Audit Engagement Essay examples -- essays research papers

Subject: Assessment of Exton Industries, Inc. Dear Ms. Johnson:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I have recently reviewed the Control Environment Questionnaire for Exton Industries, Inc. After evaluating the evidence collected by our staff member, I have come up with an assessment of the fraud risks. From the evidence gathered, I have concluded that Exton Industries has a weak control environment. Overall, it will not do an effective job of preventing fraudulent activities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While evaluating Exton Industries, I had to consider how the control environment would prevent misstatements arising from misappropriation of assets and fraudulent financial reporting.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The controller, CFO, and CEO review all financial reports before releasing them. Another area to consider was the assignment of authority and responsibility. Because three different people review the financial reports, it’s easier to identify any mistakes that may have been made which in turn reduces the chances of misappropriation in fraudulent reporting. Through conversation with employees it was noted that proper responsibility and delegation of authority were assigned and the proper information appeared to be considered in developing responsibilities. Written job descriptions and standards also exist. Since proper responsibility and delegation of authority and written job descriptions and standards exist the, the chances of fraudulent activities are reduced. Other issues to consider were management’s commitment to competence and human resource policies and procedures. During the hiring process, management makes sure the potential employee possesses the proper knowledge and skills to carry out the job adequately. Upon hiring, the new employee is made aware of his or her responsibilities and management’s expectations of them. In addition supervisors conduct annual reviews. The company’s previous success also shows that employees have the required skills and knowledge. Discussions with employees indicated that they are made aware of the consequences if they perform ineffectively and/or do not fulfill their responsibilities. Exton Industries has effective controls in their commitment to competence and human resource department’s hiring and review process. Overall, the control environment of the board of directors and audit committee will p... ...ast year several employees have left on short notice and there has been difficulty in retaining key personnel. The new management team is probably worried about getting profits up and by using an aggressive approach there may be more errors because financial statements may not checked as thoroughly. The cause of the high turnover rate should be investigated, employees may be leaving because others are committing fraudulent behavior and they do not want to get involved. Management may be encouraging this or may not see it because they are too worried about making the company look profitable. Lastly, there were failures to protect valuable assets, which could lead to misappropriation of assets. In conclusion, I found that Exton Industries has some internal controls that will prevent fraudulent financial reporting and misappropriation of assets however, they are lacking effective internal controls as well. As a result of Exton Industries having weak internal controls, control risk is increased and the audit team will need to choose higher control risk strategies. If controls in the areas lacking are not improved the control environment will fail to protect future fraudulent acts.