Risk Assessment- Exercise #1

Social Konnections Inc. (SKI or the “Company”) is a global Internet company that runs Social Konnections, a large social media networking Web site. SKI has experienced steep growth since its launch in 2005, and the Company went public in 2007. SKI currently has over 500 million active users who visit the site to connect with others, express themselves, and play games.

Last year, substantially all of SKI’s revenue came from advertisers who market their products and services to SKI’s active users through advertisements placed on the Web site or its various mobile platforms.

The founder of the company serves as the CEO and is also on the chairman of the board of directors. The CFO is also one of the co-founders of the company. Both have been serving in these roles since 2005.

In Q1 of the current fiscal year, SKI acquired Corporate Collaborations (CC), an entity that manages private and public social media networks for corporations. CC’s customers are primarily national and global companies whose employees connect over its platform. In addition to hosting private social media networks for corporations, CC provides services to develop the networks it manages. CC’s revenues are earned through the performance of multiyear revenue contracts with its customers. In the current year, CC is expected to produce approximately 20 percent of SKI’s consolidated revenue.

SKI’s investors are focused on the growth prospects of the Company’s legacy open social media platform operations and its new corporate revenue unit. The Company’s MD&A disclosures include (1) various user and revenue metrics to help financial statement users assess its traditional operations and (2) backlog information to help users assess CC’s operations.

Advertising Revenue

SKI creates advertising space on its Web site and mobile applications and sells the space to advertisers either directly, or through advertising agencies. According to Mr. Cook, the

amount an advertiser pays is dependent on the number of views the ad receives or the number of user clicks (depending on the type of advertisement defined in the underlying contract) and the revenue is recorded in the period in which the views or clicks are made.

Ms. Drew has learned that simple advertising can be purchased directly from SKI through SKI’s advertising Web site at standard rates, with the advertisements and terms input directly into the Company’s ad delivery platform. However, most advertising revenue is generated directly through the advertising sales team, which has the ability to help advertisers develop more sophisticated advertising campaigns. Management has established minimum pricing and volume thresholds for these advertisements; however, the sales staff is given significant latitude in securing contracts with customers. Extra commissions are paid to sales individuals who sign longer-term contracts that meet minimum revenue targets.

Once a contract is signed, the ad development department creates the ad content and obtains the customer’s approval. The approved ad and the contract are electronically sent to the ad scheduling department, and the advertisement is uploaded into the Company’s ad delivery platform. The ad delivery platform is a robust system and is designed to capture all the nuances associated with the contract. For example, an advertiser may wish to have its ads displayed only to users whose IP addresses are from a specific geographic location, or the contract may be structured to provide the advertiser with variable pricing or incentives (such as a set of free advertisements) once a certain level has been paid for. In summary, the delivery platform captures all the relevant pricing information associated with the contract to allow for real-time revenue recognition according to the terms of the contract. After the contract is entered into the system, a summary of the contract setup is provided to the sales manager that worked with the customer. The sales manager then reviews the contract setup for accuracy.

The Company’s ad delivery platform automatically tracks the advertising activity each day and reports the activity to its customers, who are then billed weekly for the aggregate ad activity.

Ms. Drew’s Concern

Ms. Drew is concerned about several things she has learned regarding the appropriateness of management’s revenue recognition policies.

Financial Statements

Balance Sheet:

*Assets consist primarily of cash, land/building, patents, goodwill, and other assets.

** As you plan your audit this is the latest financial information available.

Controls

The Company’s has various controls in place. The CFO performs a checklist on a monthly basis to review the performance of the company. The CFO reports to the CEO every quarter. The CEO reports to the chairman of the board of directors once a year before the financial statements are prepared and released to the public.

The company has over 10 thousand employees around the world, of which 4 thousand work at the headquarters. All employees receive the company’s code of ethics that was prepared in 2005 when the company was founded. The CEO was in recent trouble when he posted controversial messages on the social platform that offended people of a certain group. The company has One hundred different controls across the company and across the world related to operations of the company and revenue.

The company uses 10 different IT systems as the company is growing quickly it has had to adopt and adds new systems whenever they are needed.

The leaders of one of the main divisions recently left to go work for Facebook, and has not been replaced for the last 4 months.

Controls have changed a lot since last year because the company is so dynamic and the environment is so fast paced. Employees are always trying to keep up with the new systems and new controls.

Audit

Because of SKI’s continued growth, the audit committee has requested that the Company choose a new audit firm with experience in auditing public technology companies.

Kristine Drew, a senior auditor, is the in-charge accountant on the proposal and planning of the SKI audit. In addition to her supervisory and administrative responsibilities, Ms. Drew is responsible for auditing revenue and determining the risk assessment for the audit.

Ms. Drew has read the Company’s disclosed accounting policies and is interviewing the revenue controller, Bill Cook, and various sales personnel to develop in-depth process flow documentation that will serve as the basis for the team’s risk assessment.

Required:

1. What would you set Audit risk, Control Risk, Inherent Risk, and Detection risk? (Very low, low, medium, or high)
2. Are there are significant or fraud risks that you have identified? (If any why are they fraud or significant risks?)
3. What other information do you need to plan your audit approach? Where would you get this information from? For each piece of information indicate where you might receive it from and how? (ex: who else is on the board of directors- obtained through inquiry.)
4. What benchmark would you use to calculate materiality? Why? (ex: revenue, EBITDA, Equity, Assets, etc)
5. Using the benchmark and guidance in the book calculate “overall materiality” for your audit? (ex: 8% of Equity ($60m)= $2.4m).
6. For Revenue what assertions are the most important for you to test?
7. For Revenue what are your concerns with each of those assertions based on the information above?
8. What are the things about testing revenue that you are concerned about (specifically what parts of the company’s process if any concern you)? (Example: An employee could steal money from the bank account, or revenue could be modified in the accounting software by an employee.) (Focus on the actual real process for the company described above to make this determination.)
9. For your audit approach would you choose to test controls or primarily perform substantive procedures? If so what would be your mix of control testing to substantive testing? (ex: 50% controls, and 50% substantive)
10. Would you accept this audit? If not why not?

Risk Assessment- Exercise #1

Social Konnections Inc. (SKI or the “Company”) is a global Internet company that runs Social Konnections, a large social media networking Web site. SKI has experienced steep growth since its launch in 2005, and the Company went public in 2007. SKI currently has over 500 million active users who visit the site to connect with others, express themselves, and play games.

Last year, substantially all of SKI’s revenue came from advertisers who market their products and services to SKI’s active users through advertisements placed on the Web site or its various mobile platforms.

The founder of the company serves as the CEO and is also on the chairman of the board of directors. The CFO is also one of the co-founders of the company. Both have been serving in these roles since 2005.

In Q1 of the current fiscal year, SKI acquired Corporate Collaborations (CC), an entity that manages private and public social media networks for corporations. CC’s customers are primarily national and global companies whose employees connect over its platform. In addition to hosting private social media networks for corporations, CC provides services to develop the networks it manages. CC’s revenues are earned through the performance of multiyear revenue contracts with its customers. In the current year, CC is expected to produce approximately 20 percent of SKI’s consolidated revenue.

SKI’s investors are focused on the growth prospects of the Company’s legacy open social media platform operations and its new corporate revenue unit. The Company’s MD&A disclosures include (1) various user and revenue metrics to help financial statement users assess its traditional operations and (2) backlog information to help users assess CC’s operations.

Advertising Revenue

SKI creates advertising space on its Web site and mobile applications and sells the space to advertisers either directly, or through advertising agencies. According to Mr. Cook, the

amount an advertiser pays is dependent on the number of views the ad receives or the number of user clicks (depending on the type of advertisement defined in the underlying contract) and the revenue is recorded in the period in which the views or clicks are made.

Ms. Drew has learned that simple advertising can be purchased directly from SKI through SKI’s advertising Web site at standard rates, with the advertisements and terms input directly into the Company’s ad delivery platform. However, most advertising revenue is generated directly through the advertising sales team, which has the ability to help advertisers develop more sophisticated advertising campaigns. Management has established minimum pricing and volume thresholds for these advertisements; however, the sales staff is given significant latitude in securing contracts with customers. Extra commissions are paid to sales individuals who sign longer-term contracts that meet minimum revenue targets.

Once a contract is signed, the ad development department creates the ad content and obtains the customer’s approval. The approved ad and the contract are electronically sent to the ad scheduling department, and the advertisement is uploaded into the Company’s ad delivery platform. The ad delivery platform is a robust system and is designed to capture all the nuances associated with the contract. For example, an advertiser may wish to have its ads displayed only to users whose IP addresses are from a specific geographic location, or the contract may be structured to provide the advertiser with variable pricing or incentives (such as a set of free advertisements) once a certain level has been paid for. In summary, the delivery platform captures all the relevant pricing information associated with the contract to allow for real-time revenue recognition according to the terms of the contract. After the contract is entered into the system, a summary of the contract setup is provided to the sales manager that worked with the customer. The sales manager then reviews the contract setup for accuracy.

The Company’s ad delivery platform automatically tracks the advertising activity each day and reports the activity to its customers, who are then billed weekly for the aggregate ad activity.

Ms. Drew’s Concern

Ms. Drew is concerned about several things she has learned regarding the appropriateness of management’s revenue recognition policies.

Financial Statements

Balance Sheet:

*Assets consist primarily of cash, land/building, patents, goodwill, and other assets.

** As you plan your audit this is the latest financial information available.

Controls

The Company’s has various controls in place. The CFO performs a checklist on a monthly basis to review the performance of the company. The CFO reports to the CEO every quarter. The CEO reports to the chairman of the board of directors once a year before the financial statements are prepared and released to the public.

The company has over 10 thousand employees around the world, of which 4 thousand work at the headquarters. All employees receive the company’s code of ethics that was prepared in 2005 when the company was founded. The CEO was in recent trouble when he posted controversial messages on the social platform that offended people of a certain group. The company has One hundred different controls across the company and across the world related to operations of the company and revenue.

The company uses 10 different IT systems as the company is growing quickly it has had to adopt and adds new systems whenever they are needed.

The leaders of one of the main divisions recently left to go work for Facebook, and has not been replaced for the last 4 months.

Controls have changed a lot since last year because the company is so dynamic and the environment is so fast paced. Employees are always trying to keep up with the new systems and new controls.

Audit

Because of SKI’s continued growth, the audit committee has requested that the Company choose a new audit firm with experience in auditing public technology companies.

Kristine Drew, a senior auditor, is the in-charge accountant on the proposal and planning of the SKI audit. In addition to her supervisory and administrative responsibilities, Ms. Drew is responsible for auditing revenue and determining the risk assessment for the audit.

Ms. Drew has read the Company’s disclosed accounting policies and is interviewing the revenue controller, Bill Cook, and various sales personnel to develop in-depth process flow documentation that will serve as the basis for the team’s risk assessment.

Required:

1. What would you set Audit risk, Control Risk, Inherent Risk, and Detection risk? (Very low, low, medium, or high)
2. Are there are significant or fraud risks that you have identified? (If any why are they fraud or significant risks?)
3. What other information do you need to plan your audit approach? Where would you get this information from? For each piece of information indicate where you might receive it from and how? (ex: who else is on the board of directors- obtained through inquiry.)
4. What benchmark would you use to calculate materiality? Why? (ex: revenue, EBITDA, Equity, Assets, etc)
5. Using the benchmark and guidance in the book calculate “overall materiality” for your audit? (ex: 8% of Equity ($60m)= $2.4m).
6. For Revenue what assertions are the most important for you to test?
7. For Revenue what are your concerns with each of those assertions based on the information above?
8. What are the things about testing revenue that you are concerned about (specifically what parts of the company’s process if any concern you)? (Example: An employee could steal money from the bank account, or revenue could be modified in the accounting software by an employee.) (Focus on the actual real process for the company described above to make this determination.)
9. For your audit approach would you choose to test controls or primarily perform substantive procedures? If so what would be your mix of control testing to substantive testing? (ex: 50% controls, and 50% substantive)
10. Would you accept this audit? If not why not?

We also had income from some investments. We received interest and dividends from a few places. Can you tell me if those are reported on a 1099 form? If so, I may have to request this from my bank. We own our home and paid the typical homeowner’s expenses. What expenses will you need from us relating to our home? Are there any other questions you have for us, such as other deductions we can take?

Just curious: this tax "stuff" is so much information to remember. How do you ever stay on top of all of these tax rules? Please let us know what other information you will need from us and what documents you will need us to send over to you. Thank you in advance

Identify what additional documents the clients need to provide in order for you to do their taxes.

Identify applicable deductions and credits available for the clients.

Differentiate types of income and expenditures.

Explain how you utilized the IRS website for staying current in the identification and application of appropriate tax codes and laws.

[5] Aggregate, or total, spending is the combined spending for new goods and services of all:
A) households.
B) households and businesses.
C) households, businesses, and government units.
D) households, businesses, government units, and foreign buyers.

[6] The sector of the economy that purchases the most goods and services is the:
A) foreign sector.
B) business sector.
C) household sector.
D) government sector.

[7] Household spending:
A) is based primarily on unearned income.
B) tends to fluctuate widely as the economy moves through the business cycle.
C) is larger than the combined spending of all U.S. businesses, government units, and foreign buyers.
D) all of these answers are correct.

[8] The main determinant of total household spending is the:
A) size of household income.
B) stock of household wealth.
C) level of household borrowing.
D) availability of government transfer payments.

[9] If the only spending in the economy were household spending based on earned income, and if households always spent all of their incomes, from one year to the next the level of economic activity would:
A) increase.
B) decrease.
C) not change.
D) change in no predictable way.

[10] Injections into the spending stream come from:
A) household earned income.
B) profits, rents, and interest, but not wages.
C) household earned income, transfer payments, and borrowing.
D) sources other than household earned income, and include transfer payments and borrowing.

[11] Which of the following is an injection into the spending stream?
A) Taxes paid to the government.
B) Spending from transfer payments.
C) Spending from household earned income.
D) All of these answers are correct.

[12] Which of the following is a leakage from the spending stream by households?
A) Saving.
B) A decrease in earned income.
C) The receipt of transfer payments.
D) Borrowing from financial institutions.

[13] Personal consumption expenditures would likely increase if there were an increase in:
A) taxes.
B) savings.
C) transfer payments.
D) all of these answers are correct.

[14] Holding all else equal, you would expect the level of economic activity to increase if household:
A) saving were less than taxes.
B) saving plus taxes were more than earned income.
C) saving plus taxes were less than spending from borrowed funds and transfer payments.
D) all of these answers are correct.

[15] Considering only the household sector, an economy will:
A) expand as spending from transfers and borrowing, and savings and taxes increase.
B) contract as spending from transfers and borrowing, and savings and taxes increase.
C) expand as spending from transfers and borrowing increases, and contract as savings and taxes increase.
D) contract as spending from transfers and borrowing increases, and expand as savings and taxes increase.

Larkspur Company follows the practice of pricing its inventory at LCNRV, on an individual-item basis.

From the information above, determine the amount of Larkspur Company inventory.

Michael McNamara and Gregory Lau met while in university and always knew they wanted to be in business together. Shortly after university Michael went to work for a large mulinational firm while Gregory pursued an MBA.

After several years of experience the firm Lau McNamara was established on July 1, 1984 and the firm experienced slow but steady growth over time. It is now 2020 and Lau McNamara has grown to total staff of 55 employees and revenues exceeding $13,000,000 a year. They have largely grown in the area of consulting, tax and accounting.

About 5 years ago they hired a rising star Rose Femia. She has exceeded all expectations and has been pushing to expand the services provided by the firm to include assurance services. Mr. McNamara with his extensive contacts has been asked to bid on a contract to perform audits for 3 municipalities within the province of Ontario.

He has assigned this task to Ms. Femia.

At the moment staff are fully scheduled, if Lau McNamara were to be awarded the contract, it must hire one new staff member at an annual remuneration of $60,000 to handle the additional workload.

Ms. Femia is convinced that obtaining the contract will lead to additional new clients from the respective municipalities. Expected new work (excluding the three municipalities) is 830 hours at an average billing rate of $90 per hour. Other information follows about the firm’s current annual revenues and costs:

Should the firm win the contract, the audits of the three municipalities will require 870 hours of expected work.

As a side note, Michael McNamara is adamant that fixed costs should be considered for this short term bid. Gregory Lau argues that they should be disregarded for short-term decision making.

Required:

1. If the Rose Femia’s expectations are correct, what is the lowest bid the firm can submit and still expect to increase annual net income? What would be the hourly billing rate for the county audit jobs just to break even on all the new business? (Round "Average billing rate" answer to 2 decimal places.)

2. If the contract is obtained at a price of $44,800, what is the minimum number of hours of new business in addition to the municipality work that must be obtained for the firm to break even on total new business? What is the margin of safety (MOS) regarding the municipality job audit proposal?

a survey of 2284 adults in a certain large country aged 18 and older conducted by reputable polling organization founded that 424 have donated blood in the past two years. Complete Parts (a) through (C).
a) obtain a point estimate for the population proportion of adults in the country age 18 and older who have donated blood in the past two years.

b) verify that the requirements for constructing a confidence interval.
the sample [ a) can be assumed to be b)is stated to not be. c) cannot be assumed to be. d) is stated to be. ] a simple random sample, the value of [ a)np b) p(1-p) c) np(1-p) d) p.] is [ ]. which is [ a) greater than. b) less then] 10. & the [ a) population size b) sample population c) sample size d) population proportion] [ a)can be assumed to be. b) is stated to not be c) cannot be assumed to be d) is stated to] less than or equal to 5% of the [a) sample proportion b) population proportion c) population size d) sample size.]

c. construct and interpret a 90% confidence interval for the population proportion of adults in the country who have donated blood in the past two years. Select the correct Choice below and fill in any answer box within your choice.( type integer or decimal rounded to three decimal places as needed. Use ascending order)
A) we are [ ]% confident the proportion of adults in the country aged 18 and older who have donated blood in the past two years is between [ ] and [ ].
B) there is a [ ]% chance the proportion of adults in the country aged 18 and older who have donated blood in the past 2 years is between [ ] and [ ].

Provide a written response to each of the following questions. Ensure that your answer includes reference to the appropriate Primary sources (that is, legislation and/or Tax Treaty). – Choose Australia

1. In which Act or Treaty are the rules to determine the residency of an individual and a corporate entity found?
2. Is it possible for an individual to be classified as a tax resident of more than one country? Why/why not?
3. Is it possible for a company to be classified as a tax resident of more than one country? Why/why not?

Sugar Ltd was involved in the following transactions during 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020 financial period.

1. On 5 November 2019 the directors of the company decided to raise extra capital by issuing 2 million ordinary shares publicly at a price of $2 each share. The company received application monies of $4,800,000 for 2.4 million shares on 30 November.
2. The company decided to allot shares to applicants on the basis of 10 shares for every 12 shares applied for on 30 December.
3. On 30 December, the excess amounts paid on application were refunded to applicants after the allotment.
4. The funds raised were transferred to the company’s business account.
5. The company paid $300,000 interim dividends from prior retained earnings to ordinary shareholders on 7 February 2020.
6. The company issued 280,000 bonus shares at a price of $2 per share from general reserve on 30 June 2020.
7. The company earned $700,000 profit during the financial year ended 30 June 2020.

Required:

Provide journal entries to record the above transactions for 2019/2020 financial year. (Narrations are required)   

Sugar Ltd was involved in the following transactions during 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020 financial period.

1. On 5 November 2019 the directors of the company decided to raise extra capital by issuing 2 million ordinary shares publicly at a price of $2 each share. The company received application monies of $4,800,000 for 2.4 million shares on 30 November.
2. The company decided to allot shares to applicants on the basis of 10 shares for every 12 shares applied for on 30 December.
3. On 30 December, the excess amounts paid on application were refunded to applicants after the allotment.
4. The funds raised were transferred to the company’s business account.
5. The company paid $300,000 interim dividends from prior retained earnings to ordinary shareholders on 7 February 2020.
6. The company issued 280,000 bonus shares at a price of $2 per share from general reserve on 30 June 2020.
7. The company earned $700,000 profit during the financial year ended 30 June 2020.

Required:

Provide journal entries to record the above transactions for 2019/2020 financial year. (Narrations are required)