Aaron Mc Lane is a young entrepreneur of a retail business where managers in all of the different stores report directly to him. He does not communicate regularly with other store managers on inventory issues or customer service representative availabilities. Aaron has found much success in the past because of the customer service he has been able to provide. In recent years, the competition has become more successful in duplicating his activities or in providing low-maintenance products. Aarons company has provided financial statements on a yearly basis, so investors can follow the companys success. With the growing success of competitors, Aaron has found it more difficult to be successful. During the past year, Aarons company recorded significant revenues from sales that require warranty service over the next few years. However, the companys reported warranty expenses stayed the same. In addition, the reported inventory levels remained approximately the same as in previous years. No additional financing or loans were recorded on the financial statements, even though assets continued to grow. Revenue was the only financial statement amount that changed dramatically.

Required:

a) Cite possible fraud symptoms that auditors should be aware of.

b) As an auditor, how could you justify that those red flags are not real fraud symptoms?