...essential assurance engagement a CPA performs is an audit of financial statements. Audits of financial statements play a vital role in the business industry. An auditor can reasonably assure investors, lenders, management, and stakeholders that the financial statements are free from material misstatement and accurately reflect the accounting of the entity for that period of time. However, an auditor cannot provide an absolute assurance due to the inherent limitations of an audit. Generally, an audit includes the following steps: overall audit planning, assess control risk, perform tests of controls, perform substantive tests of account balances, and finally complete the audit (Kerr, Elder and Arens). In the overall audit planning stage, the CPA has to obtain an understanding of the potential client’s business and establish if the CPA Firm and its associates are independent. These two steps must be done before the CPA Firm can decide to accept the audit engagement. There are many important factors, steps, issues, knowledge, just to name a few that go into an audit but this paper will focus on the issue of independence. One of the principles listed in the AICPA Professional Code of Conduct states that an auditor in public practice must be independent in appearance and fact (AICPA Standards). As stated previously, the initial step in the audit process is to perform overall audit planning. Within this first step the Firm and its associates have to decide if they are independent...
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...Guidance for audit committees Reviewing auditor independence November 2003 The Combined Code on Corporate Governance – July 2003 C.3 Audit Committee and Auditors Main Principle: The board should establish formal and transparent arrangements for considering how they should apply the financial reporting and internal control principles and for maintaining an appropriate relationship with the company’s auditors. Code provisions C.3.1 The board should establish an audit committee of at least three, or in the case of smaller companies two, members, who should all be independent non-executive directors. The board should satisfy itself that at least one member of the audit committee has recent and relevant financial experience. C.3.2 The main role and responsibilities of the audit committee should be set out in written terms of reference and should include: • to monitor the integrity of the financial statements of the company, and any formal announcements relating to the company’s financial performance, reviewing significant financial reporting judgements contained in them; • to review the company’s internal financial controls and, unless expressly addressed by a separate board risk committee composed of independent directors, or by the board itself, to review the company’s internal control and risk management systems; • to monitor and review the effectiveness of the company’s internal audit function; • to make recommendations to the board, for it to put to the shareholders...
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...partner at Saduga & Micha accounting firm Susan Regas, 25 year old senior accountant in the same firm Giles and Regas been dating for four months They well know firm policy does not permit different ranks to date Most of the staff seem to know about their relationship Regas was assigned to audit CAA industry under Giles supervision Giles and Regas spending personal time during workday Ruth Revilo warns Regas not to jeopardize Regas future by dating Giles Gile and Regas goes to farewell dinner to put relationship aside until CAA audit ends Mark Sax, CAA controller saw Giles and Regas at dinner Mark brings up his concern to Herb Morris, the managing partner Mar questions the audit efficiency and billing Morris promises to get back to Mark after investigation 2. Ethical Issue Giles and Regas relationship lead to conflict of interest and damaging the reputation of the firm. 3.Stakeholders and Obligation CAA Management and Mark Sax. They are the stakeholders expect auditors to carryout their service with due professional care within a constrained time period. Giles and Regas here spends their personal time during workday. They also have the potential to cover up for each other if one or both of them screw up on audit because they were not focusing on their performance. Saduga & Micha and Herb Horris and all firm employee. Giles and Regas behavior represents their firm. Therefore, their action directly relates to firms credibility and reputation which...
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...integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality and professional behaviour (APES 110, 100.4). The requirement to act in the public interest means that auditors should consider how their actions impact the client and their employer. They must also consider the impact of their actions on others such as the client’s employees, investors, credit providers, and those without direct financial interests in the client such as the broader business and financial community and members of the public. All these people could be reliant on the quality of the auditor’s work, even though they are not party to the contract between the client and the audit firm. The reliability of the financial reports and the audit report is potentially damaged if the auditor does not act with integrity (honesty), objectivity (being independent), with professional competence and due care (executing the work with the required level of skill and attention), confidentiality (discussing the client’s affairs with others inappropriately), and professional behaviour (protecting their reputation and the profession’s reputation). A dishonest auditor could knowingly help publish a materially false, misleading, or reckless financial report. Auditors...
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...THE AUDIT FIRM GOVERNANCE CODE A PROJECT FOR THE FINANCIAL REPORTING COUNCIL Audit Firm Governance Working Group Chairman: Norman Murray January 2010 The ICAEW operates under a Royal Charter, working in the public interest. Its regulation of members, in particular in respect of auditors, is overseen by the Financial Reporting Council. As a world leading professional accountancy body, the ICAEW provides leadership and practical support to over 132,000 members in more than 165 countries, working with governments, regulators and industry in order to ensure that the highest standards are maintained. The ICAEW is a founding member of the Global Accounting Alliance with over 775,000 members worldwide. © ICAEW 2010 All rights reserved. Laws and regulations referred to in this document are stated as of December 2009. No responsibility for any persons acting or refraining to act as a result of any material in this document can be accepted by the ICAEW or the Audit Firm Governance Working Group. January 2010 ISBN 978-1-84152-863-2 THE AUDIT FIRM GOVERNANCE CODE A PROJECT FOR THE FINANCIAL REPORTING COUNCIL Audit Firm Governance Working Group Chairman: Norman Murray January 2010 Contents Page Introduction A B C D E F Leadership Values Independent non-executives Operations Reporting Dialogue 2 5 5 6 7 9 10 Appendix 1: Involvement of independent non-executives Appendix 2: Independence considerations Appendix 3: Working Group members and terms of reference 11...
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...for individuals to try be dishonest and thinking they are getting away with the unethical situations, but with the strict rules and regulations in place they will get caught fast. Given PCAOB oversight of accounting firms and the AICPA code of conduct, discuss whether or not you believe that public accounting firms can successfully manipulate audit work papers and records of clients engaged in fraudulent activity. The PCAOB and AICPA has done a good job on the code of conduct but it doesn’t completely stop all fraudulent activity. I believe in my opinion you are still going to have fraudulent activity going on as long this world has business transaction taking place. I do agree that public accounting firm can successfully manipulate audit work papers and records if a client is doing fraudulent activity. The question always remain when will the fraudulent activity stop. The answer is never because as long we have businesses someone go to the dark side and do dishonest things. Since the SOX and creation of PCAOB and AICPA the activity has been a small amount and not as large as Enron and World Com. Also the number of auditors getting in trouble are in small amounts of activities. Even though they might think they were successful in manipulating the work papers, they will always get caught or do the right thing turn themselves in to the proper authorities....
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...fraud cases. Both companies filed for bankruptcy and constituted the largest companies in American history to do so. The extent of the accounting irregularities and fraud being investigated and disclosed brought into question the effectiveness of financial statement audits. In addition, the criminal conviction of Arthur Andersen, LLP, one of the then Big 5 accounting firms, on charges of destroying documents related to the Enron case brought into question the ethical standards of the profession. 1–2 Assurance services are professional services that enhance the quality of information, or its context, for decision making. The two types are: (a) those that increase the reliability of information and (b) those that involve putting information in a form or context that facilitates decision making. 1–3 A financial statement audit is, by far, the most common type of attest engagement. The overall assertion, made by management, most frequently is that the financial statements follow generally accepted accounting principles. 1–4 A large corporation with securities listed on a stock exchange is required by the rules of the stock exchange and by the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission to provide an audit report with the annual financial statements furnished to its stockholders. It also is required to engage the auditors to provide an opinion on its internal control. Apart from legal requirements, however, a large listed corporation recognizes that it must maintain...
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...profits. Both the auditors and the top executives were well aware of the special purpose entities to protect the data that should have been entered on the consolidated financial statements of Enron. The auditors and the top executive should have noticed the problem with the special purpose entities and reported them. Both the auditor and the top executives were profiting from the special purpose entities not being reported on the consolidated financial statements. 2. List three types of consulting services that audit firms have provided to their audit clients in recent years. For each item, indicate the specific threats, if any, that the provision of the given service can pose for an audit firm’s independence. One service an auditing firm has offered to its clients is bookkeeping. This can certainly be a threat because the auditor will not look as closely at work he or she performed. The audit can potentially have bias. A second service an auditing firm may offer its clients is tax...
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...Audit and Assurance Services Chapter 1 1 Learning Objectives 1. What is auditing? Distinguish between auditing and accounting. Importance of auditing in reducing information risk. 2. Distinguish audit services from other assurance and non-assurance services provided by CPAs. 3. Three main types of audits. 4. How to become a CPA? Identify the primary types of auditors. 2 What is auditing? Evaluating 3 Nature of Auditing Auditing is the accumulation and evaluation of evidence about information to determine and report on the degree of correspondence between the information and established criteria. Auditing should be done by a competent, independent person. 4 Audit Reporting -- (Expressing Opinions) The final stage in the auditing process is preparing the Audit Report, which is the communication of the auditor’s findings to users. 5 Information and Established Criteria To do an audit, there must be information in a verifiable form and some standards (criteria) by which the auditor can evaluate the information. 6 Accumulating Evidence and Evaluating Evidence Evidence is any information used by the auditor to determine whether the information being audited is stated in accordance with the established criteria. Transaction data Client inquiry Written and electronic Communications with outsiders Observations 7 Competent, Independent Person The auditor must be qualified...
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...Chapter 4 Professional Ethics ← Review Questions 4-1 The six core ethical values described by the Josephson Institute are: 1. Trustworthiness 4. Fairness 2. Respect 5. Caring 3. Responsibility 6. Citizenship There are many other potential sources of ethical values, including laws and regulations, church doctrines, codes of professional ethics, and individual organizations’ codes of conduct. 4-2 An ethical dilemma is a situation that a person faces in which a decision must be made about the appropriate behavior. There are many possible ethical dilemmas that one can face, such as finding a wallet containing money, or dealing with a supervisor who asks you to work hours without recording them. An ethical dilemma can be resolved using the six-step approach outlined on p. 78 of the text. The six steps are: 1. Obtain the relevant facts. 2. Identify the ethical issues from the facts. 3. Determine who is affected by the outcome of the dilemma and how each person or group is affected. 4. Identify the alternatives available to the person who must resolve the dilemma. 5. Identify the likely consequence of each alternative. 6. Decide the appropriate action. 4-3 There is a special need for ethical behavior by professionals to maintain public confidence in the profession, and in the services provided by members of that profession. The ethical requirements for CPAs are similar to the ethical requirements...
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...Audit – a long-term investor position paper on proposed EU reforms 22 November 2012 Context The signatories to this paper are large institutional investors and investor associations. The institutions manage approximately EUR 1.66 trillion on behalf of their members / investors. We are all long term investors who take our ownership responsibilities seriously, investing significant resources and time in securing, monitoring and voting our assets. Financial reports provide vital information for us to be able to monitor executives’ use of our capital, and the audit of annual statements offers an essential assurance that information in company accounts is ‘true and fair’ (as required by the 4th and 7th Accounting Directives of the EC). The quality of the audit is, therefore, of utmost importance. We believe there are a number of worrying features of the audit market. At a very fundamental level, we are concerned about auditor independence and professional scepticism. Potential conflicts of interest have always been present in the system of auditing, so the challenge is how these are managed. We believe the current system is not delivering, as evidenced by: The failure of auditors to provide adequate warnings prior to the collapse of a number of banks and insurers in the financial crisis. In the EU alone, between September 2008 and the end of 2010, 182 banks received liquidity aid and/or debt guarantees, and 114 banks received either capital injections or asset relief aid1. None of...
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...in the audit market of proposals to permit auditors to limit their liability by way of negotiated caps. The current liability position 1.2 At present auditors may not limit their liability for fault due to negligence or incompetence in audit work. Alongside regulation and reputation, liability acts as a discipline on audit quality in a context where shareholders and other third parties rely on information from an audit which is paid for by the company being audited. We are not aware of evidence suggesting that the courts in the UK have made, or are liable to make, excessive damages awards against auditors. Professional indemnity insurance is available, and LLP status – the chosen corporate form of many audit businesses – exists to protect partners' personal assets. The competition arguments 1.3 It has been argued that a cap on auditors' liability would however be procompetitive because it would lead to: • • • 1.4 a reduction in the barriers to entry and growth facing smaller audit firms the maintenance of competition between larger audit firms, including for non-audit work, and less risk of collapse of one of the Big Four. On the basis of the evidence available to us, however, none of these arguments appears compelling. First, the current liability position is a minor barrier to entry in comparison to reputation, third party perceptions, economies of scale, global networks, regulation, and various other impediments to the entry and growth of smaller audit firms. The liability...
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...Enron Corporation case study • The Enron debacle created what one public official reported was a "crisis of confidence" on the part of the public in the accounting profession. Lists the parties who you believe are most responsible for the crisis. Briefly justify each of your choices. The debacle of Enron, a US firm is looked upon as the worst debacle and fall out in the history of US bankruptcy filed cases. There are many parties involved when it concern to Enron debacle, which was accorded to accounting instability and the compromising factor of accounting profession itself. Out of the many parties in the league and the major force behind the debacle of Enron concern Andersen's, the accounting and auditing firm that once deserved name in the industry for its conscience in accounting professional services and auditing. As the case relates to, accounting audit for Enron is attended by Andersen's since long enough. However, the interesting feature is that some compromise in the profession of accounting services by Andersen's was notable, given that there are noteworthy feature of stock manipulation, especially in financial statements of Enron attended and audited by Andersen's. The statement and restatement of Enron also gives some probable indication for manipulation of accounting, where debate and counter debate in that regard from the prying eye of the media was a common feature. Thus, the involvement of Andersen's in Enron consultancy and professional auditing makes it...
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...major services that CPAs provide are: 1. Audit and assurance services Assurance services are independent professional services that improve the quality of information for decision makers. Assurance services include attestation services, which are any services in which the CPA firm issues a report that expresses a conclusion about the reliability of an assertion that is the responsibility of another party. The four categories of attestation services are audits of historical financial statements, attestation on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, reviews of historical financial statements, and other attestation services. Accounting and bookkeeping services Accounting services involve preparing the client's financial statements from the client's records. Bookkeeping services include the preparation of the client's journals and ledgers as well as financial statements. Tax services Tax services include preparation of corporate, individual, and estate returns as well as tax planning assistance. Management consulting services These services range from suggestions to improve the client's accounting system to computer installations. 2-1 2. 3. 4. 2-2 The major characteristics of CPA firms that permit them to fulfill their social function competently and independently are: 1. Organizational form A CPA firm exists as a separate entity to avoid an employer-employee relationship with its clients. The CPA firm employs a professional staff of sufficient...
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...Hulme LLP (“RWH”) is a financial services firm offering audit and taxation services to its clients with a mission of delivering excellent service and improving clients’ internal controls. Being a “team player” is an essential trait of a RHW employee because client audits are completed by teams. The client fee is flat, so the more efficiently and effectively the team members’ work, the higher the margins the firm realizes. The firm does not tolerate those with poor teamwork behaviors as evidenced by the fact that RWH has terminated only a handful of employees since the firm’s inception, and those terminations were mainly because those individuals were not able to work effectively in teams. The case is set in the Fall of 2008 at the height of the North American financial crisis and at a time when some of RWH’s clients are filing for bankruptcy and others are demanding reductions in audit fees. During this difficult economic time, RWH is opting to maintain existing staffing levels and as a result is losing money. However, RWH views an event scheduled to occur in 2011, the conversion of Canadian financial reporting standards from GAAP to IFRS, as an attractive business opportunity and wants to maintain its current staffing level to take advantage of this future opportunity. During the Fall of 2008, RWH commenced the audit for Spector Industries Limited (“Spector”), an important client not due to the revenue it produces for the firm, but because a number of prominent Canadians...
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