Ch 11 - A/R & Revenue Flashcards
A/R fraud/material risks, A/R analytical procedures, A/R internal controls, A/R substantive tests (62 cards)
A/R is _______ (material/immaterial), _______ (tangible/intangible), and _________ (objective/subjective) in nature.
Material
Intangible
Subjective
T/F: You can steal A/R.
False; You CAN’T steal A/R because it’s intangible (it’s money you will receive in the future/money that’s owed)
T/F: A/R is easy to fake/add.
True (because it’s intangible)
Cut-off issue:
Recognizing revenues/sales early
How do people commonly recognize revenue/sales early?
Dr A/R, Cr Revenue/Sales
(easy to do this)
What is something a person wouldn’t record when recognizing revs/sales early?
Dr Cash, Cr Rev/Sales
(people/auditors will become apparent quickly that the cash wasn’t actually collected)
Overstating A/R as a means to overstate/make up Revenues/Sales falls under which assertion?
Existence/occurrence
(material misstatement risk)
Accurately/inaccurately estimating the Allowance for Doubtful Accounts (A4DA) falls under which assertion?
Valuation
(material misstatement risk)
Recognizing Sales transactions early falls under which assertion?
Cut-off
(material misstatement risk)
Disclosure issues related to Pledged Receivables falls under which assertion?
Presentation/Classification
(material misstatement risk)
A/R Turnover Equation and Purpose:
AR Collections / Average AR Balance
OR
Cash Collections / Average AR Balance
(how many times the client “collects all the A/R” in a year.)
T/F: An increasing A/R Turnover is concerning
False; a DECLINING A/R turnover is concerning
A declining A/R turnover may be a sign of:
1) Collection issues (numerator will decline and the denominator will build up)
2) Inflating A/R (denominator will increase from Debiting A/R to make up/recognize early sales)
3) Theft of Cash Collections (numerator will decline)
Approving Credit Sales and Approving Voids/Reversals/write offs of amounts owed is an example of which segregation duty?
Authorization
Person could make up a sale by Debiting A/R and Crediting Cash. Then, to avoid the various ways we detect made up sales, the person could Write-off the debt as bad (Dr A4DA/Bad Debt, Cr A/R), void the debt as forgiven, or just delete the records entirely after the financial statements are issued. This is an example of mixing which 2 segregation duties?
Recording & Authorization
Person authorizing the credit sale may also alter the records to recognize the sale early, making Sales for this year look better. This is an example of mixing which 2 segregation duties?
Authorization & Recording
Person could pocket the cash from A/R collections and not book the A/R subledger or alter the A/R subledger in ways that mask the theft. This is an example of mixing which 2 segregation duties?
Custody & Recording
How do we test internal controls to ensure that segregation of duties are properly separated?
1) Inspections (inspect job descriptions, org charts, & source doc authorizations)
2) Inquiries
3) Observations
For A/R, we are primarily concerned with (what documents)?
1) Customer invoices & bills (sales transactions)
2) Shipping documents (when to recognize revenue)
Revenue Recognition (e.g., when you Debit A/R and Credit Sales) is based upon when…
Either 1) a service is performed or 2) legal ownership changes
T/F: Legal ownership typically changes when a good is shipped
True (stresses importance of segregated duties to avoid forging/altering in order to maintain a reliable Audit Trail)
Legal ownership changes as soon as the goods are shipped is ___________
FOB (freight on board) Shipping Point
Legal ownership changes when a good reaches its final destination is _______
FOB Destination
(have to wait longer to recognize revenue)
How do we test internal controls to ensure that audit trails regarding revenue recognition are reliable?
1) Inspections (read computer system documentation)
2) Inquiries (ask CFO/Controller/IT professionals about the restrictions in the various computer systems & ask warehouse personnel where documents are and how they are secured)
3) Observations (watch warehouse workers to see how the docs are accessed/used)