ABC Ltd is a wholesaler of furniture which has been in operation for ten years. It buys furniture from five major manufacturers and sells them to a range of customers. The company currently has a customer base of over 500 customers most of which are credit customers. The receivables balance comprises customers owing up to $2,000,000 to smaller balances of about $10,000, all with many different due dates for payments and credit limits. The level of receivables is considerably higher than last year and there are concerns about the creditworthiness of some customers.
The company has only recently computerised its operations including its accounting system. Manual invoices, receipts and cheques have been replaced with computer-generated documents. The sub-ledgers are now maintained in the accounting software which have facilitated more timely generation of statements much to the delight of customers. The sales process is initiated by a Purchase Order from the customer which is used to raise a system generated Sales Invoice and Delivery Slip. A copy of the Delivery Slip is given to the Security at the gate for logging and check off to allow passage of goods through the gate; another copy of the Delivery Slip is given for the customer to sign and then returned to the Sales Dept. All information is stored on ABC Ltd’s computer systems. There is no backup of data off site. The client’s staff are helpful although they cannot confirm completeness of documentation for the system.
You are the audit senior in charge assigned for ABC Ltd’s audit and you are in the process of planning the current year’s audit. You are contemplating the changes in the client’s audit environment and the impact that these changes will have on the audit risk and the audit methodology. Your audit assistant is curious why it is necessary to plan the audit from one year to the next. Why not just copy the previous year’s workpapers?
(c) State the approach for auditing in a computerized environment which you are using to design tests for testing controls over processing of data. Explain the reason for your choice, highlighting the benefits and drawbacks. State any assumption made as to resource availability.
(d) Explain how the choice of approach in (c) above is likely to impact audit risk? Identify the audit risk component which is most likely to be affected.
3. (a) Your audit plan notes that you will be testing the system of internal controls for the ‘three Es’. Explain the ‘three Es’ and the impact these will have on the audit if positive and if negative.
(b) State the audit procedure you will be using for the following:
i) To test the control over completeness of sales
ii) To test the accuracy and existence of receivables balances
(c) List the set of management assertions for “Sales” and “Accounts Receivable” which you will be testing.