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)