Biotech Limited

Financial year end 30 June 2020

You are an auditor in Smit & Chandra, a mid-tier audit firm. Your firm is the incumbent auditor on Biotech Ltd, a pharmaceutical company. Since the previous audit, the company has listed on the Australian Securities Exchange which means the company has to meet additional reporting regulations. Due to rapid growth, Biotech Ltd is financially stretched and its accounting systems are struggling to cope with the growth in the business. You recently read an article in the Australian Financial Review, which stated that Biotech Ltd is currently under investigation by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) for alleged failure to pay the appropriate amount of Pay As You Go (PAYG) tax on their payroll.

Biotech Ltd is a pharmaceutical company, developing drugs to be licensed for use around the world. Products include medicines such as tablets, medical gels and creams. The market is very competitive, encouraging rapid product innovation. New products are continually in development and improvements are made to existing formulations. Drugs must meet very stringent regulatory requirements prior to being licensed for production and sale. You are aware that during the 2020 financial year, Biotech Ltd lost several customer contracts to overseas competitors.

Biotech Ltd approached its bank during the year to extend its borrowing facilities. An extension of $20 million was sought to its existing loan to support the on-going development of new drugs. The long-term borrowings are subject to debt covenants in which the company must maintain a current ratio of 3.5:1.

In addition, the company asked the bank to make cash of $5 million available if an existing court case against the company is successful. The court case is being brought by an individual who suffered severe side effects when participating in a clinical trial in 2016.

On 8 June 2020, the Company announced to the market it had been the victim of a cyber-security incident that resulted in supplier and customer details being disclosed on the dark web. The Company is assessing the costs of the incident and the subsequent reduction in revenue. The Company expects this to have a material impact on future earnings.

In December 2019, the internal audit department of Biotech Ltd performed a review of the operation of controls over processing of overtime payments in the Payroll department. It was found that the company’s specified internal control procedures in relation to the processing of overtime payments were not followed.

Below are some results of the analytical review procedures performed by the Senior Auditor (David) during the planning stage:

Sales                                                                                                            12.5% decrease since prior year

Net profit after tax                                                                                20% decrease since prior year

Accounts payable                                                                                   15% decrease since prior year

Cash at Bank                                                                                             16% increase since prior year

Accounts receivable                                                                              18% increase since prior year

Inventories                                                                                               6%   increase since prior year

Current ratio:                                                                                            3.6:1

Debt to Equity ratio:                                                                               0.6

Minutes from the Audit Planning meeting with Simon Jones (Finance Director of Biotech Ltd) held on 30^th April 2020:

Due to the current government restrictions, the planning meeting with Simon Jones was held via Zoom. In attendance at the meeting was the Audit Partner (Michael), the Audit Manager (Amanda) and the Audit Senior (David).

The following key items were discussed during the meeting:

• Mr Jones raised concerns about the conduct of the previous audit, stating numerous examples of when he and his staff had been interrupted when they were busy. He stated that he wanted guarantees that this year's audit will be more efficient, less intrusive and cheaper, otherwise he will seek an alternative auditor in future.
• Michael reminded Mr Jones that fees relating to the audit engagement from the previous year were still outstanding.
• Both Michael and Mr Jones also discussed the range of non-audit services provided to Biotech Ltd, which includes payroll preparation, tax computation and advice.
• Mr Jones gave the audit team an update on the court case pertaining to the individual who suffered severe side effects from a company trial (refer above). According to legal advice provided to Mr Jones by the company’s legal counsel, it is more likely than not that Biotech will lose the court case, which would result in a significant amount of cash having to be paid as a settlement.
• Amanda asked Mr Jones if he considered the decline in profitability as an indicator of a material uncertainty surrounding the going concern assumption. Mr Jones responded by saying, “Look, everything might seem dire, but we have it under control. We will be here this time next year, so keep that in mind”. Michael then looked at Amanda and David and said, “Make sure that you mention the conversation that we have just had with Mr Jones about the appropriateness of the going concern assumption in the audit working papers. This should be sufficient enough audit evidence for us.”
• Mr Jones also mentioned the following: “As you know, Biotech Ltd has a Goodwill asset on the balance sheet. This is an indefinite useful life intangible asset. In accordance with the Accounting Standards (AASB 138), we are required to test the asset for impairment every year. We usually prepare a Value in Use calculation based on discounted future cash flows that we expect to generate in the next five years. I have completed this year’s calculation by rolling forward the prior year’s calculation and have just updated the dates. There was no need to update the future cash flow figures.”

The Audit Team

The audit team consists of 4 people. The partner is Michael. He has been the audit partner on the Biotech Ltd audit for 6 years. The audit manager is Amanda. This is Amanda’s first time on the Biotech Ltd audit. David is the audit senior and is responsible for the initial audit planning. David has recently completed the Graduate Diploma of Chartered Accounting. David has just been offered a well-paying accountant position at Biotech but he has not yet decided whether to accept the position. The graduate on the audit is Audrey. Audrey’s friend is the receptionist at Biotech Ltd. The receptionist has no accounting knowledge and has no involvement with the recording or processing of accounting transactions.

Accounts Receivable / Sales Accounting Cycle and Internal Control System

At the end of each month, the sales manager determines the amount of products required to meet sales demand for the following month based on sales orders received. He reviews the sales orders received from customers and then prepares the pre-numbered inventory requisition forms, which he then sends to the warehouse managers so that they can prepare the goods for delivery. One copy of the sales order and inventory requisition form is sent to the warehouse, one copy is sent to the accounts receivable department and one copy is filed in the sales department.

The warehouse prepares the goods for delivery to the customers and generates the delivery document. When the goods have been delivered, the signed delivery document, which includes the delivery details, is forwarded to the accounts receivable department. The other copy is filed in the warehouse. The accounts receivable clerk matches the signed delivery document with the sales order and inventory requisition form. Once satisfied that all of the details agree, the clerk generates the sales invoice. Once generated, the clerk does another check to ensure that all details per the sales invoice agrees to the delivery document and sales order. Once satisfied, she writes “checked” on the sales invoice and sends it to the customer. At the end of every week, a different clerk in the Accounts Receivable team reviews the bank statements for receipt of payments from customers and performs a reconciliation against the sales invoices. Once a customer has paid the sales invoice, the clerk stamps “received” on the sales invoice and files that along with all the other documents in date order.

The walk-through of the accounts receivable/sales cycle confirmed that the accounting and internal control system was working as documented above.

Test of control:

As part of the audit, Audrey tested the controls over the accounts receivable system. She selected a sample of twenty sales transactions and tested the control that all details had been checked. Out of the 20 sales transactions that were selected for testing, 5 sales invoices in the sample did not have the word “checked” written on them. When documenting the results of the test performed, Audrey concluded that the internal control did not operate effectively and consistently throughout the year but that no further audit work is required.

Substantive test

In order to test the occurrence of the sales transactions, Audrey selected a sample of sales invoices and traced them to the General Ledger to test that they were properly recorded.

Subsequent events not previously mentioned

• One of Biotech Ltd’s major customers went into liquidation in July 2020. The balance due from the customer at 30 June 2020 was $564,000. This is a material amount. There has been no provision/allowance for doubtful debts raised for this debtor in the financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2020. Biotech Ltd’s legal adviser stated in a telephone call that that the probability of any funds being received from the debtor is remote.

• On 2 July 2020, Biotech Ltd declared a one-for-five rights issue of 100,000 shares at $2.20. These shares were payable in full on 31 July 2020.

Write about the internal control system and the assertion for the same?

The GPA of accounting students in a university is known to be normally distributed. A random sample of 31 accounting students results in a mean of 3.14 and a standard deviation of 0.15. Construct the 99% confidence interval for the mean GPA of all accounting students at this university.

The GPA of accounting students in a university is known to be normally distributed. A random sample of 32 accounting students results in a mean of 2.64 and a standard deviation of 0.15. Construct the 95% confidence interval for the mean GPA of all accounting students at this university.

Linda is assigned to audit some items in the financial statements for Work Hard Sdn Bhd for the year ended 31 August 2020. She has discoverred the following information:

1. Client company’s cash account balance and its bank account balance have shown different figures. The company has prepared a bank reconciliation statement for the month ended 31 August 2020.
2. Linda has been told by the company’s management that there are few cheques outstanding which were issued in July 2020 to pay for some expenses. There is no other issue with the bank reconciliation items.
3. The company has 1000 workers who are paid weekly. The payroll function has not been operating smoothly for some time. Errors often reported where workers received pay cheques for an amount considerably larger than they should have. Further investigation revealed that the mistake was due to wrong number of hours worked reported.
4. In other instance, a computer operator has purposely included a pay rate increase for one of his friends in the factory. This was discovered by chance by another employee.
5. There were also cases of missed payments to workers. They were not detected until the pay cheques for that department were distributed by the supervisors.

Required:

I) Suggest substantive test that Linda can perform for item (a) dan (b).

(6 Markah/Marks) II) Identify the related assertions in item (c) to (e).

(3 Markah/Marks)

III) State one (1) control that should have prevented each item (c) to (e) from occurring on a continuing basis; and

3. Markah/Marks)

IV) State one (1) substantive audit procedure that could uncover the misstatements in each item (c) to (e).

4. Markah/Marks)

Identify and explain key US accounting practices / disclosures that are different from other countries

Why is a leading US MNE such as GE afraid of emerging multinationals from emerging economies?

1. Data Flow Diagram

The TOPCAR taxi company is developing a new computer system to be used to support taxi booking and corporate client credit accounts. This computer system aims to automate some manual processes and cut down on labour costs as TOPCAR has many customers from large corporate companies, e.g. CEO, and managers often need taxi trips to the airport. The following describes the activities that must be processed by the computer system:

A client company must first register and open a credit account with TOPCAR at TOPCAR’s website, in which case certain credit checks are made such as checking credit history of client company’s debt level. If the client company has no bad debt history, a credit account for the client company is set up.

At least 24 hours after successful account registration, authorized persons from such client company can request a taxi booking form TOPCAR’s website. When this happens, the availability of a taxi at the requested date and time is checked, as is the credit status of the client company checked. (Note that credit status in finance means a measure of a lender’s willingness to lend money to a particular person or organization, depending on their ability to repay).

If these two checks are successful, a booking is made, and a written confirmation is sent via SMS and emailed to client company. After the customer from the client company has used the taxi, the driver sends in a record of the work, including the cost, and this is added to client company’s account. (Note that driver is an outsourced worker from TOPCAR’s point of view.) At the end of each month, taxi bills are sent via SMS and emailed to client companies for settlement.

From the above description, draw a data flow diagram showing the flow of input information (and/or data) and output information (and/or data) to and from processes and database stores within this computer system and any external environmental elements that interact with this computer system. In this diagram, you must identify the following:

1. processes inside this computer system,                      
2. database stores, external environmental elements that interact with any of the processes identified

in (a)                                                 (5.5 marks)

3. input and output information (or data) to and from each of the processes, database stores, and external environmental elements identified in (a) and (b)        (7.5 marks)

(Hint: there are two environmental elements that interact with this computer system, and six main processes in this computer system)

1)

Yowell Company began operations on January 1, Year 1. During Year 1, the company engaged in the following cash transactions:

1. 1) issued stock for $70,000
2. 2) borrowed $40,000 from its bank
3. 3) provided consulting services for $69,000 cash
4. 4) paid back $30,000 of the bank loan
5. 5) paid rent expense for $16,500
6. 6) purchased equipment for $27,000 cash
7. 7) paid $4,500 dividends to stockholders
8. 8) paid employees' salaries of $36,000

What is Yowell's net cash flow from operating activities?

a) Inflow of $52,500

b) Inflow of $33,000

c) Inflow of $16,500

d) Inflow of $12,000

2)

Packard Company engaged in the following transactions during Year 1, its first year of operations. (Assume all transactions are cash transactions.)

1. Acquired $1,400 cash from the issue of common stock.
2. Borrowed $870 from a bank.
3. Earned $1,050 of revenues cash.
4. Paid expenses of $340.
5. Paid a $140 dividend.

During Year 2, Packard engaged in the following transactions. (Assume all transactions are cash transactions.)

1. Issued an additional $775 of common stock.
2. Repaid $535 of its debt to the bank.
3. Earned revenues of $1,200 cash.
4. Incurred expenses of $540.
5. Paid dividends of $190.

What is the amount of Packard Company's net cash flow from financing activities for Year 2?

a) Net outflow of $535.

b) Net inflow of $585.

c) Net inflow of $50.

d) Net outflow of $725.

Construct a critique of the following including at least 1 strength and 1 weakness of the proposed new strategy.

CVS is a very successful company that has been one of the leading publicity owned companies in the US. There headquarters is based out of Woonsocket, R.I. A company that has over 290, 000 employees that help to ensure the success of the company everyday. CVS aims to be a leading company that will provide the testing that is needed globally for the corona virus by allowing drive in testing. By providing testing to those that may not be able to get it regularly they will be able to save more individuals. This company always go up and beyond for their customers they provide services that are able to be affordable for the purchase of their medications. I use them on a regular basics when I need a prescription refills they are very professional and they never disappoint. The company should do a review of how their profit is doing every five years so that they can get a idea of new methods or ideas that can be introduced.

Where i currently work at we have a Suggestion box that my Director always check to get an idea of what the customers will like to see change or use it as way that they can show their employees that they are appreciated by appointing an employee of the month by doing so that may drive the employees that may not feel appreciated to see that the company that they give all they time that they could be spending with their families especially on holidays. I also feel that the company should come up with in store events that would draw the attention to customers that may not be a regular customer. When i was in the Navy there were times that I really regretted signing up because I felt like my command didn't appreciate me so i was ready to get out, then i met a manager that appreciated his employees and would constantly tell us without us he wouldn't be anything.

Koninklijke Philips NV

Established in 1891 in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, Koninklijke Philips NV is one of the world’s oldest multinational companies. The company began making lighting products and over time diversified into a range of businesses that included domestic appliances, consumer electronics, and health care products. From the beginning, the small Dutch domestic market created pressures for Philips to look to foreign markets for growth. Some argue that this is the case for most European companies and, thus, the many companies from Europe that are globally competitive.

By the start of World War II, Philips already had a global presence. During the war, the Netherlands was occupied by Germany. By necessity, the company’s national organizations in countries such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, United Kingdom, and the United States gained considerable autonomy during this period. After the war, a structure based on strong national organizations remained in place. Each national organization was in essence a self-contained entity that was responsible for much of its own manufacturing, marketing, and sales. Most R&D activities, however, were centralized at Philips’ headquarters in Eindhoven. Reflecting this, several product divisions were created. Based in Eindhoven, the product divisions developed technologies and products, which were then made and sold by the different national organizations. During this period, the career track of most senior managers at Philips involved significant postings in various national organizations around the world (a career development practice often seen still in multinational corporations).

For several decades this organizational arrangement worked well. It allowed Philips to customize its product offerings, sales, and marketing efforts to the conditions that existed in different national markets. By the 1970s, however, flaws were appearing in the approach. The structure involved significant duplication of activities around the world, particularly in manufacturing, which created an intrinsically high-cost structure. When trade barriers were high, this did not matter so much, but the significance of its effect became important when trade barriers were starting to fall and competitors came in to the marketplace. These competitors included Sony and Matsushita from Japan, General Electric from the United States, and Samsung from South Korea. Each of these competitors gained market share by serving increasingly global markets from centralized production facilities where they could achieve greater scale economies and hence lower costs.

Philips’ response was to try to tilt the balance of power in its structure away from national organizations and toward product divisions. International production centers were established under the direction of the product divisions. The national organizations, however, remained responsible for local marketing and sales, and they often maintained control over some local production facilities. One problem Philips faced in trying to change its structure at this time was that most senior managers had come up through the national organizations. Consequently, they were loyal to them and tended to protect their autonomy.

Despite several reorganization efforts, the national organizations remained a strong influence at Philips until the 1990s. In the mid-1990s Cor Boonstra became CEO. Page 428He famously described the company’s organizational structure as a “plate of spaghetti” and asked how Philips could compete when the company had 350 subsidiaries around the world and significant duplication of manufacturing and marketing efforts across nations. Boonstra instituted a radical reorganization. He replaced the company’s 21 product divisions with just 7 global business divisions, making them responsible for global product development, production, and marketing. The heads of the divisions reported directly to him, while the national organizations reported to the divisions. The national organizations remained responsible for local sales and local marketing efforts, but after this reorganization they finally lost their historic sway on the company.

Philips, however, continued to underperform its global rivals. By 2008, Gerard Kleisterlee, who succeeded Boonstra as CEO in 2001, decided Philips was still not sufficiently focused on global markets. He reorganized yet again, this time around just three global divisions, health care, lighting, and consumer lifestyle (which included the company’s electronics businesses). These are also the three divisions that are in place under the most recent CEO, Frans van Houten, who became the CEO of Philips in 2011.

The slogan for the health care division is "creating the future of healthcare." Philips is a global leader in the health care domain. It is guided by the understanding that there is a patient in the center of everything it does in the field of health care, and its focus is on creating the ideal experience for all patients around the world, young and old. Philips Lighting is about "enhancing lives with light" by delivering innovative and energy-efficient solutions. The Consumer Lifestyle division is dedicated to "helping people achieve a healthier and better life."

The three divisions are responsible for product strategy, global marketing, and shifting of production to low-cost locations (or outsourcing production). The divisions also took over some sales responsibilities, particularly dealing with global retail chains such as Walmart, Tesco, and Carrefour. To accommodate national differences, however, some sales and marketing activities remained located at the national organizations.

Case Discussion Questions

Why did Philips’ organizational structure make sense early on in its existence? Why did this structure start to create problems for the company later on?

What was Philips trying to achieve by tilting the balance of power in its structure away from national organizations and toward the product divisions? Why was this hard to achieve?

What was the point of the organizational changes made by Cor Boonstra? What was he trying to achieve? Do you agree with Frans van Houten's decision to keep the same three divisions when he became CEO in 2011?

In 2008 Philips reorganized yet again, now down from 21 divisions to 9 divisions and subsequently just 3 divisions. Why do you think it did this? What is it trying to achieve?