Question Tag: Loan Assessment

Reliable Limited is into wholesale and retail supply and distribution of stationeries to companies and educational institutions. The company maintains business relationships with other enterprises that are owned by close friends and relatives. The books of account of the company were kept manually and in simple Excel. The company had only a staff member in the accounts department since it is a small business operation.

A review of the company’s operations shows that inventory of stationeries purchased was not properly valued due to incomplete recording of purchases made. Although bank statements are obtained, the balances on the bank statements were not reconciled with the cash book.

Cash from sales made was not banked intact, and expenses relating to cash takings from the till were not all recorded or properly monitored. Added to this, goods bought from related parties were sometimes overvalued as suppliers made frivolous claims which could not be disputed due to poor record keeping. The Managing Director and owner of the company has been sick for some time, and the wife concentrated more on her own business, leaving the operations of the company to a relation who is not well educated. Available evidence revealed that invoices and vouchers of the company were approved without management review, and the procedure or selection of suppliers was not transparent.

The company has just won a contract for the supply of stationeries in one of the states in the Federation, and it was found that there was inadequate cash flow to execute the contract. The manager of the company informed the Managing Director’s wife of the development, and it was agreed that a bank loan would be needed. On approaching the bank, updated financial statements of the company were requested to determine the financial health of the business and ability to repay the loan when due.

Your firm has been appointed as auditors of the company with a stipulated deadline to complete the audit so that the company could meet the bank’s conditions. The firm has conducted a preliminary review of the operations of the company, and some control gaps have been noted.

Required:

a. Discuss suitable control activities that will be required in the above scenario and how you will assess the degree of effectiveness of the internal control systems.
(10 Marks)

b. Identify and explain what the external auditors are expected to do during the course of the above audit.
(5 Marks)

Total: 15 Marks