Auditing: Please Help

You are currently working as a Senior Auditor at an auditing firm called Assurance Auditors and plan to remain in auditing as you really enjoy it. The Audit Partner gave you a new task and assigned you to a client called Sheen (Pty) Ltd (Sheen) which was incorporated five years ago and has grown considerably since its incorporation Sheens financial year-end is April 2023.

Sheen is located in Cape Town, South Africa, and manufactures clothing. The company has a large manufacturing plant, four large warehouses, and a Head Office in Stellenbosch. Once manufacturing is completed, the clothes are stored in one of the warehouses until they are despatched to customers. The companys main customer base is the general public, with a great deal of inventory also being sold to wholesalers and retailers. Clothing is directly delivered to clients. For orders exceeding R700, the delivery is free, but for orders less than R700, a tariff of R5 per kilometer is charged.

Ordering of goods, goods despatched, and invoicing:

When a customer places an order, a unique customer account number is given to the customer. The account number is used to enter sales orders when they are received in writing from customers. The orders are entered by an Order Clerk and the system automatically checks that the goods are available and that the order will not take the customer over their credit limit.

For new customers, a Sales Manager completes a credit application; this is checked through a credit agency and a credit limit is entered into the system by the Credit Controller. The company has a price list, which is updated twice a year. Larger customers are entitled to a discount; this is agreed upon by the Sales Director and set up within the customer master file.

Once the order is accepted, it is automatically sent to the customer by mail/email confirming the goods ordered and the possible despatch date. The order is then sorted by the address of the customer. The warehouse closest to the customer receives the order electronically and a despatch list and sequentially numbered goods despatch notes (GDNs) are automatically generated.

The Warehouse Team packs the clothes ordered from the despatch list and, before it is sent out, a second member of the team double-checks the despatch list to the GDN, which accompanies the goods.

Once despatched, a copy of the GDN is sent to the Accounting Department at the Head Office and a sequentially numbered sales invoice is raised and checked to the GDN. Once a month a computer sequence check is performed for any missing sales invoice numbers.

Required:

Formulate the internal control objectives that management should strive to achieve with reference to the validity and accuracy of Ordering of goods, goods despatched and invoicing.