SUBSTANTIVE PROCEDURES

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Fundamentals of Auditing ACC 311

Lesson 21

SUBSTANTIVE PROCEDURES

Auditing

Auditor's Opinion (depends upon)

Reasonable Assurance (depends upon)

Sufficient Appropriate Audit evidence

(depends upon)

Audit procedures

Test of Control

Substantive Procedures

· Test of details

· Analytical procedures

Test of Control

The auditor is required to perform tests of controls:

· When the internal controls are operating effectively or

· When substantive procedures alone do not provide sufficient appropriate audit evidence at the

assertion level.

Tests of controls comprise of testing three things:

1. Design that the internal controls are properly designed to cover the risk it is meant for.

2. Implementation that the internal controls have been put into operation.

3. Operating effectiveness that the systems of internal control were operating effectively at

relevant times during the period.

How to perform test of control

· Testing the Design:

Proper design of internal control is tested through ICQs and ICEC.

· Testing the Implementation:

Implementation of internal control is tested through walk through test with a little sample

size.

· Testing the Operating effectiveness:

Here the test is performed through a compliance test based on a judgmental sample.

Substantive Procedures

Substantive procedures are performed in order to detect material misstatements at the assertion level (like;

occurrence, completeness, accuracy, valuation, existence, rights and control), and include tests of details of

classes of transactions, account balances and disclosures and substantive analytical procedures.

The auditor plans and performs substantive procedures to be responsive to the related assessment of the

risk of material misstatement.

Irrespective of the assessment of risk of material misstatement, the auditor should design and perform

substantive procedures for each material class of transactions, account balance, and disclosure.

Fundamentals of Auditing ACC 311

The auditor's substantive procedures should include the following audit procedures related to the financial

statement closing process:

· Agreeing the financial statements to the underlying accounting records; and

· Examining material journal entries and other adjustments made during the course of preparing

the financial statements.

When the auditor has determined that an assessed risk of material misstatement at the assertion level is a

significant risk, the auditor should perform substantive procedures that are specifically responsive to that

risk.

Types of Substantive Procedures

· Test of details

Land

Registry

Debtors

Circular

Building rent

Deed/Agreement

Analytical procedures

Payroll

Turnover ratio

Comparing with previous

month's salary

Production Cost

Comparing with the number of

units produced

Comparing with the previous month's

cost of production

Nature of Substantive Procedures

Substantive analytical procedures are applied on large volume of transactions, which are predictable over

time.

· Tests of details are ordinarily more appropriate to obtain audit evidence regarding certain assertions

about account balances, including existence and valuation.

· Analytical procedures are applied on large volume of transactions, which are predictable over time.

(cost of goods sold, payroll, sale)

In designing substantive analytical procedures, the auditor considers such matters as the following:

· The suitability of using analytical procedures given the assertions.

If controls, over sales order processing, are weak; the auditor may place more reliance on tests of details

rather than substantive analytical procedures for assertions related to debtors.

When auditing the collectibility of accounts receivable, the auditor may apply substantive analytical

procedures to an aging of customers' accounts in addition to tests of details on subsequent cash receipts.

· The reliability of the data;

In determining whether data is reliable for purposes of designing substantive analytical procedures, the

auditor considers the following:

o Information is ordinarily more reliable when it is obtained from independent sources outside the

entity

o Comparability of the information available

o Nature and relevance of the information available (whether budgets have been established as

results to be expected rather than as goals to be achieved.

o Controls over the preparation of the information (controls over the preparation, review and

maintenance of budgets)

· Whether the expectation is sufficiently precise to identify a material misstatement at the desired level of

assurance.

For this the auditor considers the following facts:

i. The accuracy with which the expected results of substantive analytical procedures can be

predicted (comparison of GP ratio should be consistent rather than the ratio of discretionary

expenses like entertainment)

Fundamentals of Auditing ACC 311

ii. The degree to which information can be disaggregated (effective analysis will be of a component

not of the entity as a whole)

iii. The availability of the information, both financial and non financial (budgets are financial,

whereas units of production are non financial)

· The amount of any difference in recorded amounts from expected values that is acceptable.

Depends upon the:

materiality

ii.

Possibility of misstatement in the specific account balance, class of transactions, or disclosure

Timing of Substantive Procedures

YEAR END SUBSTANTIVE PROCEDURES ARE ALWAYS MORE RELIABLE

When substantive procedures are performed at an interim date, the auditor should perform further

substantive procedures or substantive procedures combined with tests of controls to cover the remaining

period that provide a reasonable basis for extending the audit conclusions from the interim date to the

period end.

In considering whether to perform substantive procedures at an interim date the auditor considers such

factors as the following:

· The control environment and other relevant controls. (Like payroll disbursement)

· The availability of information at a later date that is necessary for the auditor's procedures (prov for

doubtful debts can be investigated interim but debtor and inventory can be verified at the year end).

· The objective of the substantive procedure.

· The assessed risk of material misstatement (prefer always at year end).

· The nature of the class of transactions or account balance and related assertions (like frequency of

occurrence of the transactions e.g. salaries are paid monthly whereas bonuses are paid annually).

· The ability of the auditor to perform appropriate substantive procedures or substantive procedures

combined with tests of controls to cover the remaining period in order to reduce the risk that

misstatements that exist at period end are not detected (staffing problem that cannot make the

auditor able to extend till the year end)

If substantive procedures are performed at an interim date, the auditor may sometimes consider applying

tests of controls also on the transactions of remaining period while extending his substantive procedures

from interim date to the period end.

In situations of actual or expected fraud, auditor may prefer applying substantive procedures at period end.

If misstatements are detected in classes of transactions or account balances at an interim date, the auditor

ordinarily modifies the related assessment of risk and the planned nature, timing or extent of the substantive

procedures covering the remaining period.

Substantive procedures applied in a prior period are not sufficient to address a risk of material misstatement

in the current year except in certain circumstances.

Extent of performance of substantive procedures

Greater the risk of material misstatement due to weaknesses in the system of internal control, the greater

would be the risk of material misstatement in the financial statements.

In designing tests of details, the auditor may use either audit sampling or may choose to select items to be

tested by some other selective means of testing.

Adequacy of Presentation and Disclosure

The auditor should perform audit procedures to evaluate whether the overall presentation of the financial

statements, including the related disclosures, are in accordance with the applicable financial reporting

framework.

Assertions in obtaining Audit Evidence

Assertions about classes of transactions and events for the period under audit;

(a)

Occurrence transactions and events that have been recorded have occurred and pertain

to the entity;

Fundamentals of Auditing ACC 311

ii.

Completeness all transactions and events that should have been recorded have been

recorded;

iii.

Accuracy amounts and other data relating to recorded transactions and events have been

recorded appropriately.

iv.

Cutoff transactions and events have been recorded in the proper period.

Classification transactions and events have been recorded in the proper accounts.

Assertions about account balances at the period end.

(b)

Existence assets, liabilities, and equity interests exist;

ii.

Rights and obligations the entity holds or controls the rights to assets, and liabilities are

the obligations of the entity;

iii.

Completeness all assets, liabilities and equity interests that should have been recorded

have been recorded;

iv.

Valuation and allocation assets, liabilities, and equity interests are included in the financial

statements at appropriate amounts and any resulting valuation or allocation adjustments

are appropriately recorded.

(c)

Assertions about presentation and disclosure:

Occurrence and rights and obligations disclosed events, transactions and other matters

have occurred and pertain to the entity;

ii.

Completeness all disclosures that should have been included in the financial statements

have been included;

iii.

Classification and understandability financial information is appropriately presented and

described, and disclosures are clearly expressed;

iv.

Accuracy and valuation financial and other information are disclosed fairly and at

appropriate amounts.

Audit Procedures for obtaining Audit Evidence

The auditor uses one or more types of audit procedures described below:

(i) Inspection of Records or Documents

It consists of examining records or documents whether internal or external, in paper form, electronic form,

or other media. Inspection provides evidence of varying degrees of reliability depending on their nature and

source and in the case of internal records, on effectiveness of controls over their production.

(ii) Inspection of Tangible Assets

It consists of physical examination of the assets. It may provide reliable audit evidence of their existence

cannot necessarily about other assertions.

(iii) Inquiry

It means seeking information of knowledgeable persons throughout the entity or outside the entity. Those

may be formal written or informal oral. It provides an auditor with new information or corroborative

evidences. It may also bring to high information different from the one possessed by the auditor. Certain

oral inquiries might be got confirmed through written representations.

(iv) Confirmations

It is a specific type of inquiry. It is the process of obtaining a representation of information or an existing

condition directly from a third party. Confirmations are sought from debtors, creditors, bankers, legal

advisors etc.

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