predecessor auditor before they accept the engagement? (350 - 400 words)

b. What other audit procedures should Rick perform in evaluating Eastern as a potential client?(350 - 400 words)

Q2. Read the following situations, and explain how the risk of material misstatement should be assessed and how detection risk could be affected by the assessment.

(The first one is answered for you to get the idea).

a. Kelvin is a trucking company. The company is publicly held, and growing rapidly throughout the southeast. But Richard Kelvin and his sons control 55 % of the stock. Richard is chairman of the board and CEO. He personally makes all major decisions with little consultation with the board of directors. Most of the directors, however, are either members of the Kelvin family or long-standing friends. The board confirms Richard Kelvin's decisions.

b. Wooden Corporation is one of several companies engaged in the manufacture of high-speed, high-capacity data storage devices. The industry is very competitive and subject to quick changes in technology. Wooden's operating results would place the company in the second quartile in terms of profitability and financial position. The company has never been the leader in the industry, with its products typically slightly behind the industry leaders in terms of performance. (300- 400 words)

c. The BAC Bank has been your client for the past two years. During that period, you have had numerous arguments with the president and the controller over a number of accounting issues. The major issue is related to the bank's reserve for loan losses and the value of collateral. Your prior audits have indicated that a significant adjustment is required each year to the loan loss reserves. (300 - 400 words)

Q3. Read the following situations relating to the audit of internal control over financial reporting, what would be the audit report you will choose as an auditor and why?

a. During the audit of Health Recipe Pharmaceuticals, you are surprised to find several control deficiencies in the entity's internal control. You determine that there is a reasonable possibility that any one of them could result in a significant misstatement. Although the odds are extremely low that the deficiencies, singly or taken together, will result in a material misstatement of the entity's financial statements, the large number of problems causes you concern. Management's written assessment concludes that the entity's ICFR was effective 'as of' the report date.

b. Pure Waters identified what you agree is a material weakness and made an adverse assessment in its report on ICFR. The entity had not corrected the material weakness 'as of' the end of the reporting period. (300 - 400 Words)

c. During the audit of ICFR for Sara Industries, you discover several control deficiencies. You determine that there is more than a reasonable possibility that any one of them could result in a financial statement misstatement. Although you do not believe that any of the deficiencies taken individually will result in a material misstatement, you believe there is a moderate likelihood that, taken together, the deficiencies could produce a material misstatement. Management's written assessment concludes that the entity's internal control was effective 'as of' the report date. (300 - 400 Words)

Q4. Success Company, a diversified manufacturer, has five divisions. Success has historically allowed its divisions to operate autonomously. The corporate intervention occurred only when planned results were not obtained. Corporate management has high integrity, but the board of directors is not very active. Success has a policy of hiring competent people. The company has a code of conduct, but there is little monitoring of compliance by employees. Management is fairly conservative in terms of accounting policies and practices, but employee compensation packages depend highly on performance. Success Company does not have an internal audit department, and it relies on your firm to review the controls in each division.

Bader Fahad is the general manager of the Fiberglass Division. The Fiberglass Division produces a variety of standardized parts for small appliances. Bader has been the general manager for the last seven years, and each year he has been able to improve the profitability of the division. He is compensated based largely on the division's profitability. Much of the improvement in profitability has come through aggressive cost-cutting, including a substantial reduction in control activities over inventory.

During the last year, a new competitor has entered Fiberglass's markets and has offered substantial price reductions to grab market share. Bader has responded to the competitor's actions by matching the price cuts in the hope of maintaining market share. Bader is very concerned because he cannot see any other areas where costs can be reduced so that the division's growth and profitability can be maintained. If profitability is not maintained, his salary and bonus will be reduced.

Bader has decided that one way to make the division more profitable is to manipulate inventory because it represents a large amount of the division's balance sheet. He also knows that controls over inventory are weak. He views this inventory manipulation as a short-term solution to the profit decline due to the competitor's price cutting. Bader is certain that once the competitor stops cutting prices or goes bankrupt, the misstatements in inventory can be corrected with little impact on the bottom line.

a. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of Success Company's control environment. (500 Words)

b. What factors in Success Company's control environment have led to and facilitated Bader's manipulation of inventory? (500 words)