Control procedures consist of practices and procedures in addition to the control environment, established to achieve certain specific objectives. For each of the procedures listed below, explain...

      

Control procedures consist of practices and procedures in addition to the control environment, established to achieve certain specific objectives. For each of the procedures listed below, explain the purpose of the control procedures and state the tests of control you would perform to confirm that the control objective was being achieved
a) The preparation of a reconciliation statement.
b) The maintenance of a fixed assets register.
c) The existence of passwords in a micro-computer accounting system

  

Answers


Wilfred
a) The preparation of a bank reconciliation statement is carried out to reconcile the balances on the cash book to the company with the bank statement prepared by the bank and sent periodically to the entity. It is mainly carried out to ensure that all receipts and payments are promptly and accurately recorded.
Controls procedures over the bank reconciliation include: -
(i) Bank reconciliation should be prepared at least monthly.
(ii) The person responsible for preparation should be independent of the receipts and payments function or, alternatively, an independent person should check the reconciliation.
(iii) If the reconciliation is prepared by an independent person, he should obtain bank statements directly from the bank and hold them until the reconciliation is completed.
(iv) The preparation should preferably include a check of at least a sample of receipts and payments against items on the bank statements.
The tests of control I would carry out on the bank reconciliation includes: -
(i) Checking whether the reconciliations are indeed prepared as required.
(ii) Examine evidence of independent review of bank reconciliations e.g. a signature of reviewer.
(iii) Examine evidence of follow-up of outstanding items on bank reconciliation‘s. Pay particular attention to old outstanding reconciling items that should be written back such as old, un-presented cheques.
(iv) Verify that the reconciliations are accurately prepared by checking costs and that the current balances are picked as per the cashbook and bank statements.

b) Maintenance of a fixed assets register.
A fixed assets register is a list of all the fixed assets owned by a company. The company requires a fixed asset register in order to control and identify all the fixed assets, which it owns. The register should show: -
i. The serial number allocated to the asset. (Ideally, each asset should have its own unique identity number).
ii. Details of the type and specification of asset.
iii. Name of the supplier and date of purchase of the asset.
iv. Cost of the asset
v. Rate of depreciation and total depreciation charged to date.
vi. Location
vii. Expenditure incurred by way of maintenance and repair charges on the asset.
viii. Current net book value of the asset.

c) The existence of passwords in a micro- computer accounting system is aimed at achieving the following objectives:
- To restrict access to the computer program to authorised persons only;
- To protect the data and programs against unauthorised amendment. Employees are granted password rights that give them varying access rights. This ensures that amendments to data can only be made by those with the relevant access rights.
To confirm that these objectives are met the auditor should verify whether appropriate password controls are in place. He should also verify whether employees are given password rights that are appropriate for their duties and that there is appropriate segregation of duties in the rights awarded. The auditor should also inquire there have been any cases of data corruption or unauthorised amendements
Wilfykil answered the question on February 21, 2019 at 12:46


Next: Jino Ltd. produces four products namely; A, B, C and D. The following are the firm's budgeted figures for the month of July 2013
Previous: Daiton Ltd. manufactures four products; AA, BB, CC and DD. The budgeted income statement for the month of June 2012 is as follows:

View More CPA Auditing and Assurance Questions and Answers | Return to Questions Index


Exams With Marking Schemes

Related Questions