Overview
This unit covers the nature and purpose of audit and assurance and the regulatory and professional environment in which it operates. It specifically addresses issues dealing with the auditing standards and practice statements, ethics, current developments and legal liability. You are introduced to statistical and non-statistical sampling as well as audit methodology, planning and internal control. In this unit you will gain an understanding of the role of auditing standards, and their application to the audit process.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Prerequisite: ACCT20071 Foundations of Financial AccountingAnti-Requisite: ACCT20040 Auditing and Ethical Practice
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 3 - 2020
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Informal student feedback.
Students benefit from completing a practical, applied research project focused on their assigned ASX company.
This assessment item will be continued.
- Identify and explain the nature and purpose of auditing within the regulatory and professional environment
- Critically evaluate and discuss the audit and assurance process and the role of the auditing standards
- Critically evaluate and report on the ethical and legal aspects of planning, executing and reporting on a financial audit
- Define the fundamental principles of professional ethics and explain how the ethical rules apply to auditors.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
1 - Online Test - 10% | ||||
2 - Written Assessment - 30% | ||||
3 - Take Home Exam - 60% |
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
1 - Knowledge | ||||
2 - Communication | ||||
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | ||||
4 - Research | ||||
5 - Self-management | ||||
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | ||||
7 - Leadership | ||||
8 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures |
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
1 - Online Test - 10% | ||||||||
2 - Written Assessment - 30% | ||||||||
3 - Take Home Exam - 60% |
Textbooks
Auditing, Assurance Services & Ethics in Australia
Edition: 10 (2017)
Authors: Arens, Best, Shailer, Fiedler, Elder & Beasley
Pearson
Binding: Hardcover
Additional Textbook Information
You may make arrangements to purchase the textbook through CQU Bookshop or you may prefer the following digital options:
Perpetual access to the eBook via VitalSource can be purchased on the Pearson website - $60.00
https://pearson.com.au/9781488611193
Rental of the eBook for a duration of 180 days via VitalSource can be purchased on the Pearson website - $50.00
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Zoom Capacity (webcam and microphone)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
p.best@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
The auditing profession
Chapter
1
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Ethics and legal liability
Chapter
2 & 3
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Audit objectives and evidence
Chapter
4 & 5
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Audit planning and documentation
Chapter
6
Events and Submissions/Topic
Online quiz opens Thursday 3 December 9.00 AEST, closing Friday 4 December 17.00 AEST.
Module/Topic
No classes
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Materiality and risk
Chapter
7
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Internal control
Chapter
8
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
No classes
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Fraud and technology in the audit environment
Chapter
9 & 10
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
The audit program, sales and collection
Chapter
11, 12 & 13
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Audit sampling
Chapter
14
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Audit of transaction cycles
Chapter
15
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Completing the audit, reporting and other assurance engagements
Chapter
17-18
Events and Submissions/Topic
Written assessment is due Friday 5 February 17.00 AEST.
Module/Topic
Unit revision
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Exam week
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Online Test
Online MCQ based on the lecture material presented in weeks 1 - 3. This assessment item consists of an open-book online quiz available in Moodle. The quiz will consist of a range of multiple-choice questions from Chapters 1 to 5 in your prescribed textbook. You must complete this quiz individually within the time period indicated. You will not be able to reopen the quiz after the assessment date. It is your responsibility to complete the quiz within the specified time period. There are no extensions available for the online quiz. You only have one attempt at the quiz. Once you open the quiz you will have 30 minutes to complete 20 questions.
The MCQ opens on Thursday 3 December 9.00 and closes Friday 4 December 17.00 AEST.
Results will be available online in Moodle.
Twenty multiple choice questions based on Chapters 1 to 5 of the textbook. Each question is worth 0.5 marks. You will have 30 minutes to complete the quiz. You only have one attempt at the quiz, so once you have opened the quiz you must complete it within 30 minutes. Ethical and professional responsibility are paramount in the accounting profession and in addition to a demonstration of the knowledge that you have developed in the unit to date, it is expected that you will also demonstrate ethical standards as required by the Accounting Professional Standards Board.
- Knowledge
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Identify and explain the nature and purpose of auditing within the regulatory and professional environment
- Define the fundamental principles of professional ethics and explain how the ethical rules apply to auditors.
2 Written Assessment
This assessment is part of an overall integrated research project completed by each student, focused on his/her own allocated ASX listed company. Details are provided on the Moodle site for this unit defining the specific tasks to be completed for the assignment. You are required to submit an academic report which addresses these tasks in the context of your allocated ASX listed company.
Submit online by Friday 5 February 5:00 pm AEST via Moodle through Turnitin.
Marks will be available on Moodle and you must access Turnitin for your document to receive feedback.
You will be assessed on your ability to demonstrate and communicate your analysis and understanding of a business situation or knowledge of a theoretical aspect in relation to an external audit. In addition to the marks awarded based on the comprehensiveness, correctness and critical analysis presented in the report, marks are also awarded for appropriate writing style, including referencing, grammar, punctuation, syntax and spelling.
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
- Identify and explain the nature and purpose of auditing within the regulatory and professional environment
- Critically evaluate and discuss the audit and assurance process and the role of the auditing standards
- Critically evaluate and report on the ethical and legal aspects of planning, executing and reporting on a financial audit
3 Take Home Exam
The take-home exam will be posted to Moodle at the date and time scheduled for the exam. This document is to be downloaded, completed and resubmitted by the due time. The duration of the exam will be 3.5 hours, allowing for downloading, completion and submission. Late submissions will not be marked. Further information is available on Moodle.
During the examination period.
Results will be released after approval of grades.
The paper will examine students' ability in identifying relevant theory and demonstrating knowledge, applying relevant theory and knowledge to solve problems, and quality of writing, grammar, syntax and spelling.
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Identify and explain the nature and purpose of auditing within the regulatory and professional environment
- Critically evaluate and discuss the audit and assurance process and the role of the auditing standards
- Critically evaluate and report on the ethical and legal aspects of planning, executing and reporting on a financial audit
- Define the fundamental principles of professional ethics and explain how the ethical rules apply to auditors.
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.