The agenda of this article is additional considerations in assessing control risk. The auditor typically first assesses control risk for assertions pertaining to transaction classes such as cash receipts and cash disbursements.
These assessments are then used in assessing control risk for significant account balance assertions that the appropriateness of the planned level of substantive tests for the account balances can be determined and specific substantive tests can be designed.
The process is considered next, first for accounts affected by a single transaction class and then for accounts affected by multiple transaction classes.
Accounts Affected by a Single Transaction Class
The process of assessing control risk for account balance assertions is straightforward for accounts that are affected by a single transaction class.
For example, sales are increased by credits for sales transactions in the revenue cycle, many expense accounts are increased by debits for purchases transactions in the expenditure cycle.
In these cases, the auditor’s control risk assessment for e account balance assertion is the same as the control risk assessment for the transaction class assertion.
For example, the control risks assessment for the existence or occurrence assertion for the transaction. Similarly, the control risk assessment for the valuation or allocation assertion for many expenses should be the same as for the valuation or allocation assertion for purchases transaction.
Accounts Affected by Multiple Transaction Classed
Many balance sheet accounts are significantly affected by more than one transaction class. For example, the cash balance is increased by cash receipts transactions in the revenue cycle and decreased by cash disbursement transactions in the expenditure cycle.
In these cases, assessing control risk for an account balance assertion requires consideration of the relevant control risk assessments for each transaction class that significantly affects the balance.
Thus, the control risk assessment for the valuation or allocation assertion for the cash balance is based on the control risk assessments for the valuation or allocation assertions for both cash receipts and cash disbursement transactions.
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