Question: 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. Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed: I. Procedures and Field Work: For this part of the assessment, you will begin your audit report using the information you have gathered to address the following elements pertaining to procedures and field work.
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.
II. Risk Factors: For this part of the assessment, you will continue your audit report using the information you have gathered to address the following elements pertaining to risk factors in all the major business transactions.
A. Analyze the income statement for any potential risk factors and compliance issues with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) or International Financial Recording Standards (IFRS).
B. Analyze the risk factors and compliance issues with GAAP or IFRS on the balance sheet.
C. Using the internal control, analyze the cash and revenue for potential risk factors.
1. What risks need to be documented?
2. How does this information compare to the company or industry averages, or the company's past performance?
D. Explain the audit universe and how you identified it.
E. Based on your analysis of risk, devise a sampling program for the audit universe.
F. Choose the most preferable audit testing procedures that could be used in the field, based on the audit universe items sampled in this situation.
III. Memos: For this part of the assessment, you will use your audit report to prepare memos to upper management.
A. Prepare a memo to be reviewed by the chief financial officer (CFO) that summarizes the audit process.
1. Explain any sampling or other audit work that could be done, and if you would recommend the company pursue this additional work. Justify your response.
2. Make recommendations to the CFO on how to mitigate potential risk factors for major business transactions identified in the audit report.
B. Assume you are now the CFO. Prepare a memo to the Board of Directors as to what potential issues the external audit team might find and what the company's response should be.
1. Evaluate the findings from the audit report. Be sure to view these findings from the CFO's point of view.
2. Develop a strategy to mitigate risks identified in the audit report.
3. Describe how the company might implement the strategy based on the findings from the audit report.Your audit report with memos must be 8-10 pages in length including report and supporting documents (plus a cover page and references). Use double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins.