During your review of the audit field work completed by a new junior employee of the audit firm, John Smith, you have noted many areas which require additional review notes. John, who has just completed the interim audit of Taxon Ltd for the year ended 30 June 2019, has just performed testing of controls. When testing controls over payments made to related parties, there should be evidence of approval and sign-off by the chief financial officer (CFO). John selected a sample of payments made to related parties and vouched them back to the electronic funds transfer (EFT) forms to sight the CFOs signature of approval. Based on a sample of ten payments, six had been approved by the CFO in writing. However, the remaining four EFT forms (for immaterial amounts) did not have the CFOs signature, but John noted that the CFO had given verbal approval. John concluded that because all internal controls were working, the audit team could use analytical procedures alone to audit payments made to related parties.

Required:

Based on the results of the testing of controls outlined above, determine whether John has arrived at the appropriate conclusion? (1 mark)

Justify your answer by addressing the following areas: the risks associated with related party transactions, and the reliability of controls at Taxon Ltd. (6 marks)

(Word Limit: Minimum of 150 words. Maximum of 600 words)