1. Perform analytical procedures to help you identify relatively risky areas that indicate the need for further attention during the audit, if any.
2. Focus specifically on each of the five management assertions (existence or occurrence, completeness, valuation or allocation, rights and obligations, and presentation and disclosure) for the inventory account. Link any risks you identified for this account in question 1 to the related management assertion. Briefly explain identified risks or issues for the inventory account that require further attention, if any.
Background About Laramie Wire MFG.
You are a senior auditor assigned to the Laramie Wire Manufacturing audit. This is the first year your firm has conducted the audit for this particular client. In fact, although Laramie has previously engaged accountants to perform limited review services for the purpose of obtaining bank loans, this is the first year Laramie has contracted for a full-scale audit of its financial statements. The company is planning an initial public offering (IPO) of its stock in the next two or three years and has hired your firm to conduct its first financial statement audit in preparation for the upcoming IPO.
Laramie is a medium-sized company that buys copper rod and plastic materials used to make insulated copper wiring. Laramie operates out of a single building complex totaling 500,000 square feet, which includes office space (3%), production area (57%), shipping and receiving (15%), and finished goods and raw materials inventory warehousing (25%). Laramie supplies insulated copper wiring in the northeastern part of the United States. The company has a good reputation for quality products and has had a good working relationship with its outside accountants over the past 10 years. You have been assigned responsibility for auditing Laramie’s inventories. You are in the planning stages of the audit, and you are preparing to conduct some analytical procedures to help you identify risk areas that may require further attention.