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  RELEVANT TO ACCA QUALIFICATION PAPERS F8 AND P7
  2011 ACCA
  Clarity auditing standards
  To enhance the application of auditing standards in exam questions,
  candidates must familiarise themselves with the clarity auditing standards.
  The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) has
  completed its comprehensive project to enhance the clarity of all of its
  International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) in 2009 for improving
  understandability of auditing standards, and all the new clarity auditing
  standards are now examinable. This also affects the Hong Kong Standards on
  Auditing (HKSAs)。
  The full set of clarity auditing standards features 39 documents, which include:
  ? a new International/Hong Kong Standard on Auditing on communicating
  deficiencies in internal control – ISA/HKSA 265 (Clarified), Communicating
  Deficiencies in Internal Control to those Charged with Governance and
  Management
  ? 35 clarity ISAs/HKSAs
  ? a clarified international/Hong Kong standard on quality control – ISQC 1/
  HKSQC 1, Quality Controls for Firms that Perform Audits and Reviews of
  Financial Statements, and Other Assurance and Related Services Engagements
  ? a revised glossary of terms
  ? a revised preface to the International/Hong Kong Standards on Quality
  Control, Auditing, Review, Other Assurance and Related Services.
  ISA/HKSA 265 (Clarified), Communicating Deficiencies in Internal
  Control to those Charged with Governance and Management
  Among the clarified auditing standards, ISA/HKSA 265 (Clarified) is a
  completely new standard.
  It deals with the auditor’s responsibility to communicate appropriately to those
  charged with governance and management deficiencies in internal control that
  the auditor has identified in an audit of financial statements.
  When auditors plan for an audit, they are required to perform risk assessment
  through understanding internal controls, and also test for the appropriateness
  of design of internal controls and whether they are implemented. When control
  reliance strategy is adopted, auditors are required to perform tests of controls
  to gather audit evidence on the operating effectiveness of controls.
  During both processes, auditors might identify deficiencies in internal controls.
  In accordance with ISA/HKSA 265 (Clarified), ‘deficiency’ exists when ‘a
  control is designed, implemented or operated in such a way that it is unable to
  prevent, or detect and correct, misstatements in financial statements on a
  timely basis; or a control necessary to prevent, or detect and correct
  misstatements in the financial statements on a timely basis is missing’。 It is
  equivalent to a deviation from an internal control.
  2
  CLARIFIED AUDITING STANDARDS
  APRIL 2011
  It is common in practice and in exam questions to identify and explain
  deficiencies in internal control systems. An example is Question 3(b) of Paper
  F8 in the June 2010 exam session. Candidates were required to identify and
  explain deficiencies in the cash cycle of a window cleaning company, suggest
  controls to address each of these deficiencies, and list tests of controls the
  auditor would perform to assess if the controls were operating effectively.
  If the deficiency is significant, it is known as ‘significant deficiency’。 It is ‘a
  deficiency or combination of deficiencies in internal control that, in the
  auditor’s professional judgment, is of sufficient importance to merit the
  attention of those charged with governance’。 It depends not only on whether a
  misstatement has actually occurred, but also on the likelihood that a
  misstatement could occur and the potential magnitude of the misstatement.
  Significant deficiencies may therefore exist even though the auditor has not
  identified misstatements during the audit.
  Consideration points should include:
  ? the likelihood of the deficiencies leading to material misstatements in the
  financial statements in the future
  ? the susceptibility to loss or fraud of the related asset or liability
  ? the subjectivity and complexity of determining estimated amounts, such as
  fair value accounting estimates
  ? the financial statement amounts exposed to the deficiencies
  ? the volume of activity that has occurred or could occur in the account
  balance or class of transactions exposed to the deficiency or deficiencies
  ? the importance of the controls to the financial reporting process
  ? the cause and frequency of the exceptions detected as a result of the
  deficiencies in the controls
  ? the interaction of the deficiency with other deficiencies in internal control.
  When you found the following indicators in real practice or exam questions,
  this would indicate significant deficiencies. These include:
  ? evidence of ineffective aspects of the control environment, such as
  management fraud not mitigated by internal controls, not sufficient
  oversight of significant management interests by those charged with
  governance, and no implementation of remedial actions against significant
  deficiencies communicated
  ? absence or inefficiency of a risk assessment process
  ? evidence of ineffective responses to identified significant risks
  ? misstatements detected by the auditor’s procedures, which were not
  prevented, detected and corrected by the internal controls
  ? restatement of previously issued financial statements to reflect the
  correction of a material misstatement due to error or fraud
  ? evidence of management’s inability to oversee the preparation of the
  financial statements.  3
  CLARIFIED AUDITING STANDARDS
  APRIL 2011
  In response to significant deficiencies in internal control identified during the
  audit, the auditor will communicate in writing the significant deficiencies to
  those charged with governance on a timely basis. For the communication, this
  would include a description of the deficiencies, an explanation of their potential
  effects, and sufficient information to enable those charged with governance
  and management to understand the context of the communication.
  In terms of the sufficiency of the details of communication, the consideration
  factors include:
  ? the nature of the entity – more details for public interest entities than
  non-public interest entities
  ? the size and complexity of the entity – more details for larger and more
  complex entities
  ? the nature of significant deficiencies that the auditor has identified – more
  details for those involving integrity of management and fraud
  ? the entity’s governance composition – more details for inexperienced
  governance members
  ? legal or regulatory requirements regarding the communication of specific
  types of deficiency in internal control
  Evaluation of misstatements
  As well as deficiencies in internal controls, misstatements may also be
  detected during an audit. ISA/HKSA 450 (Clarified), Evaluation of Misstatements
  Identified During the Audit is actually a new separate standard as well. This
  highlights the importance of focusing on the deficiencies/misstatements
  during the audit, which is a common consideration for a risk-based approach.
  ISA/HKSA 450 (Clarified) deals with the auditor’s responsibility to *uate the
  effect of identified misstatements on the audit and of uncorrected
  misstatements, if any, on the financial statements. ‘Misstatement’ is defined
  as ‘a difference between the amount, classification, presentation, or disclosure
  of a reported financial statement item and the amount, classification,
  presentation, or disclosure that is required for the item to be in accordance
  with the applicable financial reporting framework. Misstatement can arise from
  error or fraud.’ This also relates to those that require adjustments for issuing a
  true and fair view on the financial statements.
  For these kind of identified misstatements, the auditor should determine
  whether the nature and the circumstances of their occurrence indicate the
  existence of other misstatements, which could be material individually or in
  aggregate. These misstatements should be communicated to the appropriate
  level of management on a timely basis.
  The auditor should also consider whether there is a need to revise the audit
  strategy and audit plan – especially when those areas are confirmed to have
  appropriate design, implementation and effective operation of controls, now
  there are identified misstatements. Does the initial conclusion need to be
  4
  CLARIFIED AUDITING STANDARDS
  APRIL 2011
  reconsidered? This would definitely affect the risk assessment, audit strategy
  and audit plan.
  ‘Uncorrected misstatements’ are the ‘misstatements that the auditor has
  accumulated during the audit that have not been corrected’。 Before *uating
  the effect of the uncorrected misstatements, the auditor should confirm
  whether the materiality still remains appropriate. Afterwards, the auditor will
  determine the uncorrected misstatements are material individually or in
  aggregate. The auditor will consider:
  ? the size and nature of the misstatements, and the particular circumstances
  of the occurrence
  ? the effect of uncorrected misstatements related to the prior periods.
  The auditor will communicate the uncorrected misstatements and their
  implication on the auditor’s report to those charged with governance. The
  auditor will also request a written representation (including a summary of
  uncorrected misstatements) from management and – where appropriate –
  those charged with governance as to whether they believe the effects of
  uncorrected misstatements are immaterial, individually and in aggregate to the
  financial statements as a whole.
  Conclusion
  To summarise, candidates need to update their auditing knowledge,
  understand them and apply them in the exam questions.
  As stated by the Paper P7 examiner: ‘A significant proportion of candidates
  continue to produce answers that are simply too vague or too brief, do not
  actually answer the question requirements, and display inadequate technical
  knowledge of the clarified ISAs (HKSAs)。 These candidates are encouraged to
  improve their exam technique, as well as knowledge of the syllabus, by
  practising as many past exam questions as possible, using up-to-date study
  materials, and by taking on board the comments made in examiner’s articles
  and reports.’
  Allan Lee FCCA is director of Allan Lee Professional Solutions Ltd and cochairman
  of ACCA Hong Kong’s Student Affairs Subcommittee
  This article was originally written for ACCA Hong Kong Student News Update
  magazine, Winter 2010 issue but is still relevant for all auditing students.
  小編寄語:成功與不成功之間有時(shí)距離很短——只要后者再向前幾步。
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