Auditors develop overal audit plans to ensure that they obtain sufficient appropriate eveidence. The timing and extent of audit procedures auditors use is a matter of professional judgement, which depends upon a number of factors. Decisions about the mix of audit procedures and the timing of procedures significantly impact the date on which the audit report is issued. Visit the comapny Web sites for Google, Inc. (www.google.com), Boeing (www.boeing.com), and Microsoft (www.microsoft.com). Search under "Investor Relations" for the most recent annual report and locate the independent auditor's report.

a. Identify the year-end for each company. Does any company have a year-end other than December 31? Will the company's year end have any impact on the audit procedures used and their timing?

b. Indicate the number of days between each company's year-end and the date of the audit report. What factors may impact the number of days to issue the audit report?

c. Based on the number of days between each company's year-end and the date of the audit report, and your knowledge of each company's operations, on which audit do you think the auditors place the greatest reliance on substantive tests of details of balances? Explain.