...Anderson, Olds, and Watershed, CPAs 123 Main Street Syracuse, NY 13210 October 26, 2007 Larry Lancaster Apollo Shoes 987 Genesee Street Syracuse, NY 13210 Dear Mr. Lancaster Re: Audit and assurance services I am aware that Apollo Shoes would like to obtain audit and assurance services from Anderson, Olds, and Watershed (“AOW”). Please allow me to thank you and for choosing AOW, one of the best accounting firms in the state of Arizona. This letter displays several main auditing and assurance services that Phoenix has to offer to fit Apollo’s concerns and benefits from obtaining such services. In addition, I will express my role involved in each provided service as well as the requirements for meeting the standard by the services this company offers. Assurance Services Assurance services are “independent professional services that improve the quality of information for decision makers” (Arens, Elder, & Beasley, 2011, p. 8). Either certified public accountants (CPAs) or specialized professionals perform audit and assurance services here at Phoenix International. Assurance services focus on historical financial statement information. The most commonly used assurance service is that of attestation services. Attestation services consist of the “(1) audit of historical financial statements, (2) effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, (3) review of historical financial statements, and (4) other attestation services that may be applied...
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...Dear Mr. Larry Lancaster, This letter provides an explanation on how I intend to carry out the audit process plan on Apollo Shoes Company internal audit services. The audit process will involve a series of steps. After receiving Apollo Shoes Company’s preliminary list such as the financial statement and organizational charts, I will plan the review while primarily conducting a risk workshop which will assist me in the process of identifying the key risks and raising awareness on the risks. Later I will draft the audit plan and schedule an open meeting with Apollo Inc. Company. In the open meeting, the senior management and the administrative staff who are to be involved in the process of Auditing must be present. During this meeting I will conduct a discussion on the audit scope where I will expect the available individuals to ask me any questions regarding the review areas they are concerned about. The audit timeframe will be determined and potential timing issues discussed such as deadlines that could impact the audit. After the open meeting, I will finalize the audit plan before beginning the field work. During fieldwork I will talk with the staff members, conduct a procedural manual review, and learn about the processes of the business, test for compliance with any applicable policies, procedures, laws and regulations and finally access how adequate the internal controls are. At this point I will make the staff know that I will schedule meetings with them during the process...
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...Week 1 – PMR Week 2 – PMR Week 3 – Assurance Week 4 – Week of review of previously covered material Week 5 – Assurance Week 6 – MDM Part Week 7 – Finance ; PMR Week 8 – Week of review of previously covered material Week 9 – Taxation Week 10 – Write and debrief Mock Exam #1 Week 11 – GSRM; PMR Week 12 – Write and debrief Mock Exam #2 and #3 Management Decision MakingPart 1 Intro 55 minPart 2 Various subjects 62 minPart 3 Various subjects 41 minPart 4 Information Technology 42 minPart 5 Various subjects 36 minPart 6 Various subjects 56 min | FinancePart 1 Intro and various subjects 43 minPart 2 Various subjects 62 minPart 3 Various subjects 50 minPart 4 Various subjects 72 min | TaxationPart 1 Intro 67 minPart 2 Various subjects 65 minPart 3 Various subjects 77 minPart 4 Various subjects 58 minPart 5 Various subjects 42 minPart 6 Various subjects 35 min | GSRMGovernance, strategy and risk management is a short 45 minute lecture with 18 embedded multiple choice questions. There is approximately 1.5 hours of learning time in the GSRM area. | PMRPMR 1 Intro 5 minPMR 2 Conceptual Framework 12 minPMR 3 FS Presentation 12 minPMR 4 Statement of Cash flows 36 minPMR 5 Revenue 52 minPMR 6 Accounts Receivable 13 minPMR 7 Notes Receivable 21 minPMR 8 Inventories 34 minPMR 9 Property, Plant and Equipment 65 minPMR 10 Borrowing Costs 12 minPMR 11 Intangible Assets 32 minPMR 12 Impairment of Assets 25 minPMR 13 Investment Property 13 minPMR 14 Agriculture 9 minPMR...
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...strategy - benchmarking Definition Benchmarking is the process of identifying "best practice" in relation to both products (including) and the processes by which those products are created and delivered. The search for "best practice" can taker place both inside a particular industry, and also in other industries (for example - are there lessons to be learned from other industries?). The objective of benchmarking is to understand and evaluate the current position of a business or organisation in relation to "best practice" and to identify areas and means of performance improvement. The Benchmarking Process Benchmarking involves looking outward (outside a particular business, organisation, industry, region or country) to examine how others achieve their performance levels and to understand the processes they use. In this way benchmarking helps explain the processes behind excellent performance. When the lessons learnt from a benchmarking exercise are applied appropriately, they facilitate improved performance in critical functions within an organisation or in key areas of the business environment. Application of benchmarking involves four key steps: (1) Understand in detail existing business processes (2) Analyse the business processes of others (3) Compare own business performance with that of others analysed (4) Implement the steps necessary to close the performance gap Benchmarking should not be considered a one-off exercise. To be effective, it must become an ongoing...
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...This form is a planning tool only. To confirm specific graduation requirements, consult your degree audit on ISIS. I. General Education* (22-32 sh) Rhetoric Interpretation of Literature (req: completion of rhetoric) World Languages** Historical Perspectives International and Global Issues Values, Society, and Diversity Natural Sciences (lab not required) Social Sciences (excluding 6E:1, 6E:2) sh grade 4 3 0-10 3 3 3 3 3 Subtotal (I) ________ IV. Finance Major Requirements (20 sh) Required Major Courses* 6F:110 Financial Information Tech (coreq: 6F:100) (grade: S/F) 6F:111 Investment Management (prereq: 6F:100, coreq: 6F:110) 6F:117 Corporate Finance (prereq: 6F:100, coreq: 6F:110) 6A:120 Financial Acct and Reporting** (prereq: 6A:2) Choose three additional electives from the following: 6F:102 Principles of Risk Mgt & Insurance (coereq: 6F:100) 6F:103 Property and Liability Insurance (prereq: 6F:102); or 6F:104 Corp Fin Risk Mgt (prereq: 6F:102, coreq 6F:110); or 6F:105 Life and Health Insurance (prereq: 6F:102); or 6F:106 Employee Benefit Plans (prereq: 6F:102) 6F:108 Topics in Finance I (SP 09 or later, prereq: 6F:100) 6F:109 Topics in Finance II (prereq: 6F:100) 6F:112 Applied Equity Valuation (prereq: 6F:100) (req: 2.80 UI GPA). See Finance Department for special permission. sh grade 2 3 3 3 3 3 *If you entered UI prior to Summer 2011, check your degree audit for specific req’s. **The fourth-level proficiency in a single foreign language or the second-level...
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...|MKTG 3596 - Integrated Marketing Communications |Instructor: Charles F. Byers | |Lec. #94665 |Office: Lucas Hall 216W | |Santa Clara University |Phone: 408-310-9244 | |MBA Winter 2014 |E-mail: cbyers@scu.edu & byers.charles@ yahoo.com | |Meeting Times: Sat. – 8:30 – 11:15 p.m. |Office Hours: Sat. 11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. or by appointment | |Meeting Place: Lucas Hall 307 | | Integrated Marketing Communications Textbooks & Materials Byers & Barr, “Integrated Marketing Communications Custom Edition for Santa Clara University 3E”: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2014. CoursePack Reader – “Marketing 596 – Winter 2014” Course Description This course is designed as an introduction to the concept and practice of integrated marketing communications (IMC). It takes the participant through communication, marketing, branding, and integrated marketing theory, planning and IMC program coordination. The course also addresses the marketing communications tactics of advertising, public relations, direct...
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...accounting + auditing Intro to XBRL Patricia Francis xbrL Is resHApING tHe FINANcIAL reportING LANDscApe WorLDWIDe, AND LooKs set to Do tHe sAme IN mALAYsIA oNce FuLLY ImpLemeNteD bY LocAL reGuLAtors AND busINesses. Are You xbrL reADY? The objectives of SSM’s SDP II are: • To enhance delivery and improve accuracy of information; • To achieve a standardised and consistent mode of reporting with enhanced analytical capabilities; • To promote data usability and exchange flow with external stakeholders. According to Nor Azimah, SSM also promotes the adoption of XBRL as a nationwide format to be used by key agencies such as the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN), Securities Commission (SC) and Bursa Malaysia and the building of extension taxonomies by the mentioned agencies. The said adoption will provide SSM, other regulators and businesses with detailed data which can be aggregated and made available to stakeholders in the form of industry analysis for industrial benchmarking. The move to XBRL-based reporting is also in line with plans to transform Malaysia into a digital country by 2020, as XBRL reports form part of the digital reporting chain. At the recent Digital Malaysia Press Conference held on 5 July 2012 by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) along with Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, CEO of MDeC told the media that Digital Malaysia will help drive automation and technology adoption to ensure productivity and...
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...the necessary measures to ensure that input data is correct, complete and secure (Rosenblatt & Shelly, 2012). Some examples of input controls are audit trails, encryption, password security, and data security, just to name a few. Input Controls To begin, audit trails record the source of data each data item, and when that data enters the system (Rosenblatt & Shelly, 2012). It is a series of records of computer events, about an operating system, an application, or user activities (Gopalakrishna, 2000). It is generated by an auditing system that monitors system activity (Gopalakrishna, 2000). Audit trails have many uses in the realm of computer security (Gopalakrishna, 2000). The uses include: 1. Individual Accountability: A users actions are monitored and tracked giving them accountability of their own actions. This deters users from evading security policies and even if they do evade them, they will definitely be held accountable (Gopalakrishna, 2000). 2. Reconstructing Events: Audit trails can also be used to reconstruct events after a problem has occurred. (Gopalakrishna, 2000). The amount of damage that occurred with an incident can be assessed by reviewing audit trails of system activity to pinpoint how, when, and why the incident occurred (Gopalakrishna, 2000). 3. Problem Monitoring: Audit trails may be used to track and monitor problems that can occur on-line. Such...
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...Anderson, Olds and Watershed Certified Public Accountants Shoetown, ME 00001 November 11, 20012 Larry Lancaster President & CEO Apollo Shoes, Inc. 100 Shoe Plaza Shoetown, ME 00001 Dear Mr. Lancaster: Discussion of Regulations & Guidelines related to SOX section 404 Significant Regulations and guidelines related to audits of internal control Internal control is a very significant aspect for any organization in order to avoid or distinguish fraudulent acts and misstatements in financial reporting. Apollo Shoes’ existing rule should require that the planning, sustaining, and implementing of guidelines and processes for financial reporting to be performed by management. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Section 404(a) suggests that executives of an organization should present a report with details regarding internal control and list the obligations of management for instituting and sustaining a sufficient structure of internal controls and techniques for monetary reporting in conjunction with an evaluation of the usefulness of the recognized structure of internal control and processes for financial reporting at the end of the fiscal year. Section 404(b) also requires auditors to present a statement on the efficiency of internal control over financial reporting that can be presented independently or comprised in the concluding report. Also, on the internal control report, Apollo Shoes’ is responsible for identifying the structure utilized to evaluate its success...
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...and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, Auditors are responsible for evaluating and finding any risk for the internal control effectiveness 5) Control risk is the probability that an entity’s controls will fail to prevent or detect material misstatement due to error or frauds. 6) To see if the client’s internal control is effective at controlling control risk. 7) Control risk adversely affects all 3 aspects 8) 5 components of management’s internal control (1) control environment, (2) Risk assessment, (3) control activities, (4) Monitoring and (5) information and communication 9) The control environment is the tone set for the organization as the foundation for all other components of internal control 10) Audit committee is a subcommittee of the BOD that is generally composed of 3-6 independt members in the entity’s day-to-day management of the organizations BOD. 11) Risk assessment for an entity is used to find the business risk that a firm faces and how to properly deal with these risks. 12) Control activities are specific actions a client’s management and employees take to help ensure that management’s directives are carried out 13) Preventive controls are procedures that prevent misstatements before they occur while directive controls detect misstatements AFTER...
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...client as long as its no more than “token” or the amount the firm gives you You can indirectly own stock in an auditing client if its immaterial to your net worth You cannot be paid in stock Because we don’t see the audit as one event, its not a series of events even though that looks like it. Because once you have the client you usually have it for a good amount of time. “The professional engagement period begins when the registered public accounting firm either signs an initial engagement letter (or other agreement to review or audit a client’s financial statements) or begins audit, review, or attest procedures whichever is earlier: and (B) the professional engagement period ends when the audit client or the registered public accounting firm notifies the commission that the client is no longer that firm’s audit client. You might be able to write a contract that can say the audit engagement is only a year and you might get away with it for a year so you can own stock but then PCAOB will eventually catch you and change the rule. Sarbanes Oxley Act and SEC Provisions Prohibited Services Bookkeeping and other accounting services Financial information systems design and implementation Appraisal or valuation services Actuarial Services Internal Audit Outsourcing Management of human resource functions...
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...Audit Problems ACC 623 Test 1 Review I) Intro to Auditing a. The Need for High quality Information: i. Financial information is relied upon by investors to make their investment decisions, creditors to make lending decisions, and by other parties that include vendors, customers, and potential merger or acquisition partners. It is extremely important that this information be reliable since significant sums of money are at stake in these investment and lending decisions. ii. A user of the financial statements of an entity who views the information they obtain as being low quality, or risky, will demand a higher return for his or her investment in that entity. 1. Risk premium: the difference between the return demanded by the investors and the return that would be demanded in the absence of any associated risk iii. Low quality information can be caused by either intentional or unintentional misstatements of that information. 2. Unintentional misstatements in the financial statements often occur due to weak internal controls, unqualified staff, human judgment errors, or lack of attention to detail in the financial reporting process. 3. Mgt, who prepare the financial statements, have significant incentives to intentionally misstate the financial statements to make the company appear more profitable than it is a. Moral hazard: situation in which one party gets involved in a risky event...
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...Ethical Conduct Ethical and Socially Responsive Business Kenyetta Keys BUS 100 - Intro to Business Professor Gillian Martin December 15, 2013 Ethics by definition, according to BUSN Introduction to Business, refers to sets of beliefs about right and wrong good and bad. Ethics are the basic concepts and fundamental principles of decent human conduct. Ethics include universal values such as equality of all men and women, human or natural rights, obeying the laws, concern for health and safety, and the environment. Business ethics involve the application of these issues in the workplace. Social responsibility, again according to BUSN Introduction to Business, is the obligation of a business to contribute to society. Being socially responsible means that people and businesses must behave ethically and with sensitivity toward social, cultural, economic and environmental issues. Social responsibility is the obligation of a business towards the welfare and interests of the society in which it operates. This paper will describe key areas of the Chipotle’s code of conduct that are of significant importance to the business, explain key steps that should be taken to ensure that employees follow the code of conduct, and suggest ways in which the restaurant can engage in socially responsive activities in the community within which it operates. Let’s start off with some background information about the restaurant. Chipotle...
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...Recognized Courses in Accounting/Tax Research and Analysis and Accounting/Business Communications September 3, 2014 The Texas State Board of Public Accountancy requires each candidate to complete a minimum of two semester hours in accounting research and analysis or tax research and analysis from a recognized college or university. The semester hours may be obtained through a discrete course or offered through an integrated approach. If the course content is offered through integration, the college or university must advise the Board which course(s) contain the research and analysis content. Courses identified through integration must dedicate 1 semester hour, or quarter hour equivalent, to research and analysis. Courses used to meet this requirement may not be used to meet the requirement for accounting or business communications described below. Course(s) identified by a university to meet the requirements for research and analysis in accounting or taxation should primarily address the identification, organization, and integration of diverse sources of information such as authoritative literature and pronouncements, to reach a conclusion or make a decision; and should analyze accounting and taxation issues by reviewing information, using empirical data and analytical methods, recognizing data in patterned activities, forecasting, and integrating data. CPAs may be asked to conduct research and analysis when providing attest services, professional accounting...
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...BUS100- Quiz 3 Content User | Daryl C. Limneos | Course | Intro To Business | Test | Quiz 3 | Started | 1/27/12 1:38 PM | Submitted | 1/27/12 2:32 PM | Status | Completed | Score | 100 out of 100 points | Time Elapsed | 53 minutes out of 2 hours. | Instructions | This quiz consist of 20 multiple choice questions. The first 10 questions cover the material in Chapter 3. The second 10 questions cover the material in Chapter 4. Be sure you are in the correct Chapter when you take the quiz. | Question 1 5 out of 5 points | | | If trade restrictions among nations were eliminated:Answer | | | | | Selected Answer: | competition would increase, resulting in lower prices and increased choices for consumers. | Correct Answer: | competition would increase, resulting in lower prices and increased choices for consumers. | | | | | Question 2 5 out of 5 points | | | Trading blocs are groups of countries:Answer | | | | | Selected Answer: | that have reduced or eliminated tariffs allowing for a free flow of goods among member nations. | Correct Answer: | that have reduced or eliminated tariffs allowing for a free flow of goods among member nations. | | | | | Question 3 5 out of 5 points | | | In countries like China and India, the availability of cell phones:Answer | | | | | Selected Answer: | has enabled these nations to greatly improve telecommunications without investment in conventional...
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