The finance director of Blod Co, Uma Thorton, has requested that your firm type the financ

s ‘findings

from the audit’ in your report to those charged with governance, and explain the reason for their

inclusion. (7 marks)

ended 31 March 2008. Your

firm was appointed as auditors of Blod Co in September 2007. The audit work has been completed, and you are

reviewing the working papers in order to draft a report to those charged with governance. The statement of financial

position (balance sheet) shows total assets of $78 million (2007 – $66 million). The main business activity of Blod

Co is the manufacture of farm machinery.

During the audit of property, plant and equipment it was discovered that controls over capital expenditure transactions

had deteriorated during the year. Authorisation had not been gained for the purchase of office equipment with a cost

of $225,000. No material errors in the financial statements were revealed by audit procedures performed on property,

plant and equipment.

An internally generated brand name has been included in the statement of financial position (balance sheet) at a fair

value of $10 million. Audit working papers show that the matter was discussed with the financial controller, who

stated that the $10 million represents the present value of future cash flows estimated to be generated by the brand

name. The member of the audit team who completed the work programme on intangible assets has noted that this

treatment appears to be in breach of IAS 38 Intangible Assets, and that the management refuses to derecognise the

asset.

Problems were experienced in the audit of inventories. Due to an oversight by the internal auditors of Blod Co, the

external audit team did not receive a copy of inventory counting procedures prior to attending the count. This caused

a delay at the beginning of the inventory count, when the audit team had to quickly familiarise themselves with the

procedures. In addition, on the final audit, when the audit senior requested documentation to support the final

inventory valuation, it took two weeks for the information to be received because the accountant who had prepared

the schedules had mislaid them.

Required:

(a) (i) Identify the main purpose of including ‘findings from the audit’ (management letter points) in a report

to those charged with governance. (2 marks)

ou have recently been made

responsible for reviewing invoices raised to clients and for monitoring your firm’s credit control procedures. Several

matters came to light during your most recent review of client invoice files:

Norman Co, a large private company, has not paid an invoice from Smith & Co dated 5 June 2007 for work in respect

of the financial statement audit for the year ended 28 February 2007. A file note dated 30 November 2007 states

that Norman Co is suffering poor cash flows and is unable to pay the balance. This is the only piece of information

in the file you are reviewing relating to the invoice. You are aware that the final audit work for the year ended

28 February 2008, which has not yet been invoiced, is nearly complete and the audit report is due to be issued

imminently.

Wallace Co, a private company whose business is the manufacture of industrial machinery, has paid all invoices

relating to the recently completed audit planning for the year ended 31 May 2008. However, in the invoice file you

notice an invoice received by your firm from Wallace Co. The invoice is addressed to Valerie Hobson, the manager

responsible for the audit of Wallace Co. The invoice relates to the rental of an area in Wallace Co’s empty warehouse,

with the following comment handwritten on the invoice: ‘rental space being used for storage of Ms Hobson’s

speedboat for six months – she is our auditor, so only charge a nominal sum of $100’. When asked about the invoice,

Valerie Hobson said that the invoice should have been sent to her private address. You are aware that Wallace Co

sometimes uses the empty warehouse for rental income, though this is not the main trading income of the company.

In the ‘miscellaneous invoices raised’ file, an invoice dated last week has been raised to Software Supply Co, not a

client of your firm. The comment box on the invoice contains the note ‘referral fee for recommending Software Supply

Co to several audit clients regarding the supply of bespoke accounting software’.

Required:

Identify and discuss the ethical and other professional issues raised by the invoice file review, and recommend

what action, if any, Smith & Co should now take in respect of:

(a) Norman Co; (8 marks)

ithin your firm of Chartered

Certified Accountants. You are currently reviewing the audit working papers for Pulp Co, a long standing audit client,

for the year ended 31 January 2008. The draft statement of financial position (balance sheet) of Pulp Co shows total

assets of $12 million (2007 – $11·5 million).The audit senior has made the following comment in a summary of

issues for your review:

‘Pulp Co’s statement of financial position (balance sheet) shows a receivable classified as a current asset with a value

of $25,000. The only audit evidence we have requested and obtained is a management representation stating the

following:

(1) that the amount is owed to Pulp Co from Jarvis Co,

(2) that Jarvis Co is controlled by Pulp Co’s chairman, Peter Sheffield, and

(3) that the balance is likely to be received six months after Pulp Co’s year end.

The receivable was also outstanding at the last year end when an identical management representation was provided,

and our working papers noted that because the balance was immaterial no further work was considered necessary.

No disclosure has been made in the financial statements regarding the balance. Jarvis Co is not audited by our firm

and we have verified that Pulp Co does not own any shares in Jarvis Co.’

Required:

(b) In relation to the receivable recognised on the statement of financial position (balance sheet) of Pulp Co as

at 31 January 2008:

(i) Comment on the matters you should consider. (5 marks)

ctions, can be difficult for

auditors. (5 marks)

Sabat has enquired as to

whether your firm would be prepared to conduct a joint audit in cooperation with Lead & Co, on the future

financial statements of Maxwell Co if the acquisition goes ahead. Leo Sabat thinks that this would enable your

firm to improve group audit efficiency, without losing the cumulative experience that Lead & Co has built up while

acting as auditor to Maxwell Co.

Required:

Define ‘joint audit’, and assess the advantages and disadvantages of the audit of Maxwell Co being conducted

on a ‘joint basis’. (7 marks)