Analyses Of The Nanosonics Matter And Its Usage In The Auditing Field

Auditing standards for an auditor is like a holy book. All the ones involved in the auditing field have to obey the standards, Negligence and breach of any rule of the auditing standards will result in serious violation and strict actions. All the techniques and the policies that are required by an auditor to follow in order to carry an audit of the financial statements are inscribed in the auditing standards (Elder et. al, 2010). When a new auditor is hired then it is his duty to write to the outgoing auditor in order to gain knowledge about the audit he is going to carry on so to eliminate any sources of vulnerability against his professional career and his accolades.   All the audit plans made should be clear, concise and infallible and should be in direct consideration with the points mentioned below. The plan shall include the following steps: The first work in the to-do-list involves interaction with the outgoing auditor which ensures that the company is fit to join and has no discrepancy in the previous financial statements. The second step to follow is that the incoming auditor writes a letter to the company management about his personal terms and conditions. Only upon approval by the management, the auditor is hired. This is a process to set up friendly relations with the company management as per the auditing standard 210. The auditing plan to be taken up is decided by both the auditor and the management with mutual agreement by both the sides (Fazal, 2013). As mentioned earlier, the auditor and the management have to agree upon some terms and conditions and also some plans which makes the deal valid. In the early stage of the auditing, the auditor thoroughly checks that the policies and the processes taken up by the company are suitable, in respect to the auditing standard 220. As the audit of the financial statements are carried on by the auditor, it is the duty of the appointment partner to see that all the policies are well-understood by the auditor and he works within it (Baldwin, 2010). The appointment partner must also see that the policies taken up by the company are positively used and applied by the auditor. The transparency of the financial statements should also be checked by the appointment partner. The compilation of the audit is done in consideration to the auditing standard 30. Paperwork presenting the auditing of the financial statements, troubles that can rise if the auditing papers are lost, and the copyright of the papers are some of the key points that the auditing plan should include from the starting. The auditor need to get familiar and must thorough the policies that the company is following only after which the auditing must be allowed to get on track (Gay & Simnet, 2015). Along with the policies it is also important to understand the mode and types of transaction and the auditing environment of the company. It is important that all information regarding the nonessential, first priority and the supportive laws are made thorough top the auditor (Cappelleto, 2010). The choosing of the auditing process is a much later work. First it is the duty and responsibility that to have clear knowledge of the conditions of the company and if material risk has been detected then i t has been dealt with the laws of governance and only after full satisfaction that the company is not a fraudulent one and there is no case of any misstatements on the part of the company the auditor may start the process of auditing for the company. In relation to the audit plan of Nanosonics, several approaches must be taken into account. The company is primarily an innovator in the prevention of infection and for such purpose, its automated and unique EPR high-level disinfection device allows it set a new care standard in ultrasound practices of probe disinfection (Nanosonics, 2017). The company’s inherent risk is already high in nature owing to its volume of risky activities that can also cause damage to the third parties. Besides, the scale of operations of the company is also higher in nature that can result in possibilities of errors, misstatements, and frauds within the organizational framework. This is the reason why traceability is needed in documenting and monitoring equipment reprocessing. As an auditor, the records maintained by the company cannot be relied upon and therefore, proper vigilance is needed as well. The appointment letter to the auditor includes the wage that the auditor will be provided. The auditing process is accepted with a positive feeling by both the sides which proceeds to audit planning. Skilled work and processes in the field of auditing is appreciated but keeping the basic techniques intact is also very important, and one of the basic functions is to question the employees of the company. Questioning the employees would give the auditor a transparent view of the framework and the working of the company at a large. The second basic priority is to effectively choose the auditing staff to carry on the processes. This includes the allotment of work to skilled professionals, non-skilled and the average-skilled workers. This step should be taken very precisely and with utter correctness (Geoffrey et. al, 2016). A weighed mixture of professionals can prove to be a very positive set to carry on the auditing processes. The following and creation of the to-do-list is very important once the auditing is started. Auditors can start with cash and bank account audit which is guaranteed to involve only minor expenses. As per the over-the-year records, it is seen that the cash and bank transaction have a hike and are increasing on a constant basis. Because of the above case the cash and bank transitions must be carried more attentively along with the bank reconciliations. Skilled processes, extended time is required in the case of cash and bank transactions audit. Financial costs showed a positive decline in the year 2017. This was marked by the issuing of payoffs, receipts and interest incomes. All this can be summoned up to say that Nanosonics is coming up as a huge success in 2017. Increase in dividend distributions along with increase in audit samples has also been seen as in comparison to the previous year. Mass volume with large chunks is involved now which can increase the threats of manipulations. Licenses obtained from various government authorities, permits and quality control boards should be the put up at top priority with systematic checking system (Nanosonics, 2017). Attentive checking of the purchases is recommended so that no imperfect material is bought at an exaggerated price. The account involving the data of assets and stocks should be paid attention in order to eliminate any manipulation that can be done in order to set the profit image high which is practically a discrepancy and false statement (Hoffelder, 2012). The report will now discuss five sectors where there are severe chances of high material misstatements.   The type of audit and its timing is determined by some factors like purchase of property, plant, and equipment. All this is grouped under material account segment. High investments are seen in the company with respect to its pattern of business which involves expansion priorities because of which the property could have been bought. Not a very high difference in seen in investment figures this year as in comparison to the year 2015 in which the investments were also high. This will make the investments a threat stricken sector, where fraud, misstatement, and indiscretion are probable (Kaplan, 2011). Manual analysis of the assets bought or sectors were money is invested is a very significant bustle. Checking must also be done in these cases: These are the key points that are needed to be kept under utter surveillance. The company’s materiality level of investments is as follows: The value of investments that are undertaken during the year 2016 amounts to 9.5 million dollars. Furthermore, the balance of total assets at the end of accounting year amounted to $9925000 Hence, materiality= $ (0.005% of 9925000) = $496.25 Furthermore, impairment of intangibles is another risk factor for Nanosonics. The reason behind this can be attributed to the fact that there was no impairment of the same in both 2017 and 2016. Based on the accounting policies and estimates, intangible assets are examined annually for impairment if changes in situations signify that they may be impaired. However, except for goodwill, only the non-financial assets suffered impairment during the period. The carrying values of liabilities and assets can be influenced by the risk of material adjustment through the accounting estimates on share-based payments, deferred taxes, provisions, and employee benefit liabilities (Lapsley, 2012). Secondly, the transactions that are associated with related parties are also prone to material misstatements because it signifies relationship betwixt two parties that can influence the real value of transaction taking place between them. This can result in affecting the financial situation of the company (Nanosonics, 2017). In relation to Nanosonics, there are various related party transactions that have taken place within its framework. Besides, it can also be witnessed that the directors of the company still owe the huge amount of resources to the related parties that is not a good sign. Therefore, for future audit plans, such transactions with the related parties must count as an area of material risk and hence, additional auditing processes must be implemented to ensure that the financial situation is not negatively affected (Livne, 2015). Therefore, the level of materiality can be calculated as follows: Sale of products to the related parties= $2055438 Purchases of goods from such related parties= $255861 The total value of transactions with the related parties = $2312414 Hence, materiality= $(0.005% of 2312414) = $115.62 In relation to the aforesaid, powerful internal controls are required in such segment because there are higher possibilities of embezzlement of funds owing to the interest of directors in such transactions. Thirdly, it can be observed that there is also a risk of miscalculation of foreign currency risk in the financial statement of the company (Nanosonics, 2017). However, the same can be utilized for self-interest purposes and there is a higher chance of embezzlement of funds in such scenario. Moreover, this is the reason why an audit plan can play a key role in protecting the company from such fund embezzlement. The income of $771000 has increased from $11000 and the same can be attributed to net exchange foreign gains on foreign currency forward options and contracts. Furthermore, the other income of $780000 of the company consists of $771000 of only foreign exchange gains that are a dubious scenario (Nanosonics, 2017). Such risk of foreign currency risk can result in an economic risk for the company. Besides, the net foreign exchange losses of the company in 2017 were $1032000 in comparison to $541000. Such variations in the computation of foreign currencies clearly shed light on the fact there have been miscalculations in the foreign currency currencies (Manoharan, 2011). Thus, the level of materiality can be computed as follows: Income from net foreign exchange gains= $771000 Therefore, materiality= $0.005%*771000= $38.55 Fourthly, it can also be seen that the company exerts too much dependence upon its portfolio of intellectual property. Such portfolio is crucial for saving the existing revenue streams of the company and protecting its business in the development of new products and entry into new markets (Merchant, 2012). Such reliance on intellectual property portfolio may have some costs associated with it and the company has failed to reflect the number of such costs in its annual report. This is a risk of material misstatement in the company’s accounts because it does not offer true financial information about the performance and affairs that may not satisfy the requirements of stakeholders in making relevant decisions (Manoharan, 2015) Fifthly, it is observable from the annual report of the company that its inventories have increased in comparison to the last year. The number of inventories in the year 2017 amounted to $7728000 whereas it reflected $6935000 in the year 2016. The question is that the sale of goods and services of the company have also increased in comparison to the last year, which clearly shows that the level of inventories must have declined and not increased in comparison to the last year. The figure of sales amounted to $67507000 in the year 2017 whereas it depicted $42796000 in the previous year. Hence, such inflated value of inventories clearly shed light on the fact that a material misstatement has occurred and the company may have done it for its economic interests (Nanosonics, 2017). In simple words, the overinflated value of inventories plays a key role in exaggerating the total value of the stored goods and materials. In most of the cases, such overstated inventories are the reasons for u nintentional errors or fraudulent manipulations(Messier et. al, 2005). Thus, the level of materiality can be computed as follows: Income from sale of goods and services= $67507000 Therefore, materiality= $0.005%*77280000= $3864 The aforesaid evaluations are essential for the survival of an organization. Besides, audit processes and their effectiveness ascertain the benefits of overall engagement of audit plan. Therefore, such strategy is necessary because it offers a path for the partners to determine the audit plan for the company (Roach, 2010). Nanosonics is a huge company with the maximum amount of resources spent in research and development for the purpose of preventing infections. Such operation is very crucial in the current working environment because functioning for the benefit of the public is all what the stakeholders need. Besides, audit planning will still be required if the scale of operations is not higher in nature (Nanosonics, 2017). Nevertheless, audit planning prior to engagement is a strategy that can be followed by the auditors to enhance its effectiveness. Moreover, it assists a company coping up with all the challenges that persist in the current working environment. Therefore, these estimates must be ascertained carefully and for such purpose, the base of such estimates must be carefully verified. Nevertheless, since the impairment of goodwill is absent in the company’s financial, its fluctuations cannot be determined properly. Transactions associated with related parties Moreover, higher the engagement of an authority in a transaction, riskier it becomes to find out the same. Therefore, even if maintenance of strong internal controls is implemented, it will become simpler for the company to turn around the situation for the purpose of its self-interest (Matthew, 2015). Hence, additional audit processes must be undertaken together with an enhanced check on the scale of such transactions Risk of miscalculation of foreign currency Such risk is a further dimension of risk that offshore investors must take into account. Even though the risk of foreign exchange specifically caters to the undesirable movements that may result in losses, it can be beneficial for the company to benefit from such situations with the significance for additional value and beyond that of a pre-existing stagnant investment (Matthew, 2015) Therefore, if the value of same was present in the financial statement of the company, it would have assisted in reflecting the materiality level of risk that can allow an auditor to plan corrective actions in contrast to the same. The company has easily attained the position of overinflating its inventory in order to affect its net income by exaggerating the net earnings for the accounting period. This material risk must be identified by the auditor because it can allow the company manipulate its accounts for its own interest and safeguard itself from legal actions (Nanosonics, 2017). Such evaluations require strict and enhanced audit plan that plays a key role in detecting such material misstatements. Moreover, if such risks remain unidentified, the company may attain the position in influencing other segments as well that can avoid stakeholders in making valuable decisions (Matthew, 2015). Auditing standard 300 can be thought of as the godfather of the comprehensive processes mentioned above, which decides the planning of an audit of the financial report. In the early stages of auditing processes that is planning, the auditing partner and its staff accumulate and get familiar with the company and its environment. This helps to detect material misstatements related to the company article. The ending of the planning phase is followed by interaction with the management about the recorded data during the planning term and those charged with governance (Niemi & Sundgren, 2012). If the management is lenient in such cases or the auditing partner finds out that association with the current company is harmful for its professionalism then it can choose to dump the company with a notice to the management. Investigative procedures and proportional loom should be the weapons of the auditor against risks and prior material misstatements. These are the comprehensive procedures prescr ibed by various accounting and auditing which need to be followed by the auditing partner prior and in the duration of conducting any audit. Baldwin, S. (2010) Doing a content audit or inventory. Pearson Press. Cappelleto, G. (2010) Challenges Facing Accounting Education in Australia. AFAANZ, Melbourne Elder, J. R, Beasley S. M. and Arens A. A. (2010) Auditing and Assurance Services. Person Education, New Jersey: USA Fazal, H. (2013) What is Intimidation threat in auditing?.[online]. 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