Topic: Professional responsibility and liability

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AAA – Nov 2024 – L3 – Q1a – Ethical Issues in Audit Engagements

Ethical issues and professional conduct in an audit engagement involving conflict of interest.

You are the Audit Partner of a mid-sized audit firm, Amoah Sonko and Associates. One of your major clients, Kudi LTD (Kudi), has approached you for a significant audit engagement. Kudi has been experiencing rapid growth and plans to get listed on the Ghana Alternative Market within the next year. During preliminary discussions, the Managing Director of Kudi, a friend, promised you a bonus if the audit report is completed quickly and is favourable, highlighting the company’s strengths.

In the course of the audit of Kudi, you came across a series of unusual financial transactions. These included large intercompany loans with its sister companies, other significant related-party transactions with the directors, and an unusually high volume of sales recorded a few days before the end of the financial year. Upon further investigation, your team found discrepancies in inventory records and evidence of potential non-compliance with revenue recognition standards. The Finance Manager insists these transactions are legitimate and necessary for the company’s rapid growth.

Additionally, you noticed that Kudi was involved in a high-profile legal battle with a major competitor, which was not fully disclosed in the financial statements. The lawyer for Kudi insists that you omit this information from the audit report, arguing it would damage the company’s reputation and its plans to get listed on the Ghana Alternative Market.

Required:
i) Identify TWO potential ethical issues in the scenario and explain the potential impact on your professional conduct.                      ii) Identify the steps you should take to address the conflict of interest presented by the Managing Director’s offer. 
iii) Discuss the potential sanctions for accepting the Managing Director’s offer and providing a favourable audit report without proper verification. 
iv) Evaluate the impact of the undisclosed legal battle on Kudi LTD’s financial statements and the upcoming initial public offer.

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  • 10 Marks

AAA – July 2023 – L3 – Q4a – The meaning of audit and assurance | Professional responsibility and liability

Discuss issues to consider in professional skepticism assessment and circumstances that can hinder professional skepticism during a performance audit.

Audit engagement rests on mutual understanding and respect between the auditor and the auditee. The Auditor, while not viewing the auditee as dishonest, must also have at the back of his mind that to err is human and must therefore not accept evidence from the auditee without further cross-checking the facts. The attitude should be that the auditor must have an enquiring mind. This is known as professional skepticism; while trusting, he must verify.

Required:

i) What FOUR (4) issues should be considered in Professional Skepticism assessment during performance audit? (5 marks)

ii) State FIVE (5) circumstances that can hinder Professional Skepticism at the engagement level. (5 marks)

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  • 10 Marks

AAA – July 2023 – L3 – Q1b – Rules of professional conduct | Professional responsibility and liability | Reporting

Assess ethical and professional implications in scenarios involving audit team members and client requests.

You are the Audit Manager at Ndaa & Associates whose client portfolio includes ABC Credit Plc, a listed financial institution offering loans and credit facilities to both commercial and retail customers. You have received an email from the Audit Supervisor who is currently supervising interim testing on systems and controls in relation to the audit of ABC Credit Plc for the year ending 31 October 2022. The email gives the following details for your consideration:

  1. One of the audit team members, Obiba JK, has provisionally agreed to apply for a loan from ABC Credit Plc to finance the purchase of a domestic residence. The loan will be secured on a property, and the client’s business manager has promised Obiba JK that he will ensure that she gets ‘the very best deal which the bank can offer.’ (5 marks)
  2. The payroll manager at ABC Credit Plc has asked the audit supervisor if it would be possible for Ndaa & Associates to provide a member of staff on secondment to work in the payroll department. The payroll manager has struggled to recruit a new supervisor for the organisation’s main payroll system and wants to assign a qualified member of the audit firm’s staff for an initial period of six months. (5 marks)

Required:
Assess the ethical and professional implications of the issues raised in respect of the audit of ABC Credit Plc and recommend actions to be taken in each case by the audit firm.

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  • 10 Marks

AAA – Dec 2023 – L3 – Q1a – The Meaning of Audit and Assurance | Professional Responsibility and Liability

Explain the concept of professional skepticism and identify areas where it is important in auditing complex, subjective, or judgmental issues.

“Professional Skepticism is an essential concept in auditing practice and theory. It has been identified in almost all existing auditing standards. However, the way it should be characterised is still unclear” according to Maciej Ciolek (2017).

Required:

i) Explain the term Professional Skepticism within the context of the auditing profession. (2.5 marks)

ii) Discuss THREE (3) areas of audit that are complex, subjective or highly judgmental where Professional Skepticism may be important. (7.5 marks)

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  • 10 Marks

AAA – Nov 2020 – L3 – Q5a – The Regulatory Environment | Professional Responsibility and Liability

Identify and discuss the roles of three regulatory authorities in Ghana that may impact the conduct of an audit.

In the audit of financial statements, auditors consider the regulatory requirements. These cover professional standards promulgated by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) in the form of International Standards on Auditing (ISAs), International Standards on Quality Control (ISQC) as well as the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA). The other consideration involves legal requirements.

Required:
Identify THREE (3) regulatory authorities in Ghana whose requirements may be taken into account in the conduct of an audit and discuss their roles. (10 marks)

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  • 10 Marks

AAA – Nov 2020 – L3 – Q1b – The audit approach | Practice management | Professional responsibility and liability

Evaluate five risk considerations and issues before accepting an engagement from Phobia Foods Ltd, focusing on financial position, client expectations, and fee structure.

You have been recently promoted as the Ethics Partner in Famous Chartered Accountants, a licensed audit firm. At your first visit to the Managing Partner, he informs you of an appointment by Phobia Foods Ltd (PFL), and gives you a file to go through. You open the file and find a copy of an e-mail from the Managing Director of PFL, extracts which read as follows:

From: Managing Director, Phobia Foods Ltd.
To: Managing Partner, Famous Chartered Accountants
Subject: Evaluation of Business Expansion Plan and Associated Items

Congratulations on your offer of appointment as auditor cum advisor of our company. As discussed in our earlier meeting, Phobia Foods Ltd (PFL) would like to open three more outlets, two in Sunyani and one in Sogakope. The necessary financing will be obtained through a new bank loan and the rescheduling of the payments of the existing loan, which is technically in default.

Your appointment and fees
Your audit fee will be GH¢16,000 for the year ended 30 June 2018.Your fee for evaluation of our expansion plan and advisory services in relation to obtaining a bank loan will be GH¢9,000. For advisory services and business efficiency and strategic decisions, your fee will be GH¢3,400 per month for the next two years.

Shareholders and key management issues
Five founding directors, each with equal shares, incorporated PFL which commenced trading in 2009. I still maintain my original 20% holding.

Audit and accounts 2016-2018
Ofosu-Mensah & Associates., a firm of licensed auditors audited the accounts for the years ended 30 June 2016 to 30 June 2018 inclusive. The audit of PFL for the year ended 30 June 2018 was signed off on 16 November 2018 with an unqualified opinion, notwithstanding that qualified opinions had been published on the previous two years’ accounts. The shareholders of PFL approved your firm’s appointment at the annual general meeting held on 15 April 2019 for the year ended 30 June 2019.

The funds raised by the new bank loan will be used for expansion of the business. Your firm is also expected to advise the company on the application for the new bank loan and the rescheduling of repayments of the existing loan in default.

Yours sincerely,
Managing Director.

Required:

Evaluate FIVE (5) risk considerations and issues for Famous Chartered Accountants that should be identified prior to accepting this engagement. (10 marks)

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  • 10 Marks

AAA – Nov 2020 – L3 – Q1a – Rules of professional conduct | Professional responsibility and liability

Evaluate ethical issues in providing audit and advisory services, and assess auditor liability to a bank if the audit is negligently performed.

You are an audit manager with AA & Co. Chartered Accountants and Business Consultants. You have been assigned to the audit of Western Decors Ltd (WD), a long-established firm of event planning service in the city where your practice is located. The audit of the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2019 is due to commence shortly. The audit firm is aware that the client has received a loan from the bank in April 2018 and that the bank will rely on the audited financial statements as part of the terms and conditions in the loan agreement.

The partner in charge of AA & Co. has just visited the client and made the following notes during his trip:

  • The firm has a number of individual and corporate clients outside Accra and has invested heavily in recording and broadcasting equipment to allow some events to be broadcasted over the internet. This facility is now available at all events conducted in WD’s premises and is proving to be very popular. To date, no specific extra charge has been levied for this service but the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of WD has asked us to prepare a report for him advising on whether it would be practical to charge separately for it; and, if so, the level at which the charge should be set.
  • Unfortunately, WD’s main supplier of chairs went into liquidation during the year. The Partner said that they were fortunate to be able to find an alternative supplier with whom they entered into a three-year contract for the supply of chairs. At the time of signing the contract, WD considered the contract to be on very favourable terms. However, the supplier is based in Nigeria and the contract was denominated in Naira. Movements in the exchange rate now make the contract look far less attractive and the CEO has requested that we examine the contract to see if there is any way he can legally set it aside.

Required:

i) Critically evaluate any possible ethical issues arising from the client’s requests. (4 marks)

ii) Discuss whether the auditors may be liable to the bank in case the audit was negligently done. (6 marks)

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  • 10 Marks

AAA – May 2021 – L3 – Q5a – Current issues | Professional responsibility and liability

Assess the global threat of money laundering and discuss Ghana’s efforts to combat money laundering.

a) Money laundering has become a significant threat to the world’s political and economic order. World leaders are collaborating and cooperating in fighting money laundering. However, criminals are maliciously clever and, in some cases, ahead of law enforcement agencies. Every human being has to contribute to the fight against money laundering.

Required:

i) Assess why money laundering poses a big threat to the world’s political and economic order. (5 marks)

ii) Discuss FIVE (5) ways in which Ghana is contributing towards fighting money laundering globally. (5 marks)

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  • 10 Marks

AAA – May 2021 – L3 – Q1a – Rules of professional conduct | Professional responsibility and liability

Discuss the impact of independence issues on the public perception of a multinational accounting firm based on a real-life scenario involving a conflict of interest.

Fundamental principles require that a member of a professional accountancy body behave with integrity in all professional, business, and financial relationships and strive for objectivity in all professional and business judgments. Objectivity can only be assured if the member is and is seen to be independent. Conflicts of interest have an essential bearing on independence and the public’s perception of the accounting profession’s integrity, objectivity, and independence.

The following scenario is a press report on a multinational firm of accountants:

The regulatory body directed a partner in a firm that he must resign because he was in breach of the regulatory body’s independence rules. His brother-in-law was the Financial Controller of an audit client. He was informed that the alternative was for him to move his home and place of work at least 400 miles from the client’s office, even though he was not the reporting partner. This made his job untenable. The accounting firm saw the regulatory body as ‘taking its rules to absurd lengths’. Shortly after this comment, the multinational firm announced proposals to split the firm into the following areas: audit, tax and business advisory services; management consultancy; and investment advisory services.

Required:

In relation to integrity, objectivity and independence, discuss the impact the above events may have on the public perception of the multinational firm of accountants. (10 marks)

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  • 4 Marks

AAA – May 2017 – L3 – Q4b – Internal audit and outsourcing | Professional responsibility and liability

Assess the importance of recommendations by the IIA to ensure the independence of internal auditors within an organization.

The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) defines Internal Auditing as:

“An independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization’s operations. It helps an organization to accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes.”

Required:

Assess the importance of THREE recommendations the IIA has made to ensure that internal auditors remain independent even though they are employees of the company. (4 marks)

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  • 10 Marks

AAA – May 2017 – L3 – Q4a – Assurance services | Professional responsibility and liability

Discuss the considerations before accepting an engagement to certify benchmark petroleum revenue and the issues related to relying on an independent expert’s certification.

Your firm has been contracted by the Office of the Auditor General (AG) of Ghana to provide the Ministry of Finance (MoF) with the certification of the Projection of Benchmark Petroleum Revenue for 2016.

The Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA), 2011 (Act 815) became law in Ghana on 11 April 2011, and Section 17 of the PRMA requires the Minister responsible for Finance to make a projection of the amount of petroleum revenue that would accrue to the Government of Ghana in the coming year, not later than 1 September of each year.

The first schedule of the Act mandates an independent expert to certify the projection of the Benchmark Petroleum Revenue by the Minister before it would be used in the National Budget for the coming year.

The two major issues in the projection are the quantity of Oil and Gas expected and the world market price at which the oil and gas will be valued.

As part of the documents to be used in performing this assignment, MoF has given you:

  • Projection of the Benchmark Petroleum Revenue from oil and gas for 2016, and
  • Certification of the Estimate of the Oil and Gas production for 2016 from the existing and expected oil and gas producing fields in Ghana.

The first schedule of the Act prescribes a formula for the calculation of the Average Unit Price for Crude Oil and Natural Gas on the International Market to be used for the year. The certification in the Estimate of the Oil and Gas production was issued by an independent expert in the Oil and Gas industry.

Required:

i) State FOUR issues your firm will consider in order to decide whether or not to accept this engagement from the Office of the Auditor General. (4 marks)

ii) If your firm decides to accept the engagement, state FOUR issues your firm will consider in order to place reliance on the certification issued by the independent expert in the Oil and Gas industry in performing the engagement. (4 marks)

iii) State TWO audit procedures your firm would perform to determine that the Average Unit Price for Crude Oil and Natural Gas on the International Market for 2016 used by MoF in the Projection of the Benchmark Petroleum Revenue for 2016 is fairly stated. (2 marks)

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  • 10 Marks

AAA – May 2017 – L3 – Q3a – The regulatory environment | Professional responsibility and liability

Discuss the implications of suspected non-compliance with insurance law on a company's operations, financial statements, and the audit process.

Your audit firm is auditing the current year’s financial statements of a major client in the insurance industry. At the planning stage when the engagement partner was doing the risk assessment, he had information that the company is under investigation by the National Insurance Commission for non-compliance with regulations. The client may be liable to sanctions if found culpable.

Non-compliance with laws and regulations has many implications for the operations of entities, their financial statements, and the audit of their financial statements.

Required:

i) Discuss the implications of the suspected non-compliance with the insurance law by the client on its operations and the financial statements. (5 marks)

ii) Evaluate the implications of the client’s non-compliance with the Insurance law on your audit. (5 marks)

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  • 10 Marks

AAA – May 2017 – L3 – Q2b – Professional responsibility and liability | Reporting

Discuss the auditor's responsibility for fraud detection and the validity of a client withholding audit fees due to undetected fraud.

Stevens and Associates have completed the audit of the accounts of Eno Serwah & Co. Ltd for the year ended 31 December 2015. The auditor’s opinion on the financial statement has been favorable to Eno Serwah & Co Ltd. Internal check procedures after the audit revealed a shortage of cash of Two Million Ghana cedis (GH¢2m). The Directors of Eno Serwah & Co Ltd. put a freeze on the payment of the audit fees on the grounds that the audit could not detect the shortage.

Required:

Discuss the stand taken by the Directors of the company.

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  • 10 Marks

AAA – May 2017 – L3 – Q2a – Professional responsibility and liability | Practice management

Discuss ethical and professional issues related to tax consultancy services, contingent fees, and suspected illegal activities in a first-time audit engagement.

Your firm, Osei and Associates, has been appointed as the auditors of Dadeka Limited for the first time to perform the audit of the company for the year ended 31 December 2015. The company is in the agro-processing industry, and it sells most of its products to overseas customers. The following are two issues:

i) Tax consultancy services:

The directors appointed a tax consultant to perform certain corporate taxation services for the tax year ended 31 December 2014. On the start of the audit of the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2015, and a review of the Income tax paid, your firm discovered that the Company did not take advantage of the special tax rate of 8% available for companies in the “export of Non-Traditional goods” in section 1.2(1) of the then Internal Revenue Act 2000 (Act 592). On discussion of this with management of the company, your firm accepted an engagement to act on behalf of the company to negotiate with Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and re-open the tax assessment for 2014 and submit a new Tax Assessment. One of the provisions in the engagement letter was that your firm would be paid a fee of 20% of any tax savings the company enjoys as a result of the engagement.

ii) Suspected Illegal Act:

During the observation of the inventory count at the company’s warehouse on 31 December 2015, the representative of your firm discovered that certain items on the premises were sealed and had inscriptions “Do not tamper with seal,” and these were not counted as part of the company’s inventory. On enquiry, the staff member was advised to ‘pretend she has not seen that’. It is suspected that the items contain either illegal drugs or ammunitions. This cannot be confirmed.

Required:

Identify and discuss the ethical and other professional issues raised by items (i) and (ii) above, and recommend what action, if any, your firm should take.

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  • 10 Marks

AAA – May 2016 – L3 – Q2a – Practice management | Professional responsibility and liability

Advise on the matters to consider in relation to accepting a new audit client according to ISQC 1.

Papa Nii and Papa Nana who just qualified as Professional Accountants have decided to enter into professional practice under a firm name Nana Nii & Associates. These two have been trainee accountants of an Audit and Assurance firm for three years before qualifying.

For their first engagement, the CEO of Mberdane Ltd. has nominated Nana Nii & Associates for appointment as auditors of his company though Mberdane Ltd was a former client of their former firm, Papa Nii and Papa Nana were never on the engagement team of Mberdane Ltd. As beginners, Papa Nii and Papa Nana have intended to follow best practices as required by ISQC 1 “Quality control for firms that perform audits and reviews of financial statements, and other assurance related services”. However, they are not clear on the matters that they have to consider in their acceptance decision according to the standard. They have approached you, a senior partner of their former firm, for advice.

Required:
Advise Papa Nii and Papa Nana on the matters that they may have to consider in relation to the acceptance decision on their nomination. (10 marks)

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  • 10 Marks

AAA – May 2016 – L3 – Q1b – Professional responsibility and liability | Rules of professional conduct

Identify and evaluate ethical threats in an audit engagement and recommend safeguards to mitigate these threats.

Dibidibi & Co., an audit and assurance firm, has been engaged as auditors for BCG Bank Ltd, a public limited liability company, for some time now. BCG Bank has sixty branches throughout the country and branches in Togo, Burkina Faso, and Cote d’Ivoire. The Bank is one of the banks in the country which can boast of large landed properties. Dibidibi & Co. receives about 20% of its income from this particular client. Before last year’s audit, the bank engaged the audit firm to value its Land and Buildings in all its branches and headquarters. This work was executed by the audit firm and a report has been issued to management. The report has been incorporated in this year’s financial statements to be audited soon. Dibidibi & Co. sees BCG Bank Ltd. as a very important client whose works are always executed with dispatch.

i) Identify and evaluate the significance of any threats to the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants raised in the case. (4 marks)

ii) Recommend safeguards to eliminate the threats (mentioned in (i) above) or reduce them to an acceptable level. (6 marks)

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  • 6 Marks

AAA – Nov 2023 – L3 – Q1a – Rules of Professional Conduct, Professional Responsibility and Liability

Discuss three ethical issues in a scenario involving a managing partner, quality control partner, and an audit trainee, and recommend safeguards.

You are the Audit Senior at Fameye and Associates, which has been auditing Adepa Ltd for the past 3 years. The Managing Partner, Mr. Fanfu, was a school mate of the Board Chairman of Adepa Ltd. The Board Chairman owns 80% of the shares in the company. Adepa Ltd is into cassava cultivation and starch manufacturing.

Mr. Agyei is the Partner in charge of quality control of Fameye and Associates. Last year, his wife was contracted to supply cassava to Adepa Ltd. Mr. Agyei’s wife, who is an out-grower farmer, was also given a loan just as any other out-grower, to improve her farm. The amount is payable this year.

You have been scheduled to audit the Financial Statements of Adepa Ltd. The daughter of the Board Chairman is an audit trainee on your audit team. The Chief executive of Adepa Ltd, Mr. Brown, has indicated that last year’s audit delayed and he would not tolerate any delays in this year’s audit.

Required: Discuss THREE (3) ethical issues worth considering in the above scenario and for each, recommend possible safeguards.

 

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  • 20 Marks

AAA – Aug 2022 – L3 – Q2 – Audit evidence | Professional responsibility and liability

Evaluate audit risks for Pato Plc and discuss the impact of management's refusal to provide written representation.

a) Pato Plc offers internet streaming services for films and TV programs and subscription services. You are the recently appointed Senior Manager of Tinka Partners responsible for the audit of Pato Plc. You are planning the audit as required by ISA 300: Planning an audit of financial statements and have come across these two issues following a discussion between the audit engagement partner and a representative of the client’s management:

Legal Case:
In January 2022, a legal case was initiated against Pato Plc by Filmco Plc, a film production company. Filmco Plc claims that Pato Plc has infringed on its copyright by streaming a film in specific countries for which a license has not been acquired. Pato Plc insists that the film is covered by a general license which was acquired several years ago. Pato Plc’s Finance Director is not willing to recognize the legal claim within the financial statements as he is confident that the claim against the company will not be successful, and he does not want to discuss it further with the audit team, emphasizing that there is no relevant documentation available for evaluation at this time.
(7 marks)

Annual Incentive Scheme:
For several years, Pato Plc has operated an annual incentive scheme for staff, under the terms of which employees are eligible to receive an annual incentive payment linked to the achievement of selected targets. The scheme operates for all employees, with some employees’ targets linked to profitability, while others are aligned to non-financial measures including customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and customer complaints, among others. Participants in the scheme are entitled to earn a maximum annual incentive payment of 5% of their salary. Approximately 6,590 employees, including the senior executive directors, are entitled to participate in the annual incentive scheme. Last year the average bonus payment was GH¢1,250 per participant.
(7 marks)

Required:
Evaluate the principal audit risk(s) in planning the audit of Pato Plc.

b) The Management of Pato Plc has decided not to provide the audit firm with the written representation for the legal case as they feel that it is unnecessary. The potential provision for the legal case is 6% of profit before tax.
Required:
As the Auditors of Pato Plc, discuss the steps you should take and the impact on the audit report in relation to the refusal to provide the written representation.
(6 marks)

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  • 20 Marks

AAA – Aug 2022 – L3 – Q1 – Professional responsibility and liability | Practice management

Discuss the audit expectation gap, recommend ways to close it, and evaluate client acceptance decisions for a new audit client.

The potential liability of auditors has become an important topic in recent years, due to the growing complexity of the audit business environment and an increase in legal actions against auditors. One argument put forward to explain the high number of legal actions against auditors is the “expectation gap”.

i) Explain the Audit Expectation Gap and the elements in the Gap.
(4 marks)

ii) Recommend TWO (2) ways of closing the audit expectation gap.
(2 marks)

b) International Standards on Auditing (ISA) defines professional scepticism as an attitude that includes a questioning mind, being alert to conditions which may indicate possible misstatements due to error or fraud and a critical assessment of audit evidence. It explicitly requires auditors to plan and perform an audit with professional scepticism recognising that circumstances may exist that may cause financial statements to be misstated.

Required:

Recommend FOUR (4) approaches or ways that the professional practice firms and auditors could adopt to create the awareness of the importance of professional scepticism and its application.
(4 marks)

c) Opelee Partners, a firm of Chartered Accountants is considering the acceptance of a new client, The Monkoo Group Plc (The Group).

The Group is a listed company, and it has a total of 14 subsidiaries, 10 of which are foreign subsidiaries. The Group is a food processing company and each of its foreign subsidiaries provides a particular ingredient used in the Group’s main processing plant, which is based in Ghana. The subsidiaries produce raw ingredients including corn, wheat, vegetables, and nuts.

If Opelee Partners decides to accept the appointment, it will perform the audit of the Group’s consolidated financial statements, and that of the financial statements of some of the individual subsidiaries. The Group audit committee has suggested that, in order to keep the audit fee as low as possible, Opelee Partners could audit the companies based in Ghana but the foreign subsidiaries would be audited by local firms. These foreign subsidiaries contribute 60% to the Group’s total assets.

As the Managing Partner of Opelee Partners, you have also obtained the following information from an internet search regarding the Group:

  • Local protestors: One subsidiary, Konti Plc, has been accused of environmental damage, due to its operations impacting on the rainforest and causing harm to wildlife. There have been some protests by concerned citizens in the country where Konti Plc is located. Digital recordings of these protests have spread world-wide on social media.
  • Expansion of operations: The Group has recently expanded its operations in a certain country by acquiring a large area of land on which to grow wheat. To receive government approval for the acquisition, a significant ‘incentive payment’ was made to a government minister. This has been reported widely in the media.

Required:

Evaluate the matters Opelee Partners should consider before accepting the audit of The Group under the following areas:

i) The audit firm’s capabilities
(4 marks)

ii) Ethical issues
(4 marks)

iii) Client integrity
(2 marks)

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  • 10 Marks

AAA – Nov 2019 – L3 – Q1b – Professional responsibility and liability, Practice management

Evaluation of challenges and risks when auditing a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO).

b) You are a partner in a two-partner practice in a small rural town in Ashanti Region. Some local community groups recently got together and established a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO). It aims to reduce poverty and inequality by supporting, influencing and advocacy around three interconnected pillars; Agriculture, Essential Services and Extractive Industry Governance.

The organisation is registered as a charity with a legal requirement to reinvest any excess of income over expenditure into the operation, or into other local community initiatives, as the management committee sees fit. The organisation is run by a management committee consisting of a member of the community council, the principal of the local school, two local business people, and the Parish Priest. Although, between them, they have considerable experience of various ‘for-profit’ and ‘not-for-profit’ ventures, none has particular experience of managing NGOs or charity organisations. The organisation is run on a day-to-day basis by the manager who is the only full-time employee experienced in the type of businesses involved. There is one other paid part-time employee – the assistant manager – but all other staff are volunteers.

It has been just over a year since the NGO was incorporated, and you are approached by a member of the management committee (a local business owner who is also one of your largest clients) to become the auditor of the NGO. He tells you that the committee, of course, would not expect you to provide this service entirely pro bono (free of charge). He also mentions that he knows you wouldn’t want to be seen to turn down this opportunity, given the way that “news can travel around in a small town”.

He is well aware that the revenue generated by the organisation is very low. The committee feels that the absence of an audit could be perceived as “negligent” or a “cover up” should any problems involving, for example, the misappropriation of assets emerge in the future.

Required:

Evaluate FIVE (5) challenges and other risks presented to your practice as a result of the request from your client to become the auditor of this NGO. (10 marks)

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