Concordia College Confirmation of Trade Account Receivable Discussion

Part 1

L. King, CPA, is auditing the financial statements of Cycle Company, a client that has receivables from customers arising from the sale of goods in the normal course of business. King is aware that the confirmation of accounts receivable is a generally accepted auditing procedure. Referencing this week’s lecture, please answer the following questions:

• Under what circumstances could King justify omitting the confirmation of Cycle’s accounts receivable?
• In designing confirmation request, what factors are likely to affect King’s assessment of the reliability of confirmations that King sends?
• What alternative procedures could King consider performing when replies to positive confirmation requests are not received? Part 2 Two accountants were discussing control activities and test of controls for payroll systems. The senior accountant in charge of the engagement said, “It is impossible to determine who authorizes transactions when the payroll account is computerized.”