The Adder Group (the Group) has been an audit client of your firm for several years. You have recently been assigned to act as audit manager, replacing a manager who has fallen ill, and the audit of the Group financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2015 is underway. The Group’s activities include property management and the provision of large storage facilities in warehouses owned by the Group. The draft consolidated financial statements recognise total assets of $150 million, and profit before tax of $20 million.
(a) The audit engagement partner, Edmund Black, has asked you to review the audit working papers in relation to two audit issues which have been highlighted by the audit senior. Information on each of these issues is given below:
(i) In December 2014, a leisure centre complex was sold for proceeds equivalent to its fair value of $35 million, the related assets have been derecognised from the Group statement of financial position, and a profit on disposal of $8 million is included in the Group statement of profit or loss for the year. The remaining useful life of the leisure centre complex was 21 years at the date of disposal.
The Group is leasing back the leisure centre complex to use in its ongoing operations, paying a rental based on the market rate of interest plus 2%. At the end of the 20-year lease arrangement, the Group has the option to repurchase the leisure centre complex for its market value at that time.
(ii) In January 2015, the Group acquired 52% of the equity shares of Baldrick Co. This company has not been consolidated into the Group as a subsidiary, and is instead accounted for as an associate. The Group finance director’s reason for this accounting treatment is that Baldrick Co’s operations have not yet been integrated with those of the rest of the Group. Baldrick Co’s financial statements recognise total assets of $18 million and a loss for the year to 31 March 2015 of $5 million.
Required:
In respect of the issues described above:
Comment on the matters to be considered, and explain the audit evidence you should expect to find in your review of the audit working papers.
Note: The marks will be split equally between each part. (16 marks)
(b) The audit senior also left the following note for your attention:
‘I have been working on the audit of properties, including the Group’s storage facility warehouses. Customers rent individual self-contained storage areas of a warehouse, for which they are given keys allowing access by the customer at any time. The Group’s employees rarely enter the customers’ storage areas.
It seems the Group’s policy for storage contracts which generate revenue of less than $10,000, is that very little documentation is required, and the nature of the items being stored is not always known. While visiting one of the Group’s warehouses, the door to one of the customers’ storage areas was open, so I looked in and saw what appeared to be potentially hazardous chemicals, stored in large metal drums marked with warning signs. I asked the warehouse manager about the items being stored, and he became very aggressive, refusing to allow me to ask other employees about the matter, and threatening me if I alerted management to the storage of these items. I did not mention the matter to anyone else at the client.’
Required:
Discuss the implications of the audit senior’s note for the completion of the audit, commenting on the auditor’s responsibilities in relation to laws and regulations, and on any ethical matters arising. (9 marks)