An auditor is in the planning stage of an audit. During the planning, the auditor becomes concerned with the Gross Profit Margin of the client, noting it has decreased by nearly 20% as compared to the last several years. When asking the client about this, the client does not know the reason. As the auditor goes to plan what procedures are going to be performed in sales cycle, which variable in the audit risk equation has been impacted and how has it been impacted