An audit associate is preparing an audit program for the audit of a clients inventory purchases transactions. To gather evidence in support of the cutoff assertion, the associate included the following audit procedure in the audit program:

Select a sample of receiving reports in the warehouse for three days before and after year-end and inspect related journal entries in inventory/accounts payable to determine that purchases were recorded in the proper period. 

a. Evaluate the relevance of the procedure in addressing the cutoff assertion. b. Comment on the reliability of the evidence gathered using the procedure.