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(ii) the directors agree to disclose the note. (4 marks)
(ii) the directors agree to disclose the note. (4 marks)
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(ii) the directors agree to disclose the note. (4 marks)
(b) When a director retires, amounts become payable to the director as a form. of retirement benefit as an annuity.
These amounts are not based on salaries paid to the director under an employment contract. Sirus has
contractual or constructive obligations to make payments to former directors as at 30 April 2008 as follows:
(i) certain former directors are paid a fixed annual amount for a fixed term beginning on the first anniversary of
the director’s retirement. If the director dies, an amount representing the present value of the future payment
is paid to the director’s estate.
(ii) in the case of other former directors, they are paid a fixed annual amount which ceases on death.
The rights to the annuities are determined by the length of service of the former directors and are set out in the
former directors’ service contracts. (6 marks)
Required:
Draft a report to the directors of Sirus which discusses the principles and nature of the accounting treatment of
the above elements under International Financial Reporting Standards in the financial statements for the year
ended 30 April 2008.
(ii) The property of the former administrative centre of Tyre is owned by the company. Tyre had decided in the year
that the property was surplus to requirements and demolished the building on 10 June 2006. After demolition,
the company will have to carry out remedial environmental work, which is a legal requirement resulting from the
demolition. It was intended that the land would be sold after the remedial work had been carried out. However,
land prices are currently increasing in value and, therefore, the company has decided that it will not sell the land
immediately. Tyres uses the ‘cost model’ in IAS16 ‘Property, plant and equipment’ and has owned the property
for many years. (7 marks)
Required:
Advise the directors of Tyre on how to treat the above items in the financial statements for the year ended
31 May 2006.
(The mark allocation is shown against each of the above items)
Bluebird Enterprises Co (Bluebird) is a retail company planning to list on a stock exchange within the next six months, and management has been advised by the company’s auditors about the need for compliance with corporate governance provisions. In particular, the finance director is looking to recruit non-executive directors as he understands that Bluebird will need to establish an audit committee.
The finance director has two potential non-executive directors whom he is considering approaching to join the board of Bluebird. Antony Goldfinch is currently an executive sales director of a listed multi-national banking company; he sits on an audit committee of another company as a non-executive director and is agreeable to being paid a fixed fee which is not related to profits. Jacob Mallard is currently a finance director of a small retail company, which does not compete with Bluebird; he has expressed an interest in a fixed seven year contract and he is the brother of Bluebird’s chief executive.
Required
(a) Explain the benefits to Bluebird Enterprises Co of establishing an audit committee. (4 marks)
(b) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of appointing:
(i) Anthony Goldfinch; and
(ii) Jacob Mallard
as non-executive directors of Bluebird Enterprises Co.
Note: The total marks will be split equally between each part. (6 marks)
(i) On 1 July 2010, the factory had a carrying amount of $3·6 million and is expected to be sold for net proceeds of $5 million. On the same date the plant had a carrying amount of $2·8 million, but it is anticipated that it will only realise net proceeds of $500,000.
(ii) Of the employees affected by the closure, the majority will be made redundant at cost of $750,000, the remainder will be retrained at a cost of $200,000 and given work in one of the company’s other operations.
(iii) Trading losses from 1 July to 30 September 2010 are expected to be $600,000 and from this date to the closure on 31 January 2011 a further $1 million of trading losses are expected.
Required:
Explain how the decision to close the furniture making operation should be treated in Manco’s fi nancial statements for the years ending 30 September 2010 and 2011. Your answer should quantify the amounts involved.
Saxophone Enterprises Co (Saxophone) has been trading for 15 years selling insurance and has recently become a listed company. In accordance with corporate governance principles Saxophone maintains a small internal audit department. The directors feel that the team needs to increase in size and specialist skills are required, but they are unsure whether to recruit more internal auditors, or to outsource the whole function to their external auditors, Cello & Co.
Saxophone is required to comply with corporate governance principles in order to maintain its listed status; hence the finance director has undertaken a review of whether or not the company complies.
Bill Bassoon is the chairman of Saxophone, until last year he was the chief executive. Bill is unsure if Saxophone needs more non-executive directors as there are currently three non-executive directors out of the eight board members. He is considering appointing one of his close friends, who is a retired chief executive of a manufacturing company, as a non-executive director.
The finance director, Jessie Oboe, decides on the amount of remuneration each director is paid. Currently all remuneration is in the form. of an annual bonus based on profits. Jessie is considering setting up an audit committee, but has not undertaken this task yet as she is very busy. A new sales director was appointed nine months ago. He has yet to undertake his board training as this is normally provided by the chief executive and this role is currently vacant.
There are a large number of shareholders and therefore the directors believe that it is impractical and too costly to hold an annual general meeting of shareholders. Instead, the board has suggested sending out the financial statements and any voting resolutions by email; shareholders can then vote on the resolutions via email.
Required:
(a) Explain the advantages and disadvantages for each of Saxophone Enterprises Co AND Cello & Co of outsourcing the internal audit department.
Note: The total marks will be split as follows:
Saxophone Enterprises Co (8 marks)
Cello & Co (2 marks) (10 marks)
(b) In respect of the corporate governance of Saxophone Enterprises Co:
(i) Identify and explain FIVE corporate governance weaknesses; and
(ii) Provide a recommendation to address each weakness.
Note: The total marks will be split equally between each part. (10 marks)
As part of Tye Co’s service contract with the government, it is required to hold an emergency inventory reserve of 6,000 barrels of aviation fuel. The inventory is to be used if the supply of aviation fuel is interrupted due to unforeseen events such as natural disaster or terrorist activity.
This fuel has in the past been valued at its cost price of $15 a barrel. The current value of aviation fuel is $120 a barrel. Although the audit work is complete, as noted above, the directors of Tye Co have now decided to show the ‘real’ value of this closing inventory in the financial statements by valuing closing inventory of fuel at market value, which does not comply with relevant accounting standards. The draft financial statements of Tye Co currently show a profit of approximately $500,000 with net assets of $170 million.
Required:
(a) List the audit procedures and actions that you should now take in respect of the above matter. (6 marks)
(b) For the purposes of this section assume from part (a) that the directors have agreed to value inventory at
$15/barrel.
Having investigated the matter in part (a) above, the directors present you with an amended set of financial
statements showing the emergency reserve stated not at 6,000 barrels, but reported as 60,000 barrels. The final financial statements now show a profit following the inclusion of another 54,000 barrels of oil in inventory. When queried about the change from 6,000 to 60,000 barrels of inventory, the finance director stated that this change was made to meet expected amendments to emergency reserve requirements to be published in about six months time. The inventory will be purchased this year, and no liability will be shown in the financial statements for this future purchase. The finance director also pointed out that part of Tye Co’s contract with the government requires Tye Co to disclose an annual profit and that a review of bank loans is due in three months. Finally the finance director stated that if your audit firm qualifies the financial statements in respect of the increase in inventory, they will not be recommended for re-appointment at the annual general meeting. The finance director refuses to amend the financial statements to remove this ‘fictitious’ inventory.
Required:
(i) State the external auditor’s responsibilities regarding the detection of fraud; (4 marks)
(ii) Discuss to which groups the auditors of Tye Co could report the ‘fictitious’ aviation fuel inventory;
(6 marks)
(iii) Discuss the safeguards that the auditors of Tye Co can use in an attempt to overcome the intimidation
threat from the directors of Tye Co. (4 marks)
Recently, business activity in the defence sector had been very slow, and MRA was about to announce around 500 staff redundancies. Therefore news that this contract was about to be awarded came as a great relief to the board of MRA, as the jobs would now be secured. However, only the chief executive officer (CEO) and operations director knew about the facilitation fee, so an emergency meeting of the board was convened with only one item on the agenda.
Due to the very sensitive nature of the matter at hand, it was decided not to make a formal record of the discussions at the board meeting. This was more likely to result in a frank exchange of views and encourage all directors to express their opinions openly.
The CEO, Charlie Desborough, explained the dilemma to the board, making it very clear that without this contract there would be no way to protect jobs. The finance director, Jake Neilson, said that he was personally very uncomfortable with the idea of paying a facilitation fee, which was in effect a ‘bribe’. As a professional accountant he was bound by a code of ethics which strictly prohibited making such payments, therefore he could not sanction the payment under any circumstances.
The HR director, Sarah Shue, took a far more pragmatic stance. She acknowledged that any form. of corruption was utterly deplorable; however, it was a fact of life in many countries. She asserted that if the board of MRA decided not to make the payment and forego the contract, then it could be assured that a competitor would not adopt such a high-minded position. The net effect was that by avoiding a relatively small payment, the firm would be doing a disservice to both its employees and its shareholders, who would undoubtedly suffer a reduction in their shareholder value. She maintained that sometimes it is necessary to take difficult decisions in business that are for the greater good, and so suggested that the payment to the official should be made.
Required:
(a) (i) Compare relativism and absolutism and explain the significance of individual or personal differences in guiding ethical behaviour under each approach in a given scenario such as the situation at MRA. (5 marks)
(ii) Explain the ethical theories of deontology and teleology or consequentialism, and analyse which of the approaches have been adopted by Sarah Shue and Jake Neilson. (6 marks)
The involvement of directors in bribery and corruption can seriously undermine the relationships of trust upon which corporate governance is based.
Required:
(b) (i) Assess how bribery and corruption could undermine confidence and trust in MRA, with reference to the principles of corporate governance. (8 marks)
(ii) Describe best practice measures which could be employed by MRA to combat bribery and corruption. (6 marks)
Jackdaw Motor Cars Co (Jackdaw) manufactures a range of motor cars and its year end is 31 January 2015. You are the audit supervisor of Puffin & Co and are currently preparing the audit programmes for the year-end audit of Jackdaw. You have had a meeting with your audit manager and he has notified you of a number of issues identified during the audit risk assessment process.
Land and buildings
Jackdaw have a policy of revaluing land and buildings, this is undertaken on a rolling basis over a five-year period. During the year Jackdaw requested an external valuer to revalue a number of properties, including a warehouse purchased in May 2014. Depreciation is charged on a pro rata basis.
Work in progress
Jackdaw undertakes continuous production of cars, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. An inventory count is to be undertaken at the year end and Puffin & Co will attend. You are responsible for the audit of work in progress (WIP) and will be part of the team attending the count as well as the final audit. WIP constitutes the partly assembled cars at the year end and this balance is likely to be material. Jackdaw values WIP according to percentage of completion, and standard costs are then applied to these percentages.
Required:
(a) Explain the factors Puffin & Co should consider when placing reliance on the work of the independent valuer. (5 marks)
(b) Describe the substantive procedures the auditor should perform. to obtain sufficient and appropriate audit evidence in relation to:
(i) The revaluation of land and buildings and the recently purchased warehouse; and (6 marks)
(ii) The valuation of work in progress. (4 marks)
(c) During the audit, your team has identified an error in the valuation of work in progress, as a number of the assumptions contain out of date information. The directors of Jackdaw have indicated that they do not wish to amend the financial statements.
Required:
Explain the steps Puffin & Co should now take and the impact on the audit report in relation to the directors’ refusal to amend the financial statements. (5 marks)
company. The seven engineers previously worked together for ‘Telstar’, a satellite navigation company.
In conjunction with one of the three largest construction companies within their country they constructed the ‘365
Sports Complex’ which has a roof that opens and uses revolutionary satellite technology to maintain grass surfaces
within the complex. The complex facilities, which are available for use on each day of the year, include two tennis
courts, a cricket pitch, an equestrian centre and six bowling greens. The tennis courts and cricket pitch are suitable
for use as venues for national competitions. The equestrian centre offers horse-riding lessons to the general public and
is also a suitable venue for show-jumping competitions. The equestrian centre and bowling greens have increased in
popularity as a consequence of regular television coverage of equestrian and bowling events.
In spite of the high standard of the grass surfaces within the sports complex, the directors are concerned by reduced
profit levels as a consequence of both falling revenues and increasing costs. The area in which the ‘365 Sports
Complex’ is located has high unemployment but is served by all public transport services.
The directors of Astrodome Sports Ltd have different views about the course of action that should be taken to provide
a strategy for the future improvement in the performance of the complex. Each director’s view is based on his/her
individual perception as to the interpretation of the information contained in the performance measurement system of
the complex. These are as follows:
Director
(a) ‘There is no point whatsoever in encouraging staff to focus on interaction with customers in efforts to create a
‘user friendly’ environment. What we need is to maintain the quality of our grass surfaces at all costs since that
is the distinguishing feature of our business.’
(b) ‘Buy more equipment which can be hired out to users of our facilities. This will improve our utilisation ratios
which will lead to increased profits.’
(c) ‘We should focus our attention on maximising the opening hours of our facilities. Everything else will take care
of itself.’
(d) ‘Recent analysis of customer feedback forms indicates that most of our customers are satisfied with the facilities.
In fact, the only complaints are from three customers – the LCA University which uses the cricket pitch for
matches, the National Youth Training Academy which held training sessions on the tennis courts, and a local
bowling team.’
(e) ‘We should reduce the buildings maintenance budget by 25% and spend the money on increased advertising of
our facilities which will surely attract more customers.’
(f) ‘We should hold back on our efforts to overcome the shortage of bowling equipment for hire. Recent rumours are
that the National Bowling Association is likely to offer large financial grants next year to sports complexes who
can show they have a demand for the sport but have deficiencies in availability of equipment.’
(g) ‘Why change our performance management system? Our current areas of focus provide us with all the
information we need to ensure that we remain a profitable and effective business.’
As management accountant of Astrodome Sports Ltd you have recently read an article which discussed the following
performance measurement problems:
(i) Tunnel vision
(ii) Sub-optimisation
(iii) Misinterpretation
(iv) Myopia
(v) Measure fixation
(vi) Misrepresentation
(vii) Gaming
(viii) Ossification.
Required:
(a) Explain FOUR of the above-mentioned performance measurement problems (i-viii) and discuss which of the
views of the directors (a-g) illustrate its application in each case. (12 marks)
(a) (i) Identify and explain FOUR financial statement assertions relevant to account balances at the year end; and
(ii) For each identified assertion, describe a substantive procedure relevant to the audit of year-end inventory. (8 marks)
(b) Pineapple Beach Hotel Co (Pineapple) operates a hotel providing accommodation, leisure facilities and restaurants. Its year end was 30 April 2012. You are the audit senior of Berry & Co and are currently preparing the audit programmes for the year end audit of Pineapple. You are reviewing the notes of last week’s meeting between the audit manager and finance director where two material issues were discussed.
Depreciation
Pineapple incurred significant capital expenditure during the year on updating the leisure facilities for the hotel. The finance director has proposed that the new leisure equipment should be depreciated over 10 years using the straight-line method.
Food poisoning
Pineapple’s directors received correspondence in March from a group of customers who attended a wedding at the hotel. They have alleged that they suffered severe food poisoning from food eaten at the hotel and are claiming substantial damages. Pineapple’s lawyers have received the claim and believe that the lawsuit against the company is unlikely to be successful.
Required:
Describe substantive procedures to obtain sufficient and appropriate audit evidence in relation to the above two issues.
Note: The total marks will be split equally between each issue. (8 marks)
(c) List and explain the purpose of FOUR items that should be included on every working paper prepared by the audit team. (4 marks)