Auditing and Internal Control Issues (Currently Unavailable)

Author: Pat Patterson

This session will review internal control from the Auditor’s point of view which is to study and evaluate the system of a client’s internal control. To obtain an adequate understanding of the internal control system, that must be tested, the Auditor must determine whether audit is possible, if yes, then he/she should determine the scope of the audit.

The Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has raised several questions about how to properly audit financial statements when internal controls have changed due to dramatic changes in an entity’s business volume and activities.

The auditing standards (GAAS) require the auditor to obtain an understanding of controls that are relevant to the audit and assess whether they are designed effectively to prevent or at least detect and correct material misstatements that might be made in the financial statements. Then the auditor is required to determine whether they’ve been implemented. Please note that this course considers audits performed under generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) and not audits under PCAOB or IAASB standards. New standards will be dealt with and explained for internal controls, technology, and professional skepticism.

GAAS requires auditors to identify where and how the financial statements may possibly carry a higher risk of being materially misstated. The auditor uses that understanding to help design what further audit procedures might be effective in detecting any material misstatement that may exist.

Those further audit procedures can either be tests of controls or substantive audit procedures. It is important in this environment for auditors to be creative and innovative in their audit approaches. That may involve performing procedures remotely, and it is predicated on understanding how the client is processing and controlling its financial accounting processes and working transactions through the financial statements.

The auditor needs to understand the entity’s internal control before determining whether procedures that might be performed remotely would truly be effective.

Publication Date: June 2022

Designed For
A CPA professional who is auditing an entity, someone in an entity’s internal audit section, management that is responsible for an internal control system, and anyone else who needs to know the details and importance of internal control.

Topics Covered

• AICPA Auditing Standards Update
• Definitions
• Risk Assessment Procedures and Related Activities
• Risks That Require Special Audit Consideration
• The Entity and Its Environment
• General Nature and Characteristics of Internal Control
• AU-C Section 700: Forming an Opinion and Reporting on Financial Statements
• Auditor's Report
• Illustration No. 1: An Auditor's Report on Comparative Financial Statements Prepared in Accordance with Accounting Principles Generally Accepted in the United States of America
• Illustration 2: An Auditor's Report on Comparative Financial Statements Prepared in Accordance with Accounting Principles Generally Accepted in the United States of America, Including Communication of Key Audit Matters
• New SASs
• COVID-19 - Going Concerns, Emphasis of Matter, and Scope Limitations
• Risks and Uncertainties Plus COVID-19
• AICPA Approves New Standards

Learning Objectives

• Describe updated internal controls and AICPA Auditing Standards
• Describe updates on internal control and audit reports
• Recognize new quality management standards approved by ASB
• Identify internal control, COVID-19 issues, and other related matters
• Identify which SAS statements delays the effective dates of SAS Nos. 134—140, and the amendments to other SASs made by SAS Nos. 134—140
• Recognize what should be included in risk assessment procedures
• Identify the five components of internal control
• Differentiate AU-C Sections and how they apply

Level
Intermediate

Instructional Method
Self-Study

NASBA Field of Study
Auditing (2 hours)

Program Prerequisites
Basic understanding of GAAS.

Advance Preparation
None