Question

Understanding the Client and Performing Analytical Procedures

Overview

In this assignment, you will prepare a two to three page report that addresses the requirements specified in the case for Parts 1 and 2. Include your calculations as part of your analysis and fully explain the results. Also, include a minimum of two current references to scholarly and/or authoritative sources.

Instructions

Your report must address all of the following:

1. Address the overall understanding of the retail and wholesale industries and identified areas that impact financial reporting.
2. Analyze Cloud 9’s financial position and its business risks. Include ratios supporting the business analysis.
3. Identify areas requiring special emphasis during the audit and potential problem areas.
4. Address materiality in your response.
5. Use at least two current, quality academic or authoritative sources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar websites do not qualify as quality scholarly and/or authoritative sources. Use the Strayer University Library to conduct your research.

Answer 1

Analytical Procedure

Analytical procedures are an important part of the audit process and consist of evaluations of financial information made by a study of plausible relationships among both financial and nonfinancial data. Analytical procedures range from simple comparisons to the use of complex models involving many relationships and elements of data. A basic premise underlying the application of analytical procedures is that plausible relationships among data may reasonably be expected to exist and continue in the absence of known conditions to the contrary. Particular conditions that can cause variations in these relationships include, for example, specific unusual transactions or events, accounting changes, business changes, random fluctuations, or misstatements.

Analytical Procedures in Planning the Audit

The purpose of applying analytical procedures in planning the audit is to assist in planning the nature, timing, and extent of auditing procedures that will be used to obtain evidential matter for specific account balances or classes of transactions. To accomplish this, the analytical procedures used in planning the audit should focus on (a) enhancing the auditor's understanding of the client's business and the transactions and events that have occurred since the last audit date, and (b) identifying areas that may represent specific risks relevant to the audit. Thus, the objective of the procedures is to identify such things as the existence of unusual transactions and events, and amounts, ratios and trends that might indicate matters that have financial statement and audit planning ramifications.

Analytical Procedures Used as Substantive Tests

• The auditor's reliance on substantive tests to achieve an audit objective related to a particular assertion may be derived from tests of details, from analytical procedures, or from a combination of both. The decision about which procedure or procedures to use to achieve a particular audit objective is based on the auditor's judgment on the expected effectiveness and efficiency of the available procedures.
• The auditor considers the level of assurance, if any, he wants from substantive testing for a particular audit objective and decides, among other things, which procedure, or combination of procedures, can provide that level of assurance. For some assertions, analytical procedures are effective in providing the appropriate level of assurance. For other assertions, however, analytical procedures may not be as effective or efficient as tests of details in providing the desired level of assurance.
• The expected effectiveness and efficiency of an analytical procedure in identifying potential misstatements depends on, among other things, (a) the nature of the assertion, (b) the plausibility and predictability of the relationship, (c) the availability and reliability of the data used to develop the expectation, and (d) the precision of the expectation.

The auditor obtains assurance from analytical procedures based upon the consistency of the recorded amounts with expectations developed from data derived from other sources. The reliability of the data used to develop the expectations should be appropriate for the desired level of assurance from the analytical procedure. The auditor should assess the reliability of the data by considering the source of the data and the conditions under which it was gathered, as well as other knowledge the auditor may have about the data. The following factors influence the auditor's consideration of the reliability of data for purposes of achieving audit objectives:

• Whether the data was obtained from independent sources outside the entity or from sources within the entity
• Whether sources within the entity were independent of those who are responsible for the amount being audited
• Whether the data was developed under a reliable system with adequate controls
• Whether the data was subjected to audit testing in the current or prior year
• Whether the expectations were developed using data from a variety of sources

Analytical Procedures Used in the Overall Review

The objective of analytical procedures used in the overall review stage of the audit is to assist the auditor in assessing the conclusions reached and in the evaluation of the overall financial statement presentation. A wide variety of analytical procedures may be useful for this purpose. The overall review would generally include reading the financial statements and notes and considering (a) the adequacy of evidence gathered in response to unusual or unexpected balances identified in planning the audit or in the course of the audit and (b) unusual or unexpected balances or relationships that were not previously identified. Results of an overall review may indicate that additional evidence may be needed.