Sarah O'Hann enjoyed taking her first auditing course as part of her undergraduate accounting program. While at home during her semester break, she and her father discussed the class, and it was clear that he didn't really understand the nature of the audit process as he asked the following questions:

What is the main objective of the audit of an entity's financial statements?

A. The main objective of the audit is to express an opinion on the financial statements in accordance with SAS No. 125. The auditor obtains reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

B. The main objective of the audit is to detect all types of fraud, even though many types of fraud do not impact the financial statements. The importance of this is due to the auditor being able to report that the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

C. The main objective of an audit of financial statements is to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, thereby enabling the auditor to express an opinion in a written report on whether the financial statements are presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance with an applicable financial reporting framework.

D. None of the above.