MAA 303 Audit Assignment – Trimester 3 2012 The MAA303 audit assignment consists of three short questions. Each question must be answered within the word limit guidelines and in your own words. Marks...

MAA 303 Audit Assignment – Trimester 3 2012
The MAA303 audit assignment consists of three short questions. Each question must be answered within the word limit guidelines and in your own words. Marks will be deducted if your answers contain large amounts of text copied from textbooks or any other reference material. If you are unsure about this “warning” please refer to the section on plagiarism in the MAA303 unit guide.
Question 1
An assurance engagement involves evaluation or measurement of subject matter against criteria. Discuss the criteria used in a financial report audit? Discuss and critically evaluate the challenges auditors face in providing and audit opinion on a company’s environmental performance.
(Word limit: Individual – 500 words; Two – 670 words; Three – 850 words)
(8 Marks)
Question 2
The final decision in the Centro Case was handed down in the Federal Court on 27 June 2011. PWC had admitted it had erred and agreed to pay around $66 million of the $200m settlement. Had the legal case against PWC proceeded to court, on what basis might PWC have been found guilty? What are the implications from the Centro case for auditors practice in the future?
(Word limit: Individual – 500 words; Two – 670 words; Three – 850 words)
(9 Marks)
Question 3
Explain how the nature of a substantive test could affect the decisions about when and how much substantive testing is performed?
How do these decisions relate to the overall risk assessment for the item being tested?
(Word limit: Individual – 500 words; Two – 670 words; Three – 850 words)
(8 Marks)
Word Length
The assignment may be completed individually or in groups of one, two or three. Maximum word lengths vary accordingly: 1 person = 1500 words; 2 people = 2010 words, 3 people = 2550 words. The word length of the assignment should reflect the marks allocated above. (Of course, one clearly argued paragraph is preferable to five pages of confused nonsense.) Students are responsible for organising and managing their own groups and there are no restrictions on group membership. Off campus students are encouraged to organise on-line groups through the discussion forum.
Caution: Each group member is responsible for the whole assignment.
MAA 303 Audit Assignment – Trimester 3 2012
Submission
Organise your submission with a title page and the three parts as described above. There is no need for a table of contents, an executive summary or an introductory section. See the unit planner in the unit guide for submission requirements. Mailed papers will be considered to be on time if posted on the due date. The submission date will be determined by the postmark.
Include a plagiarism declaration signed by every group member. Late submissions will be penalised 1 mark per day late.
Student assignments are expected to exhibit coherence and good quality organisation, punctuation, spelling, grammar and referencing. Up to 5 marks (out of 25) will be deducted for substandard performance in each of these areas. Where the paper is judged unreadable, students will be asked to resubmit and will not receive more than 50% for the resubmission.
Any queries about the marking of assignments should be brought to the attention of the teaching staff immediately after assignments are returned. No queries relating to the assignment will be considered after the final exam.
Due Date
(a) On line copy due by Thursday 5 January 2013 before 11.59 pm.
(b) Hard-copy must be posted (using DSA assignment tracking) before 5.00 pm on 6 January 2013 to DSA.