Johnny and Rebecca are discussing the different types of evidence they plan to collect as part of the audit of a major client; a large,

decentralized firm with operations all over the continental United States. There has been some disagreement between Johnny and

Rebecca as to which types of audit evidence might be considered the most reliable, so they have approached you, their supervisor, to

settle the dispute. Which of the following responses would be the most appropriate in this scenario?

Generally accepted auditing standards provide strict guidelines on what types and the quantity of evidence that must be

collected for each assertion.

All audit evidence, regardless of how it was gathered and from whom it was gathered is legitimate and compelling, and

represents sufficient, appropriate audit evidence.

The legitimacy and reliability of the audit evidence will be determined by how and from whom it was gathered. For example,

evidence obtained externally is usually more reliable than evidence obtained internally.

Evidence obtained from senior management and the internal audit function is generally considered the most reliable, as

these parties have the most knowledge of the client.