ACCG340 AUDITING AND ASSURANCE SERVICES
SESSION 2, 2013
Group Registration Form
TUTORIAL DETAILS
TUTORIAL DAY & TIME
TUTORIAL LOCATION
TUTOR’S NAME
GROUP MEMBER DETAILS
STUDENT ID LAST NAME FIRST NAME(S) EMAIL CONTACT
NUMBER(S)
1
2
3
4
5
ACCG340 Auditing and Assurance Services Session 2, 2013
Case Study Assignment 1
Case Study Assignment (20% of the total assessment)
This assignment consists of two (2) separate components, a group based component and an individual component.
The first component (group case study assignment) is based on Harvey Norman Holdings
Limited and its controlled entities (ASX code HVN) and consists of a written report to be completed in groups. Groups of four (4) students are to be formed within your tutorial groups. Only one submission per group is to be made by the due date and time i.e. you should nominate one member to submit.
The objective of the group case study component is to develop your communications skills and to test your ability to integrate skills learnt in this unit of study, i.e. to analyse a real company from the auditor’s perspective. The successful completion of this case study requires extensive research on HVN’s internal and external environments, operations, strategies and an analysis of the 2012 annual report (the 2013 annual report is not expected to be available until late September 2013 and as such students are not expected to use it for their assignment). You are expected to demonstrate ability to synthesise relevant background financial and non-financial information and apply analytical skills to this information to critically evaluate potential significant audit risks in relation to
HVN.
The second component is an individual reflection report. Each student must make an independent (individual) submission electronically by the due date and time. The objective of the individual reflection component is to develop your capacity for reflective practice in instilling an orientation to lifelong learning, and to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and skills from the course into the professional workplace.
ACCG340 Auditing and Assurance Services Session 2, 2013
Case Study Assignment 2
Part 1 (Group written submission – 30 marks worth 15% of the total assessment)
For the purposes of the group case study assignment, assume that you are a member of the team responsible for the HVN audit engagement. You have been assigned to gather relevant background information and prepare a report for distribution to the full HVN audit team, which highlights key planning issues.
1. From the background information you have gathered in relation to HVN, identify and explain eight (8) significant business risk factors that the auditor needs to consider for the HVN engagement. [Max 3 pages] (4 marks)
2. Provide a list of four (4) specific laws/regulations from different categories (other than general corporate law, accounting standards, taxation, and ASX listing requirements) that would be applicable to HVN. [Max 1 Page] (2 marks)
3. Identify one (1) account you consider to be susceptible to misappropriation and one (1) account susceptible to fraudulent financial reporting within HVN and explain why. [Max 1 Page] (3 marks)
4. Assess the potential level of the reliance that could be placed on the overall control environment of HVN. Justify your decision with specific reference to HVN’s corporate governance statement and any other relevant source/s.
[Max 1 Page] (3 marks)
5. Briefly justify a planning materiality base and percentage (%) that could be applied to HVN. Calculate the $ planning materiality level using the base and percentage determined above. [Max 1 page] (4 marks)
6. From your business risk analysis identify two (2) accounts to be at significant risk. For each of the accounts you identify:
a) Outline why the account is at significant risk (1 mark) and
b) Provide the key assertion at risk (0.5 mark) and
c) Provide one (1) relevant substantive audit procedure to address the assertion at risk identified in b) above (1 mark).
[Max 1 page] (5 marks)
7. Harvey Norman is a major property owner (see Property Plant & Equipment and
Investment Properties on the balance sheet) and earns a large part of its revenue from rent and franchise fees. Describe how you would plan your audit to ensure that Harvey Norman’s balance sheet and income statement property related accounts are fairly stated. [Max 2 pages] (5 marks)
8. Your assignment should be presented in a format as if it were to be presented to the full audit team, to impart your key messages. It should be succinct, and use of tables is encouraged. The report should also be coherent and so consistency is expected throughout (e.g., formatting, language style, and linkages between the questions). Note that groups who split up the tasks and work independently are likely to have more difficulty accomplishing this objective compared to groups who work on each of the parts collaboratively. A merely typed assignment will not earn any marks for this requirement. (4 marks)
ACCG340 Auditing and Assurance Services Session 2, 2013
Case Study Assignment 3
Please note the following:
Length - Maximum 10 pages. The page limit excludes bibliography and appendices
(note that appendices, where attached, will not be marked). Font size must be a minimum of 12 with one and a half line spacing using Arial font with a minimum of 2.5cm margins on all sides.
Due Date - The assignment is due by 5pm Monday 14 October 2013. Submissions must be made electronically via the iLearn online system. Only one submission per group should be made for Part 1 of the assignment. The mark allocated for the written report will be a common mark for all group members. Assignments not received at this time will result in a penalty of 25% of the total awarded marks per 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission is late. Assignments will not be accepted later than 96 hours after the due date and time.
Penalties – In addition to the penalty applied for late submissions outlined above, please note that the following penalties for this assignment:
 Incorrect submissions (e.g. submitting the wrong file/old version/assignment for a different unit, etc.) will be awarded a mark of zero (0). It is your responsibility to ensure that you submit the correct file. You may resubmit until the due date and time. Any submission on the due date and time will be taken to be final. No further resubmission will be allowed.
 Failure to complete the assignment in a group will result in a deduction of 25% of the total available marks made from the total awarded mark for the group component of the case study assignment. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are in a group early in the semester. No complaints in relation to nonperforming/ absent group members will be considered on or after the due date and time. All such complaints should be directed to your tutor in the first instance, and subsequently to the Unit Convenor if these remain unresolved. These must be brought to our attention early in the semester.
ACCG340 Auditing and Assurance Services Session 2, 2013
Case Study Assignment 4
Part 2 (Individual Reflection Report – 5 marks worth 5% of the total assessment)
Each student will be expected to submit an individual report reflecting on the conduct and completion of the group case study assignment and their individual learning. The individual reflection report is to be submitted electronically on iLearn by 5pm on Monday
14 October 2013. The reflection report should not exceed 700 words (excluding references, if applicable).
The individual reflection report will be assessed based on the depth of reasoned reflection as well as the structure and organisation of the report. A grading rubric for the individual reflection report will be made available as a separate document on iLearn.
Some tips on what you may (and should not) include in your reflection report:
 Introduction – Briefly explain your role in the group case study assignment reflecting on why you assumed this role for this assignment and whether it worked well.
 Thoughts on the performance of the group case study assignment – how did the group function e.g. did you work together or did you work independently in completing the group case study assignment? Why, and how did this work for you? Reflect on the group dynamics and relationships that helped/hindered your experience, and what you learned from your group members (or other sources as applicable) and on how you will apply your learning from this assignment to improve your experience in future group situations.  Comments and recommendations – reflect and comment on how you feel things went, considering things you liked/did not like, whether in terms of the design of the assignment or the functioning of your group. Why do you feel this way? Could there be different perspectives of looking at this? If applicable, how would you improve the assignment, or how would you change yourself/the way you think or the way you/the way you function in a group in future?
 Overall reflections – Reflect on the most useful thing you learned through this assignment and how you learned it. Most importantly, reflect on what you have learned about yourself.
 Do NOT – merely describe the content knowledge you have developed through this assignment (this should be evident in your group component submission), summarise how you went about developing your response for your part, describe in detail the meetings you had as a group without reflection.