Prepared by: Gabriela Bacigalupo, 1099953 Monica Jorge, 3622098 Youthalyn Mair-Pryce, 3622089
Reviewed by: Gabriela Bacigalupo, 1099953 Monica Jorge, 3622098 Youthalyn Mair-Pryce, 3622089
ACG 4651 – Fall 2013 Section 04
September 17, 2013 – Case #1: The importance of being independent (by Deloitte) Discussion Questions
One of the key roles of the external auditor is to protect the interest of the public. To achieve this, it is important for the public to trust and have confidence in the work of an auditor. It is crucial that auditors appear independent to the public in both fact and appearance. For this reason, it is the auditor’s responsibility to ensure that there are no personal or business
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This helps to eliminate conflict of interest and freely allows auditors to exercise professional skepticism. Employment relations dictate that an auditor cannot be assigned to an audit of which a family member works in an executive position or a position of influence. This has to be disclosed so that information users do not have reason to believe that the auditor’s judgment was impaired.
The audit firm has its responsibility also – that of not providing accounting or bookkeeping services to any client it audits. Neither can the firm represent the client in a legal matter. This encourages stability and boost user confidence in the market. This covers the area of scope of interest. There should be no fee arrangements made to pay the audit firm based on results of advice it provides to a client. The only payment arrangements should be related to the audit fees charged to the client.
Comments
It is crucial that auditors appear independent to the public in both fact and appearance.
Brett Rixom - 2 months ago
Great point.
Brett Rixom - 2 months ago fact and appearance
Brett Rixom - 2 months ago
A brief explanation of both of these would be nice.
Brett Rixom - 2 months ago
It is not the nature of the relationship, but more importantly the position that the person has within the firm.
Brett Rixom - 2 months ago
The question did not specify what your position in the firm is. Do you think it would make
Independent audit in turn makes the financial statements more credible and reliable source of information
and John, as employee, that establishes the terms of our relationship. In this case, it is
Angela Woodside visited our firm on December 18th 2007 and played out her scenario for us so that we can help her resolve this dilemma she has been caught up in. After her meeting, you’ve requested that I address the following six (6) issues with my opinion. Please take a moment to review my research.
The factor that plays the greatest role in determining auditor independence is independence in mind. Auditors may or may not appear to be independent, but if the auditor is truly independent in mind, then the auditor can remain objective and unbiased. The profession should consider tightening the Code of Professional Conduct to address the issue of an audit team member knowing a close friend that holds any position at the audit client. If this scenario arises, the firm can still audit the client, but the audit member with the close relationship won’t be able to be on the audit team.
To examine the issues raised when independent auditors accept key accounting positions with former clients.
Legitimacy in accounting practices is ensured by the check and balance of having independent auditors from registered public accountant firms reviewing financial practices. The report features eleven sections and these sections pertain to accounting overview, independence of auditors to reduce interest conflicts, corporate responsibility, financial disclosures, tax returns, criminal fraud and various elements of white collar criminal activity (107th Congress
Accounting employees have a duty to be forthright and truthful when interacting with the independent auditors, and
According to 0.400 - .21, “independence in appearance is the avoidance of circumstances that would cause a reasonable and informed third party who has knowledge of all relevant information, including the safeguards applied, to reasonably conclude that the integrity, objectivity, or professional skepticism of a firm or member of the attest engagement team is compromised.” The determinant factor to evaluate whether or not an auditor is independent in appearance is to see if there are any conflicts of interest, financial interest, and family influences between the auditor and the client that may impair the auditor’s integrity and
According to ICAEW, auditor independence mainly refers to the independence of the external auditor from parties that have an interest in the financial statements of the business being audited. It requires having both integrity and an objective manner to the auditing process. In order for the concept to be deemed effective the auditor needs to carry out their work freely. One of the main purposes of auditing is to increase credibility of the entity’s’ financial statements, as they have expressed their own professional opinion on the truth and fair view in accordance with the proper accounting standards used. This is only possible if the audit is made with reasonable assurance that it has come from an independent source and has not been influenced by other parties, such as managers, directors or by conflict of interest.
This article initiates with the introduction on what is audit planning. It basically addresses the audit plan strategy of K & S Corporation limited’s Financial Statements. Being an external auditor of the company, key factors to be considered in auditing the financials of the subject company have been discussed in the article. The most significant accounts at risk being materially misstated have been critically examined citing the possible risks associated with such accounts. Last but not the least, the article concludes with recommendations with respect to audit assessment plan of the company. Hence, this article seeks to act as a ready reckoner guide for an audit manager in audit planning of K & S Corporation Limited.
2Arguments for why auditors should not be allowed to perform these services for the same client include:
Paul Polishan apparently dominated Leslie Fay 's accounting and financial reporting functions and the individuals who were his subordinates. What implications do such circumstances pose for a company 's independent auditors? How should auditors take such circumstances into consideration when planning an audit?
The aim of this essay is to study the function of external auditors in order to analyze why it is important to be independent. The primary mission of external auditors is to review and evaluate all the financial records of a company or corporation. They provide an objective opinion on the organization’s financial statement and effectiveness of the accounting polices in order to help management to make decisions. If the independence of the external auditors is impaired, the public will doubt the quality of professional auditing services, and the consequence would be very serious, just like the bankruptcy of Enron led to the disorganization of Arthur Andersen, once a giant accounting company in the world. In order to maintain and increase
Auditors having the appropriate competence and capabilities to perform the audit, and follow ethical requirements, and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit.
This includes the indirect ability of management to influence the career prospects of internal auditors, as well as the budget and planning of the internal audit function. This is exacerbated by internal auditors themselves using the function as a stepping stone to advance their career objectives. It also can be argued that the independence theory may be lost in such a culture, especially if it is combined with people within the organization perceiving internal auditors as partners, thereby subjecting the internal audit function to pressures threatening its independence, rather than recognizing the internal audit function as an independent assurance function("A Critical Analysis Of The Independence Of The Internal Audit Function: Evidence From Australia: Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal: Vol 22, No