Audit of the Sales and Collection Cycle:
Tests of Controls and Substantive
Tests of Transactions
This is an essential chapter because it is the first chapter to deal with specific evidence in an audit area. It is essential that the concepts of previous chapters be applied to the sales and collection cycle. The following are the primary areas covered:
Chapter opening vignette
Accounts and classes of transactions in the sales and collection cycle
Accounting rules for the timing of recording transactions
Factors affecting evidence accumulation
Overview of the audit for the sales and collection cycle
Types of audit tests applied to sales and cash receipts
Methodology for designing tests of controls and substantive tests of transactions for sales
Design and performance format audit procedures
Methodology for designing tests of controls and substantive tests of transactions for cash receipts
Effect of the results of tests of controls and substantive tests of transactions
Suggested homework problems and cases
Chapter Opening Vignette – “The Choice Is Simple - Rely on Internal Control or Resign”
This vignette makes the point that some companies are so large and so complex that the only way they could possibly be audited is through reliance on internal controls.
This presents a dilemma: what does an auditor do if he or she finds that a large client has poor controls? The problem is exacerbated by the demands for public companies to issue annual reports at an early date, and to file their Form 10-K with the SEC. We remind students that the Sarbanes–Oxley Act requires auditors to also report on internal control for public companies
This case offers an opportunity to discuss the differences between auditing large and small companies, and auditing public and non-public companies. Students may be interested in the fact that even the largest firms have more small clients than large ones in absolute