AUDITING AND ASSURANCE ASSIGNMENT PART A AND PART B [25 Marks]

Purpose of assignment:

The purpose of the assignment is to build your skill to research and explore specific aspect(s) of auditing and assurance as a group, and prepare and submit written work in academically acceptable format linking your auditing and assurance knowledge and skill to the world of corporate auditing.

This is a two-part assignment. In Part A of this assignment, you are required to produce and submit plan for audit of a new engagement, Abundant Produce Limited, a company listed on Australian Securities Exchange covering three key segments of the audit plan primarily based on the audited financial report of the company for the year ending 30 June 2019 and other publicly available information on the (a) facts about the company, its management and previous auditors, (b) analytical review of company’s history of performance and financial position, and (c) discussing the main matters that are required to be addressed for planning the audit for the year ending 30 June 2020.

In Part B you are required to submit a research essay on the cause and consequences of IT and technology disruptions on financial report audit around the world. It appears that the future of auditing and auditors are set to be rewritten.

Research, preparation, presentation and size of assignment:

You are required to prepare and submit the assignment in WORD FORMAT with a completed and signed coversheet. The length of the assignment is to be approximately 2,000 words. Assignments of more than 2,200 words will not be marked; those with less than 1,800 words will be at risk of failing for poor contents, analysis and discussion. You are advised to provide a word count on your assignment coversheet. Do not include any synopsis, references or bibliography in the word count. Do not use appendices or footnotes as a way around the word limit.

You are required to be mindful of all PIA requirements and policies included in the unit outline on the production of academic work. We remind you again that plagiarism, collusion, cheating, fraud, and all other forms of academic misconduct is to be taken into account in determining your score on the assignment.

You are required to carry out sufficient appropriate research on all publicly available information on company’s website, other online resources, newspapers, periodicals, professional journals and academic journal data bases etc. You are also required to apply and draw support from Australian and International Auditing and Assurance Standards.

Due date and submission: 5pm on Friday of Week 9. Penalties apply for late submission of work. Submit your group assignment via Turnitin through the ACC300 Auditing and Assurance Moodle site.

TASK PART A: AUDITING AND ASSURANCE [15 Marks]

You are the manager of AWC Chartered Accountants. Your firm has recently been engaged as external auditor of Abundant Produce Limited 28 September 2019 to audit the company’s financial report of the year ending 30 June 2020. The engagement partner called you in his office

on 1 October 2019 and gave you complete audited financial report of Abundant Produce Limited for the year ended 30 June 2019, and asked you to complete the following preliminary planning tasks and report to him on 1 November 2019:

You are therefore required to prepare a written report

• listing and explaining five important facts about the Abundant Produce Limited, its management and previous auditors [5 Marks];
• critically reviewing company’s history on five main aspects of performance and financial position [5 Marks]; and
• discussing five main matters that are required to be addressed for planning the audit for the year ending 30 June 2020 [5 Marks].

TASK PART B: TECHNOLOGY IN AUDIT AND ASSURANCE [10 Marks]

Audit and assurance have been inundated with huge technology disruptions and new regulatory interventions in recent years demanding new ways of addressing audit especially audit of public interest entities. Some auditing scholars believe that there is hardly a future for financial report auditing and other assurance services.

You are therefore required to prepare a written research essay

• listing and discussing five main technology and/or regulatory disruptions and interventions that the auditing and assurance profession has now been struggling with [5 Marks]; and
• critically discuss five main challenges and/or opportunities these technology and/or regulatory disruptions and interventions has been causing to the main players in audit and assurance profession [5 Marks].

CRITERIA FOR GRADING THE AUDITING AND ASSURANCE ASSIGNMENT

Analysis (approximately 60% of the marks will be allocated here):

• Depth of understanding of the topic and identification of relevant issues
• Clarity and coherence of the debate or discussion
• Quality of discussion and argument
• Attempt to canvass a range of views and to offer a balanced view on important audit considerations

Research (approximately 30% of the marks will be allocated here):

• The use made of appropriate legal and professional developments,

in particular Australian and International Auditing and Ethical Standards to support your discussion

• The breadth and use made of relevant secondary legal sources such

as Government reports, newspaper reports, and academic publications

Presentation (10% of the marks):

• Readable connected Not point form summaries
• Effective use of headings
• Consistent and accurate acknowledgement of sources using a

recognised referencing style - both in relation to in-text referencing and list of references/ bibliography.

Your lecturer will mark your assignment. Feedback and grades will be communicated via Moodle within ONE week of the assignment deadline for submission (whichever is the latter).