(ii) Discuss TWO problems that may be faced in implementing quality control procedures in a small firm ofChartered Certified Accountants, and recommend how these problems may be overcome. (4 marks)

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2 (a) In the case of a not-for-profit (NFP) organisation, the limit on the services that can be provided is the amount of funds that
are available in a given period. A key financial objective for an NFP organisation such as a charity is therefore to raise as
much funds as possible. The fund-raising efforts of a charity may be directed towards the public or to grant-making bodies.
In addition, a charity may have income from investments made from surplus funds from previous periods. In any period,
however, a charity is likely to know from previous experience the amount and timing of the funds available for use. The same
is true for an NFP organisation funded by the government, such as a hospital, since such an organisation will operate under
budget constraints or cash limits. Whether funded by the government or not, NFP organisations will therefore have the
financial objective of keeping spending within budget, and budgets will play an important role in controlling spending and in
specifying the level of services or programmes it is planned to provide.
Since the amount of funding available is limited, NFP organisations will seek to generate the maximum benefit from available
funds. They will obtain resources for use by the organisation as economically as possible: they will employ these resources
efficiently, minimising waste and cutting back on any activities that do not assist in achieving the organisation’s non-financial
objectives; and they will ensure that their operations are directed as effectively as possible towards meeting their objectives.
The goals of economy, efficiency and effectiveness are collectively referred to as value for money (VFM). Economy is
concerned with minimising the input costs for a given level of output. Efficiency is concerned with maximising the outputs
obtained from a given level of input resources, i.e. with the process of transforming economic resources into desires services.
Effectiveness is concerned with the extent to which non-financial organisational goals are achieved.
Measuring the achievement of the financial objective of VFM is difficult because the non-financial goals of NFP organisations
are not quantifiable and so not directly measurable. However, current performance can be compared to historic performance
to ascertain the extent to which positive change has occurred. The availability of the healthcare provided by a hospital, for
example, can be measured by the time that patients have to wait for treatment or for an operation, and waiting times can be
compared year on year to determine the extent to which improvements have been achieved or publicised targets have been
met.

Lacking a profit motive, NFP organisations will have financial objectives that relate to the effective use of resources, such as
achieving a target return on capital employed. In an organisation funded by the government from finance raised through
taxation or public sector borrowing, this financial objective will be centrally imposed.

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(iv) Problems with delegation can be overcome by careful selection and training, an open communication system, the establishment of an appropriate control system and a system that rewards effective delegation.

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(b) Benchmarking
Benchmarks enable goals to be set that may be based on either external measures of ‘best practice’ organisations or internal
cross-functional comparisons which exhibit ‘best practice’. A primary aim of the traditional budgeting process is the setting of
realistic targets that can be achieved within the budget period. The setting of realistic targets means that the extent of
underperformance against ‘best practice’ standards loses visibility, and thus short-term financial targets remain the
predominant focus of the traditional budgeting process. It is arguable that because the budgetary reporting system purports
to give managers ‘control’, there is very little real incentive to seek out benchmarks which may be used to raise budgeted
performance targets. Much depends upon the prevailing organisational culture since benchmarking may be viewed as an
attempt by top management to impose impossible targets upon operational managers. The situation is further exacerbated
where organisations do not measure their success relative to their competition.
Balanced scorecard
The Balanced scorecard is often misunderstood as a consequence of the failure by top management to ensure that it is
implemented effectively within the organisation. Thus it may be viewed as the addition of a few non-financial measures to
the conventional budget. In an attempt to overcome this misperception many management teams now establish a
performance-rewards linkage based upon the achievement of Scorecard targets for the forthcoming budget period.
Unfortunately this can precipitate dysfunctional behaviour at every level within the organisation.
Even in situations where the Scorecard has been well-designed and well-implemented it is difficult for it to gain widespread
acceptance. This is because all too often there exists a culture which places a very high value upon the achievement of the
fixed annual targets in order to avoid the loss of status, recognition and rewards.
A well-constructed Scorecard contains a mix of long-term and short-term measures and therefore drives the company in the
direction of medium-term strategic goals which are supported by cross-functional initiatives. On the other hand, the budgeting
process focuses the organisation on the achievement of short-term financial goals supported by the initiatives of individual
departments. Budgets can also act as an impediment to the acceptance of responsibility by local managers for the
achievement of the Scorecard targets. This is often the case in situations where a continued emphasis exists on meeting shortterm
e.g. quarterly targets.
Activity-based models
Traditional budgets show the costs of functions and departments (e.g. staff costs and establishment costs) instead of the costs
of those activities that are performed by people (e.g. receipt of goods inwards, processing and dispatch of orders etc). Thus
managers have no visibility of the real ‘cost drivers’ of their business. In addition, it is probable that a traditional budget
contains a significant amount of non-value-added costs that are not visible to the managers. The annual budget also tends
to fix capacity for the forthcoming budget period thereby undermining the potential of Activity-based management (ABM)
analysis to determine required capacity from a customer demand perspective. Those experienced in the use of ABM
techniques are used to dealing with such problems, however their tasks would be much easier to perform. and their results
made more reliable if these problems were removed.

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(c) Target costing should be viewed as an integral part of a strategic profit management system. The initial consideration in target
costing is the determination of an estimate of the selling price for a new product which will enable a firm to capture its required
share of the market. In this particular example, Superstores plc, which on the face of it looks a powerful commercial
organisation, wishes to apply a 35% mark-up on the purchase price of each cake from GWCC. Since Superstores plc has
already decided on a launch price of ￡20·25 then it follows that the maximum selling price that can be charged by GWCC
is (100/135) x ￡20·25 which is ￡15·00.
This is clearly a situation which lends itself to the application of target costing/pricing techniques as in essence GWCC can
see the extent to which they fall short of the required level of return with regard to a contract with Superstores plc which ends
after twelve months. Thus it is necessary to reduce the total costs by ￡556,029 to this figure in order to achieve the desired
level of profit, having regard to the rate of return required on new capital investment. The deduction of required profit from
the proposed selling price will produce a target price that must be met in order to ensure that the desired rate of return is
obtained. Thus the main theme that underpins target costing can be seen to be ‘what should a product cost in order to achieve
the desired level of return’.
Target costing will necessitate comparison of current estimated cost levels against the target level which must be achieved if
the desired levels of profitability, and hence return on investment, are to be achieved. Thus where a gap exists between the
current estimated cost levels and the target cost, it is essential that this gap be closed.
The Directors of GWCC plc should be aware of the fact that it is far easier to ‘design out’ cost during the pre-production phase
than to ‘control out’ cost during the production phase. Thus cost reduction at this stage of a product’s life cycle is of critical
significance to business success.
A number of techniques may be employed in order to help in the achievement and maintenance of the desired level of target
cost. Attention should be focussed upon the identification of value added and non-value added activities with the aim of the
elimination of the latter. The product should be developed in an atmosphere of ‘continuous improvement’. In this regard, total
quality techniques such as the use of Quality circles may be used in attempting to find ways of achieving reductions in product
cost.
Value engineering techniques can be used to evaluate necessary product features such as the quality of materials used. It is
essential that a collaborative approach is taken by the management of GWCC and that all interested parties such as suppliers
and customers are closely involved in order to engineer product enhancements at reduced cost.
The degree of success that will be achieved by GWCC via the application of target costing principles will be very much
dependent on the extent of ‘flexibility’ in variable costs. Also the accuracy of information gathered by GWCC will assume
critical importance because the use of inaccurate information will produce calculated ‘cost gaps’ which are meaningless and
render the application of target costing principles of little value.

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(b) Growth may be measured in a number of ways which are as follows:
Cash flow
This is a very important measure of growth as it ultimately determines the amount of funds available for re-investment by any
business.
Sales revenue
Growth in sales revenues generated is only of real value to investors if it precipitates growth in profits.
Profitability
There are many measures relating to profit which include sales margin, earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and
amortisation (EBITDA) and earnings per share. More sophisticated measures such as return on capital employed and residual
income consider the size of the investment relative to the level of profits earned. In general terms, measures of profitability
are only meaningful if they are used as a basis for comparisons over time or in conjunction with other measures of
performance. Growth rate in profitability are useful when compared with other companies and also with other industries.
Return on investment
A growing return upon invested capital suggests that capital is being used more and more productively. Indicators of a growing
return would be measured by reference to dividend payment and capital growth.
Market share
Growth in market share is generally seen as positive as it can generate economies of scale.
Number of products/service offerings
Growth is only regarded as useful if products and services are profitable.
Number of employees
Measures of productivity such as value added per employee and profit per employee are often used by shareholders in
assessing growth. Very often an increased headcount is a measure of success in circumstances where more people are
needed in order to deliver a service to a required standard. However it is incumbent on management to ensure that all
employees are utilised in an effective manner.
It is a widely held belief that growth requires profits and that growth produces profits. Profits are essential in order to prevent
a company which has achieved growth from becoming a target for a take-over or in a worse case scenario goes into
liquidation. Hence it is fundamental that a business is profitable throughout its existence. Growth accompanied by growth in
profits is also likely to aid the long-term survival of an organisation. CSG operates in Swingland which experiences fluctuations
in its economic climate and in this respect the exploitation of profitable growth opportunities will help CSG to survive at the
expense of its competitors who do not exploit such opportunities.
Note: Alternative relevant discussion and examples would be accepted.

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(b) There are a number of potential problems which the directors of HFG need to recognise. These are as follows:
(i) There needs to exist a sufficient incentive for SFO to share their information with HFG as the success of any
benchmarking programme is dependent upon obtaining accurate information about the comparator organisation. This is
not an easy task to accomplish, as many organisations are reluctant to reveal confidential information to competitors.
The directors of HFG must be able to convince the directors of SFO that entering into a benchmarking arrangement is a
potential ‘win-win situation’.
(ii) The value of the exercise must be sufficient to justify the cost involved. Also, it is inevitable that behavioural issues will
need to be addressed in any benchmarking programme. Management should give priority to the need to communicate
the reasons for undertaking a programme of benchmarking in order to gain the full co-operation of its personnel whilst
reducing the potential level of resistance to change.
(iii) Management need to handle the ethical implications relating to the introduction of benchmarking in a sensitive manner
and should endeavour, insofar as possible, to provide reassurance to employees that their status, remuneration and
working conditions will not suffer as a consequence of the introduction of any benchmarking initiatives.

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(iii) If no new products are available then CTC must look to boost revenues obtained from its existing product portolio whilst
seeking to reduce product specific fixed overheads and the company’s other fixed overheads. In order to do this attention
should be focused on the marketing activities currently undertaken.
CTC should consider selling all of its products in ‘multi product’ packages as it might well be the case that the increased
contribution achieved from increased sales volumes would outweigh the diminution in contribution arising from
reductions in the selling price per unit of each product.
CTC could also apply target costing principles in order to reduce costs and thereby increase the margins on each of its
products. Value analysis should be undertaken in order to evaluate the value-added features of each product. For
example, the use of non-combustible materials in manufacture would be a valued added feature of such products
whereas the use of pins and metal fastenings which are potentially harmful to children would obviously not comprise
value added features. CTC should focus on delivering ‘value’ to the customer and in attempting to do so should seek to
identify all non-value activities in order that they may be eliminated and hence margins improved.

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(c) (i) ISQC 1 Quality Control for Firms That Perform. Audits and Reviews of Historical Financial Information and Other
Assurance and Related Services Engagements provides guidance on the overall quality control systems that should be
implemented by an audit firm. ISA 220 Quality Control for Audits of Historical Financial Information specifies the quality
control procedures that should be applied by the engagement team in individual audit assignments.
Procedures include the following:
Client acceptance procedures
There should be full documentation, and conclusion on, ethical and client acceptance issues in each audit assignment.
The engagement partner should consider whether members of the audit team have complied with ethical requirements,
for example, whether all members of the team are independent of the client. Additionally, the engagement partner should
conclude whether all acceptance procedures have been followed, for example, that the audit firm has considered the
integrity of the principal owners and key management of the client. Other procedures on client acceptance should
include:
– Obtaining professional clearance from previous auditors
– Consideration of any conflict of interest
– Money laundering (client identification) procedures.
Engagement team
Procedures should be followed to ensure that the engagement team collectively has the skills, competence and time to
perform. the audit engagement. The engagement partner should assess that the audit team, for example:
– Has the appropriate level of technical knowledge
– Has experience of audit engagements of a similar nature and complexity
– Has the ability to apply professional judgement
– Understands professional standards, and regulatory and legal requirements.
Direction
The engagement team should be directed by the engagement partner. Procedures such as an engagement planning
meeting should be undertaken to ensure that the team understands:
– Their responsibilities
– The objectives of the work they are to perform
– The nature of the client’s business
– Risk related issues
– How to deal with any problems that may arise; and
– The detailed approach to the performance of the audit.
The planning meeting should be led by the partner and should include all people involved with the audit. There should
be a discussion of the key issues identified at the planning stage.
Supervision
Supervision should be continuous during the engagement. Any problems that arise during the audit should be rectified
as soon as possible. Attention should be focused on ensuring that members of the audit team are carrying out their work
in accordance with the planned approach to the engagement. Significant matters should be brought to the attention of
senior members of the audit team. Documentation should be made of key decisions made during the audit engagement.
Review
The review process is one of the key quality control procedures. All work performed must be reviewed by a more senior
member of the audit team. Reviewers should consider for example whether:
– Work has been performed in accordance with professional standards
– The objectives of the procedures performed have been achieved
– Work supports conclusions drawn and is appropriately documented.
The review process itself must be evidenced.
Consultation
Finally the engagement partner should arrange consultation on difficult or contentious matters. This is a procedure
whereby the matter is discussed with a professional outside the engagement team, and sometimes outside the audit
firm. Consultations must be documented to show:
– The issue on which the consultation was sought; and
– The results of the consultation.

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(ii) Further audit procedures:
Request from Peter Sheffield a written representation detailing:
– the exact nature of his control over Jarvis Co, i.e. if he is a shareholder then state his percentage shareholding, if
he is a member of senior management then state his exact position within the entity,
– a comment on whether in his opinion the balance is recoverable,
– a specific date by which the amount should be expected to be repaid, and
– a confirmation that there are no further balances outstanding from Jarvis Co, or any further transactions between
Jarvis Co and Pulp Co.
Tutorial note: Reference to the Exposure Draft ISA 550 Related Parties (Revised and Redrafted) requirement for both
general and specific management representations will be awarded credit.
Review the terms of any written confirmation of the amount, such as a signed agreement or invoice, checking whether
any interest is due to Pulp Co. The terms should be reviewed for details of any security offered, and the nature of the
consideration to be provided in settlement.
From discussion with Peter Sheffield, develop an understanding of the business purpose of the transaction, particularly
to understand whether the balance is a trade receivable or an investment.
Review the board minutes for evidence of any discussion of the transaction and the recoverability of the balance
outstanding.
Obtain the most recent audited financial statements of Jarvis Co and:
– ascertain whether Peter Sheffield is disclosed as the ultimate controlling party or disclosed as a member of key
management personnel,
– scrutinise the disclosure notes to find any disclosure of the transaction, where it should be described as a related
party liability, and
– perform. a liquidity analysis to establish whether the amount can be repaid from liquid assets.

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(c) Small businesses face a number of well-documented problems when seeking to raise additional finance. These problems have
been extensively discussed and governments regularly make initiatives seeking to address these problems.
Risk and security
Investors are less willing to offer finance to small companies as they are seen as inherently more risky than large companies.
Small companies obtaining debt finance usually use overdrafts or loans from banks, which require security to reduce the level
of risk associated with the debt finance. Since small companies are likely to possess little by way of assets to offer as security,
banks usually require a personal guarantee instead, and this limits the amount of finance available.
Marketability of ordinary shares
The equity issued by small companies is difficult to buy and sell, and sales are usually on a matched bargain basis, which
means that a shareholder wishing to sell has to wait until an investor wishes to buy. There is no financial intermediary willing
to buy the shares and hold them until a buyer comes along, so selling shares in a small company can potentially take a long
time. This lack of marketability reduces the price that a buyer is willing to pay for the shares. Investors in small company
shares have traditionally looked to a flotation, for example on the UK Alternative Investment Market, as a way of realising their
investment, but this has become increasingly expensive. Small companies are likely to be very limited in their ability to offer
new equity to anyone other than family and friends.
Tax considerations
Individuals with cash to invest may be encouraged by the tax system to invest in large institutional investors rather than small
companies, for example by tax incentives offered on contributions to pension funds. These institutional investors themselves
usually invest in larger companies, such as stock-exchange listed companies, in order to maintain what they see as an
acceptable risk profile, and in order to ensure a steady stream of income to meet ongoing liabilities. This tax effect reduces
the potential flow of funds to small companies.
Cost
Since small companies are seen as riskier than large companies, the cost of the finance they are offered is proportionately
higher. Overdrafts and bank loans will be offered to them on less favourable terms and at more demanding interest rates than
debt offered to larger companies. Equity investors will expect higher returns, if not in the form. of dividends then in the form
of capital appreciation over the life of their investment.

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(b) In many ways Six Sigma started out as a quality control methodology. It focused on measurement and the minimisation of
faults through pursuing Six Sigma as a statistical measure of some aspects of organisational performance. However, Six Sigma
has developed into something much more than a process control technique. It includes a problem-solving process called
DMAIC and a comprehensive toolkit ranging from brainstorming to balanced scorecards and process dashboards. It also has
defined team roles for managers and employees, often with martial arts names such as Black Belt, Green Belt and Master
Black Belt.
Six Sigma was first used in organisations in the early 1990s. However, it was its adoption and promotion by Jack Welch, the
CEO of GE that brought Six Sigma wider publicity. He announced that ‘Six Sigma is the most important initiative GE has ever
undertaken’. As Paul Harmon comments, ‘Welch’s popularity with the business press, and his dynamic style, guaranteed that
Six Sigma would become one of the hot management techniques of the late 1990s’.
Six Sigma uses an approach called DMAIC in its problem solving process. This stands for Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve
and Control. Three aspects of this are considered below in the context of how they would address the problems at UPC.
Defining the problem
Part of defining the problem is the identification of the customer. It is important to understand what customers really want
and value and one of the main themes of Six Sigma is its focus on the customer. Six Sigma explicitly recognises the ‘voice of
the customer’ (VOC) in its approach. In the UPC situation quality requirements are currently defined by the physical condition
of the goods and by the alignment of the image. However, this may be a limiting view of quality because there is no evidence

of any systematic investigation of the requirements of the customer. Solving these problems may not lead to any significant
long-term gain; they may be quickly replaced by other ‘quality issues’. Furthermore, the customer is also perceived in a limited
way. These quality requirements are in the eye of the gift shop owner who is interested in saleable products. The end customer
– the consumer – who buys and uses the product may have other requirements which can also be addressed at this time.
By considering the VOC the problem and scope of the project becomes re-defined and the solution of the problems potentially
more valuable.
Measurement
Measurement is fundamental to Six Sigma. This includes the gathering of data to validate and quantify the problem. The
creation of the inspection team was based on initial evidence about an increase in breakages. This needs to be quantified.
The inaccurate printing of the image had been quantified as 500 units per month, out of the 250,000 shipped out of the
company. This equates to a failure rate of 0·2%, so that 99·8% of items are shipped with a correctly aligned image. This
sounds quite reasonable but it still raises issues and complaints that have to be dealt with, as well as creating wastage costs
of $10,000 per month. The problem is that even a relatively low percentage of defects can lead to a lot of unhappy customers.
Aiming for Six Sigma would reduce defects down to about one faulty item per month, reducing the wastage cost to $20.
Analysis
Analysis is concerned with understanding the process to find the root cause. Six Sigma focuses on processes and their
analysis. Analysis concerns methods, machines, materials, measures, Mother Nature and people. The alignment problem
needs investigation to find out what causes the imaging machine to irregularly produce misaligned images. Management
currently appear to blame the machine but it may be due to the way that certain people load the machine. The analysis of
the breakages is particularly important. It is unclear at present where these breakages occur (for example, are some of the
items broken before they leave UPC’s despatch facility) or are they all broken in transit? Neither is it understood why the
breakages occur. Management appear to blame the packers for packing incorrectly and not following the correct method.
However, it may be that the material is just not strong enough to withstand heavy handling by couriers who are outside the
control of UPC. Additionally, the breakages may be due to some manufacturing problem or raw material imperfection in the
items that break. Six Sigma stresses understanding the problem before solving it.
Although DMAIC has been selected as the framework for the sample answer, focusing on other aspects of Six Sigma would
be acceptable – as long as they are presented in the context of the UPC scenario.

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(c) Accounting and ethical implications of sale of inventory
Manipulation of financial statements often does not involve breaking laws but the purpose of financial statements is to present
a fair representation of the company’s position, and if the financial statements are misrepresented on purpose then this could
be deemed unethical. The financial statements in this case are being manipulated to show a certain outcome so that Hall
may be shown to be in a better financial position if the company is sold. The retained earnings of Hall will be increased by
$4 million, and the cash received would improve liquidity. Additionally this type of transaction was going to be carried out
again in the interim accounts if Hall was not sold. Accountants have the responsibility to issue financial statements that do
not mislead the public as the public assumes that such professionals are acting in an ethical capacity, thus giving the financial
statements credibility.
A profession is distinguished by having a:
(i) specialised body of knowledge
(ii) commitment to the social good
(iii) ability to regulate itself
(iv) high social status
Accountants should seek to promote or preserve the public interest. If the idea of a profession is to have any significance,
then it must make a bargain with society in which they promise conscientiously to serve the public interest. In return, society
allocates certain privileges. These might include one or more of the following:
– the right to engage in self-regulation
– the exclusive right to perform. particular functions
– special status
There is more to being an accountant than is captured by the definition of the professional. It can be argued that accountants
should have the presentation of truth, in a fair and accurate manner, as a goal.

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(ii) Two factors which might reduce the return earned by the investment are as follows:
(i) Poor product quality
The very nature of the product requires that it is of the highest quality i.e. the cakes are made for human
consumption. Bad publicity via a ‘product recall’ could potentially have a catastrophic effect on the total sales to
Superstores plc over the eighteen month period.
(ii) The popularity of the Mighty Ben character
There is always the risk that the popularity of the character upon which the product is based will diminish with a
resultant impact on sales volumes achieved. In this regard it would be advisable to attempt to negotiate with
Superstores plc in order to minimise potential future losses.

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(b) Good performance should result in improved profitability and therefore other stakeholder groups may be rewarded for ‘good
performance’ as follows:
– Shareholders may receive increased returns on equity in the form. of increased dividends and /or capital growth.
– Customers may benefit from improved quality of products and services, and possibly lower prices.
– Suppliers may benefit from increased volumes of purchases.
– Government will benefit from increased amounts of taxation.

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(c) The benefits of an activity-based system as the basis for product cost/profit estimation may not be straightforward. A number
of problems may be identified.
The selection of relevant activities and cost drivers may be complicated where there are many activities and cost drivers in
complex business situations.
There may be difficulty in the collection of data to enable accurate cost driver rates to be calculated. This is also likely to
require an extensive data collection and analysis system.
The problem of ‘cost driver denominator level’ may also prove difficult. This is similar to the problem in a traditional volume
related system. This is linked to the problem of fixed/variable cost analysis. For example the cost per batch may be fixed. Its
impact may be reduced, however, where the batch size can be increased without a proportionate increase in cost.
The achievement of the required level of management skill and commitment to change may also detract from the
implementation of the new system. Management may feel that the activity based approach contains too many assumptions
and estimates about activities and cost drivers. There may be doubt as to the degree of increased accuracy which it provides.
(alternative relevant examples and discussion would be acceptable)

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(c) Ways in which each of the problems might be overcome are as follows:
Meeting only the lowest targets
– To overcome the problem there must be some additional incentive. This could be through a change in the basis of bonus
payment which currently only provides an incentive to achieve the 100,000 tonnes of output.
Using more resources than necessary
– Overcoming the problem may require a change in the bonus system which currently does not provide benefit from any
output in excess of 100,000 tonnes. This may not be perceived as sufficiently focused in order to achieve action. It may
be that engendering a culture of continuous improvement would help ensure that employees actively sought ways of
reducing idle time levels.
Making the bonus – whatever it takes
– It is likely that efforts to change the ‘work ethos’ at all levels is required, while not necessarily removing the concept of
a bonus payable to all employees for achievement of targets. This may require the fostering of a culture for success within
the company. Dissemination of information to all staff relating to trends in performance, meeting targets, etc may help
to improve focus on continuous improvement.
Competing against other divisions, business units and departments
– The problem may need some input from the directors of TRG. For example, could a ‘dual-cost’ transfer pricing system
be explained to management at both the Bettamould division and also the Division with spare capacity in order to
overcome resistance to problems on transfer pricing and its impact on divisional budgets and reported results? In this
way it may be possible for the Bettamould division to source some of its input materials at a lower cost (particularly from
TRG’s viewpoint) and yet be acceptable to the management at the supplying division.
Ensuring that what is in the budget is spent
– In order to overcome the problem it may be necessary to educate management into acceptance of aspects of budgeting
such as the need to consider the committed, engineered and discretionary aspects of costs. For example, it may be
possible to reduce the number of salaried staff involved in the current quality checking of 25% of throughput on a daily
basis.
Providing inaccurate forecasts
– In order to overcome this problem there must be an integrated approach to the budget setting process. This may be
achieved to some extent through all aspects of the budget having to be agreed by all functions involved. For example,
engineers as well as production line management in reaching the agreed link between percentage process losses and
the falling efficiency of machinery due to age. In addition, TRC may insist an independent audit of aspects of budget
revisions by group staff.
Meeting the target but not beating it
– To overcome the problem may require that the bonus system should be altered to reflect any failure to control costs per
tonne at the budget level.
Avoiding risks
– In order to overcome such problems, TRC would have to provide some guarantees to Bettamould management that the
supply would be available during the budget period at the initially agreed price and that the quality would be maintained
at the required level. This would remove the risk element that the management of the Bettamould division may consider
currently exists.

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(d) (i) The main reason why it may not be possible to provide a high level of assurance is that the KPIs are not defined
precisely:
– The value of donated pharmaceutical products is compared to revenue to provide a percentage. However, it will be
difficult to accurately value the donated products – are they valued at cost, or at sales price? Are delivery costs
included in the valuation? The intrinsic value may be lower than sales value as Sci-Tech Co may decide to donate
products which are not useful or relevant to the charities they are donated to.
– The value of ‘cost of involvement with local charities’ is also not defined. If the donations are purely cash, then it
should be easy to verify donations using normal audit procedures to verify cash payments. However, the
‘involvement with local charities’ is not defined and will be difficult to quantify as a percentage of revenue. For
example, involvement may include:
? Time spent by Sci-Tech Co employees at local charity events
? Education and training provided to members of the local community in health care matters
– Number of serious accidents is also difficult to quantify as what constitutes a ‘serious’ accident is subjective. For
example, is an accident serious if it results in a hospitalisation of the employee? Or serious if it results in more than
five days absence from work while recovering?
In addition, the sufficiency of evidence available is doubtful, as such matters will not form. part of the accounting records
and thus there may be limited and possibly only unreliable sources of evidence available.
– Donated goods may not be separately recorded in inventory movement records. It may not be possible to
distinguish donated goods from sold or destroyed items.
– Unless time sheets are maintained, there is unlikely to be any detailed records of ‘involvement’ in local charities.

正确答案：
(c) Quality control issues raised from the senior’s comments
There are several issues raised, all of which indicate that quality control procedures have not functioned adequately. The
planned audit procedures appear to be inadequate, further tests should have been performed to confirm the completeness,
existence and valuation of the balance.
In last year’s audit, the management representation was accepted as sufficient evidence in relation to the receivable. Possibly
the item was not identified as a related party transaction, or it was not considered to be material enough to warrant further
investigation.
At the planning stage, it is standard procedure to identify key related parties of an entity, and to plan procedures specific to
them. Inadequate planning may lead to a lack of prioritisation of this as an area of relatively high audit risk.
Work on receivables is often carried out by a relatively inexperienced member of the audit team. Audit juniors may not
appreciate the potential breach of IAS 24, or the complexities regarding materiality assessment for this type of transaction.
Insufficient review by the audit manager has been performed on completed working papers, which then failed to spot the
weakness of the management representation as a source of evidence. This year the audit senior has highlighted the matter,
which can now be resolved through additional audit procedures.