Chapter 6 Textbook Questions
Strong internal controls ensure that assets and records are properly safeguarded. Management also needs a control system that generates reliable information for decision making. If the information system does not generate reliable information, management may be unable to make informed decisions about issues such as product pricing, cost of production, and profit information. The auditor uses the understanding of the entities internal control to identify the types of potential misstatements, ascertain factors that affect the risk of material misstatement, and design tests of controls and substantive procedures. The auditors understanding of internal control is a major factor in determining the overall audit strategy.
6-1) What are management's incentives for establishing and maintaining strong internal control? What are the auditor's main concerns with internal control?
Factors to consider when substantive procedures are to be completed at an interim date: o The control environment and other relevant controls o The availability of information at a later date that is necessary for the auditor's procedures o The objective of the substantive procedure o The assessed risk of material misstatement o The nature of the class of transactions or account balance and relevant assertions o The ability of the auditor to reduce the risk that misstatements existing at the periods end are not detected by performing appropriate substantive procedures or substantive procedures combined with tests of controls to cover the remaining period Substantive procedures conducted in the remaining period include comparing the year-end account balance with the interim account balance. It might also involve conducting analytical procedures or reviewing related journals and ledgers for large or unusual transactions.
6-10) What factors should the auditor consider when substantive procedures are to be completed at an interim date? If the auditor conducts substantive procedures at an interim date, what audit procedures would normally be completed for the remaining period?
The auditor MUST communicate in writing, any discovered significant deficiencies and material weaknesses to management and those charged with governance.
6-11) What is the auditor's responsibility for communicating control deficiencies that are severe enough to be considered significant deficiencies or material weaknesses.
Benefits: o Consistent application of predefined business rules and performance of complex calculations in processing large volumes of transactions or data o Enhancement of the timeliness, availability, and accuracy of information o Facilitation of additional analysis of information o Enhancement of the ability to monitor the performance of the entity activities and its policies and procedures o Reduction in the risk that controls will be circumvented o Enhancement of the ability to achieve effective segregation of duties by implementing security controls in applications, databases, and operating systems Risks: o Reliance on systems or programs that inaccurately process data, process inaccurate data, or both o Unauthorized access to data that may result in destruction of data or improper changes to data, including the recording of unauthorized or nonexistent transactions or inaccurate recording of transactions o Unauthorized changes to data in master files o Unauthorized changes to systems or programs o Failure to make necessary changes to systems or programs o Inappropriate manual intervention o Potential loss of data
6-2) What are the potential benefits and risks to an entity's internal control from information technology?
Components of Internal Control: o The control environment: sets the tone of an organization, influencing the control consciousness of its people. It is the foundation for effective internal control, providing discipline and structure. The control environment includes the attitudes, awareness, policies, and actions of management and the board of directors concerning the entity's internal control and its importance in the entity. o The entity's risk assessment process: How management identifies risks relevant to the preparation of financial statements that are fairly presented in conformity with GAAP, estimates their significance, assesses the likelihood of their occurrence, and decides upon actions to manage them. o The information system and related business processes relevant to financial reporting and communication: includes the accounting system, consists of the procedures, whether automated or manual, and records established to initiate, record, process, and report entity transactions and to maintain accountability for the related assets, liabilities, and equity. Communication involves providing an understanding of individual roles and responsibilities pertaining to internal control over financial reporting. o Control activities: policies and procedures that help ensure that management directives are carried out, for example, that necessary actions are taken to address risks to achievement of the entity's objectives. Control activities, whether automated or manual, have various objectives and are applied at various organizational and functional levels. o Monitoring of controls: A process to assess the quality of internal control performance over time. It involves assessing the design and operation of controls on a timely basis and taking necessary corrective actions.
6-3) Describe the five components of internal control.
Factors affecting the control environment: o Communication and enforcement of integrity and ethical values o A commitment to competence o Participation of those charged with governance o Management's philosophy and operating style o Organizational structure o Assignment of authority and responsibility o Human resource policies and practices
6-4) What are the factors that affect the control environment?
Substantive strategy- the auditor has decided not to rely on the entity's controls and instead use substantive procedures as the main source of evidence about the assertions in the financial statements. Reliance Strategy- the auditor intends to rely on the entity's controls. If a reliance strategy is followed, the auditor may need a more detailed understanding of internal control to develop a preliminary or "planned" assessment of control risk.
6-5) What are the major differences between a substantive strategy and a reliance strategy when the auditor considers when the auditor considers internal control in planning an audit?
The auditor should obtain an understanding of each of the five components of internal control in order to plan the audit. This understanding includes knowledge about the design of relevant controls and whether they have been placed in operation by the entity. The auditor uses this knowledge to: o Identify the types of potential misstatement o Pinpoint the factors that affect the risk of material misstatement o Design tests of controls and substantive procedures
6-6) Why must the auditor obtain an understanding of internal control?
Reasonable assurance recognizes that the cost of an entity's internal control system should not exceed the benefits that are expected to be derived. The effectiveness of any internal control system is subject to certain inherent limitations: o Management override of internal control o Personnel errors or mistakes o Collusion
6-7) What is meant by the concept of reasonable assurance in terms of internal control? What are the inherent limitations of internal control?
Tools that can document the understanding of internal control: o The entity's procedures manuals and organizational charts o Narrative description o Internal control questionnaires o Flowcharts
6-8) List the tools that can document the understanding of internal control.
The auditor's assessment of the level of control risk can be documented using: o Structured working paper o Internal control questionnaire o A memorandum
6-9) What are the requirements under auditing standards for documenting the assessed level of control risk?
(a) Internal control is the process designed by the entity's board of directors, management, and other entity personnel to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of the reliability of financial reporting, the effectiveness and efficiency of operations, and compliance with regulations and laws. (b) The auditor must obtain an understanding of the entity's internal control in order to plan the audit and it helps give knowledge about the design of the controls and whether those controls were placed by the entity itself. The auditor uses this knowledge to identify potential misstatements, find the factors that affect the risk of material misstatements, and help design the tests of controls and substantive procedures of the audit process. (c) The auditor is required by the auditing standards to document his or her understanding of the internal control components obtained to plan the audit. Tool available to the auditor to document his or her understanding of internal controls include: procedure manuals of the entity, organizational charts, questionnaires on internal controls, flowcharts, and a narrative description. The auditor is also required to document the assessed level of control risk of the entity.
Question 6-25
A. Internal controls absent with Koss Corporation's internal control system (1) Supervision (2) Segregation of Duties (3) Bank account reconciliations (4) Outdated computerized accounting system; also lack of control on reporting transactions This corporation is severely lacks in all five components of internal control. The corporation doesn't have a sense of leadership or supervision over the activities that occur in the business (lack of control environment and monitoring controls), doesn't identify, analyze, or manage risks relevant to the financials (lack of risk assessment), isn't correctly reporting transactions, and not separation of duties (lack of control activities and lack of information and communication systems). B. The internal controls that should have been implemented or applied to ensure proper controls over the company's recorded transactions is control activities and information and communication systems. Control activities take actions to address risks. These activities include: variance analysis (budget actual results), information processing (accurate, authorized, and complete), physical control over assets and records, and separation of duties. Information and Communication systems are established to record, process, summarize, and report transactions to maintain the accountability of the entity's assets and liabilities. An effective system identify/records all valid transactions, measure value properly, record items in correct periods, properly present and disclose, and communicate responsibilities with employees.
Question 6-32