...ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING EDUCATION Vol. 24, No. 2 May 2009 pp. 237–252 If You Need Love, Get a Puppy: A Case Study on Professional Skepticism and Auditor Independence Robert L. Braun and H. Lynn Stallworth ABSTRACT: The purpose of this teaching case is to expand students’ understanding of the concepts of professional skepticism and independence. The case is based on an actual incident and illustrates the exercise of professional skepticism by a staff auditor who finds himself in the uncomfortable situation of accusing a friend of fraud. The case demonstrates the difficult personal and professional choices that auditors must sometimes make. In analyzing the case, students consider auditor independence rules, as well as the concepts of independence in appearance and independence in mental attitude. Students are asked to identify the types of audit evidence and internal controls needed to detect and prevent the fraud, and to consider the appropriate audit response to an adverse situation. Keywords: auditing; professional skepticism; fraud; independence; internal controls; misappropriation of assets. L THE CASE ife is good, thought Will Stallard as he got into his truck that October morning. He could have been thinking of any one of a number of things—his wife of seven years, his beautiful baby girl, or his job as a staff auditor at Dykstra, Banister, and Huston (DB&H), a CPA firm with offices in Montgomery and Mobile, Alabama. Or, maybe it was the slight chill in the air and the...
Words: 7050 - Pages: 29
...If You Need Love Get a Puppy. Auditing Guidance: AU § 150.02: This is the standard on independence in mental attitude in all matters relating to the audit. The auditor needs to be aware of any personal factors that could impair his independence and objectivity. AICPA Code of Professional Conduct ET Section 101.02 Rule 101- 1 Independence: This section outlines specific relationships that impair auditor independence. There is a provision for other considerations that defines the reasonable person test for determining if there is a threat to independence. 1. 1. Professional skepticism is an attitude of a questioning mind and a critical assessment of evidence. 2. Will exercised professional skepticism in a number of ways. One example was not ignoring the use of two different color inks by the same person on the same day. He pursued further through a closer examination of the bills, carefully noticing the deposit slip predated the bills print date by a year. Another example was when Will did not see the cash deposit on the bank statement; he discovered a pattern of missing cash deposits. 3. One condition that could have limited Will’s skepticism was auditing the workplace of his best friend’s wife, Jess. Will was at times hesitant to heavily question Jess for fear of damaging their personal relationship. Other conditions that may have limited Will’s skepticism were his inexperience, receiving reasonable explanations for missing documents...
Words: 883 - Pages: 4
...If You Need Love Get a Puppy: A Case Study on Professional Skepticism and Auditor Independence Question #5: Identify controls that could have helped prevent or detect this theft, had they been in place Answer: * By providing fiscal policies and procedures in writing that are approved Board of Directors the entities sets a major underlying foundation for behavior that is expected and required. * These policies should include conflict of interest and code of ethics section. * Procedures should be updated every year * It is important that employees are taught and trained in the policies so that they learned of their existence and they get a sense of what is expected of them. * It is also important to exercise segregation of duties in the workplace. This means require different parties to perform key parts of the transaction. Specifically, separate the authorization, custody, record keeping and reconciliation duties. In the case, not only is Jessica in charge of the custody and record keeping duty, but there also seems that there isn’t any supervising bank reconciliation activity being performed. There are different controls that this entity could have used to avoid segregation of duties problems experienced that led to the burglary of funds by Jessica. Some of these are: * Implement a bank lockbox system that receives the entity payments. These system would have avoided Jessica or any employee to have to deal with cash by just getting...
Words: 323 - Pages: 2
...In the novel Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, there was a conflict that has been going on throughout the novel. The conflict is about Billy and his family not having enough money. Billy has begged his parents for a coonhound and never had the chance to get one because of his money problems. Billy hadn’t had candy in a while, as it states in the book, because he hadn’t had the money to get the candy. This ties into the theme of the book. The theme in this book is puppy love. The theme is puppy love because throughout the first few chapters Billy does a lot for his puppys. In chapter three, Billy needed fifty dollars to pay for the two coonhounds. His grandfather asked how long he had been saving the money and he replied, “Two years.”...
Words: 285 - Pages: 2
...Lee English 102 8 February 2015 Rhetorical Analysis Companies advertise, whether it’s television ad, radio ad, or publication ad. Companies use advertisement to reach one goal and that common goal is to persuade consumers like me to purchase their product. Whether the advertisement is sentimental or comical, consumers are intrigue and curious with the advertisement that they end up purchasing a product the company advertise. Almost everyone loves puppies. They symbolize warmth, comfort, and friendship. Budweiser did an amazing job incorporating a puppy into their commercial. The commercial opens up with a young man who recently brought a puppy into his life. As the commercial progresses so does the friendship with the young man and his puppy, which is no longer a puppy it is now a full grown healthy dog. Both the man and his dog take part of many activities with each other: playing catch, sleeping and cuddling up with one another, going on casual drives, going to the lake for a swim, and lastly warming up by a fire pit. The love with the man and his dog deeply increases. One day the man decided to hang out with some friend and go out for some drinks leaving his dog alone inside the empty house. The dog waits and waits and continues to wait by the entrance door weeping for his owner to return home. Finally when the owner returns home the next day the dog began to lick his owner and jumping on him expressing happiness and excitement. Finally, the commercial ends with a statement...
Words: 631 - Pages: 3
...Puppy Mills Should Be Stopped Do you know that Missouri and Iowa have the largest number of puppy mills in the United States? I think puppy mills should be illegal in the United States. They should be illegal because they treat dogs cruelly, they over breed the females, and they don’t provide a healthy environment for the dogs. Puppy mills should be stopped because they are cruel to dogs. In puppy mills, dogs spend most of their lives in cramped cages, with no room to play or exercise. “A puppy mill is a commercial dog breeding facility that focuses on increasing profit with little cost.” The puppy’s health is poor and welfare of the dogs is not healthy and poor. According to (ASPCA) puppy mills are...
Words: 482 - Pages: 2
...It was Sunday, December 24, 2015 and all I wanted for christmas was a basset hound puppy, or just a puppy in general! Mom said, “no, they are too much care!” Dad said, “yea, they are the cutest thing, ever!!” No one in my family agree on a dog but if santa brings one then we will have to agree!! I meet every santa i could to remind him that I really wanted a puppy for christmas!! And I have a strong belief that santa will bring me a puppy this year, last year i asked for a puppy but it was not the first thing on my list, this year it is the FIRST thing on my list, you can’t miss it, It is big and in bold letters, my list this year was….. A PUPPY!! A new sketchbook Puppy toys And a phone I did not care about the phone, sketch book, or the...
Words: 620 - Pages: 3
...everyone else who has faced a loss of some kind. About six years ago I had a beautiful dog named Bear; he was very furry and had the cutest squirrel like tail. I loved him tremendously; he was my playmate, and my best friend. Unfortunately Bear was an older dog and passed away over night which still shocked my whole family because he played like a puppy the night before I went to sleep. I was so devastated and could not stop crying, I told my mom through streaming tears that I never want another dog again. I was so distraught that I actually thought I would never again be able to love another dog. After a few months of grieving the loss of my wonderful dog Bear, I asked my mom if we could get another. I was shocked I felt this way but was pretty sure I needed to have another dog in my life and thankfully she agreed. I wanted to get a dog from a shelter, to save them from being euthanized and everyone in my family agreed. My mom and dad asked me and my sister if we were sure this is what we wanted and we said yes and that weekend we went to a shelter. We seen all kinds of dogs, all too cute for words but no puppies, then we seen a dog...
Words: 1059 - Pages: 5
...I am sure most of you have at one time or another crossed a pet store with cute little, happy puppies staring at you through the glass windows. Animals bring such joy and wonder into our lives. What can be more exciting than sharing your life with a young puppy as it grows; watching it develop its own personality, and experiencing the unconditional love that is given by our furry, four-legged friends? As any devoted pet owner can tell you, proper care and nutrition can help establish a foundation of good health and ensures a long, happy life for your pet. Unfortunately, many consumers are unaware that the sweet little puppy that peered hopefully at them from the pet store window or the enticing advertisement in the newspaper that offered a pure bred puppy for such a bargain often comes with a hidden catch – these puppies, and their abundance of health problems, may be coming from a puppy mill. Puppy mills are either operated in private homes, farms or underground run organizations where they are not easily monitored by animal control units. It’s a large-scale commercial, outside, breeding facility with many different breeds of dogs. Dogs are forced to breed continuously without any rest between cycles. Starting six months after the birth of a female dog, she is bred every heat cycle. Could you imagine being six months old and being forced to have babies?! Female dogs are constantly pregnant, and due to lack of veterinary care they become extremely weak, malnourished and...
Words: 1132 - Pages: 5
...Adopt, Don’t Shop People all over buy designer animals from across the world, unaware of the harm they create while doing so. Meanwhile, many animals are waiting in shelters for their forever home right around the corner. You should adopt pets rather than buying them because of puppy mill conditions, that all the animals are all unique and that you will be helping many animals in the process. Approximately 6.5 million animals go to animal shelters in the U.S. alone each year. Of the 6.5 million, 2.9 million are euthanized, that is equivalent to the population of Nevada every year. The amount of animals being sent to shelters are exponential and are rapidly growing. Puppy mills make money by selling animals to the common consumer. However, behind the scenes, these dogs are mistreated and are...
Words: 854 - Pages: 4
...television or radio, or something related to doing business or for business purpose. I think without commercials a lot of things would not be sold in this world. When would be the best time to let everyone know what businesses are selling, the Super Bowl? In most commercials I think they use sex to sell or catch our attention to see what they are selling. As I watched the Super Bowl there was a lot of commercials and most of them if not all was advertising to sell something. One commercial that caught my attention was a coca-cola commercial. I think it was selling a lot and also showing that this product has been around for a long time. In this commercial to me it showed that the world has diversity by showing that different cultures also love to drink this product. Seeing that would make me want to buy their product because to me it shows that it’s not just one culture that buys this product and also it wants everyone to be satisfied with their product. This commercial also sold me by showing a family spending time together and really it looks like they’re enjoying the time their spending together drinking a soda that everyone in the family enjoys. It also shows that this product is good to have during a gathering because it seems so refreshing. Another thing this commercial used to sell this product was bright colors to catch the eye. It was showing that family should spend more time together. A second commercial that caught my attention was the new Jeep Cherokee. In this...
Words: 748 - Pages: 3
...Why do humans love puppies and kittens? Why don’t humans love baby fish and insects as much? The answer lies in how humans value life. Life is a complicated idea containing layers of meaning ranging from a philosophical to a biological side. Humans associate animals like a puppy as a friend yet for many, a fish as a meal. While both animals are alive in the biological sense (living, breathing, eating, etc.) humans think of and treat them in a completely different manner. The value of the life of an animal or robot is directly related to its similarity with human life, thus the closer something is to resembling human life, the more humans value it as shown in the outcry over the death of Harambe, and our emotional attachment towards robots....
Words: 944 - Pages: 4
...Lennie’s behaviors toward the woman in Weed, the dead mouse, and the puppy foreshadow Lennie harming Curley because they all show that Lennie lacks the ability to control himself and, as a result, he tends to act first and think later, but he usually doesn’t mean any harm. However, it’s easy for him to get out of control and really injure someone, as is the case with Curley, because he is so big and strong. Lennie and George’s “American Dream” progress may be affected by Lennie’s behavior because it could lead to them losing their job, getting arrested, or getting injured. Lennie’s behavior towards the woman in Weed shows how he can’t control his actions. He saw the woman’s pretty, soft, red dress and wanted to feel it. He acted on impulse and didn’t think about the consequences before he grabbed the dress. According to George, Lennie’s closest companion, “He just scared her. I’d be scared too if he grabbed me. But he never hurt her. He jus’ wanted to touch that red dress, like he wants to pet them pups all the time.” (Steinbeck 21). In this quote, George talks about how Lennie didn’t mean to hurt or scare the woman in...
Words: 594 - Pages: 3
...The Puppy Place : Sugar, Gummi, and Lollipop. Charles and Lizze love puppies. Their family fosters young dogs, giving them love and care, until them find a home for them. Lizze can't wait to get to her best friend Maria's cabin for some rest and relaxation. WHen they arrive, the girla discover a box of three puggle puppies. Lizze loves these sweet dogs, but they are a lot of hard work. Lizzie's stomach rumbled. She needed a snack to give her energy for the hike to the cabin. She reached into the backpack at her feet and rummanged around until she found the candy bar she'd brought? "Want some?"she asked Maria as she pelled back the crinkly paper. Maria's eyes winded. She held up her hands and shook her head."Oh," she said. "I guess I forgot...
Words: 259 - Pages: 2
...a desired image on a block of wood, and creating all sorts of works of art with it. The earliest surviving woodcut image was made in China in 868 C.E. which portrayed Buddha preaching at the Diamond Sutra (Getlein 8.2). From the Sculpture media, my favorite is material is blocks of material and cuts used for carving. Tilman Riemenschneider uses this when he carved Virgin and Child on the Crescent Moon (Getlein 11.8). Jeff Koons is an American artist who is well known for his reproductions of banal objects. He is from Pennsylvania, but lives and works in New York City. In 1992, he was commissioned by three art dealers to create a piece for Arolsen Castle in Bad Arolson, Germany. This is when he created Puppy. It is a 43 ft. tall sculpture of a West Highland White Terrier puppy. It is made with a variety of flowers on a transparent colour-coated chrome stainless steel substructure. It has been installed around the world, not just in Germany. Other places include Australia, the United States and now it is...
Words: 1158 - Pages: 5
