Auditing is a valuable skill in accounting and business, as the odds are very high that you or your organization will be subject to a compliance, federal, IRS, internal, government, or revenue audit at one point in your career. Accountants are required to make professional judgments on both the financial accounting issues and internal accounting forecasts within their organization. The auditor must provide fair, unbiased, materially correct information for investors, employers, employees, and independent stakeholders. This course will help you navigate the relevant processes to provide that unbiased, accurate information.
The purpose of the assessment is to familiarize you with the process of auditing and what to do with the auditing information once you have it. You will explore how to plan audit work, analyze financial statements, perform tests on that information, and properly and professionally communicate the results of an audit. For this assessment, you should assume you are on the internal audit staff of a publicly traded company. Choose one of the following companies: Walmart, Target, Sears, Kroger, or Amazon. You will be required to obtain the last two years' worth of financial statements and a recent audit report. The internal audit group at the company is tasked with preparing for an upcoming revenue audit and analyzing the business risk internally to mitigate audit findings. You will conduct an internal audit of the company using the information gathered and create a report. Then, you will prepare appropriate memos analyzing the audit report you have prepared, while offering feedback and recommendations.
For Milestone One, you will submit a draft of the procedures and field work required for conducting your audit process. Describe how you would conduct the audit process for the company you have chosen, including the analytical procedures you would use to investigate selected business transactions. Explain the appropriate field work needed to review high-risk business transactions for cash and revenue, and create a test to assess appropriate assertions for designated high-risk business transactions.
Prompt: Outline the field work and procedures that will be involved in conducting the internal audit report and explain how you intend to communicate your findings. Create a test to assess appropriate assertions for designated high-risk business transactions. Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
A. Describe how you would conduct the audit process, incorporating the analytical procedures you would use to investigate selected business transactions.
1. What steps will you take to review the company's business transactions?
2. What would your plan be to utilize these procedures?
B. Explain the appropriate field work needed to review high-risk business transactions for cash and revenue.
1. What would you need to do in the field to investigate these?
2. Could you convey this information through charts or other supporting documentation?
C. Create a test to assess appropriate assertions for designated high-risk business transactions.