Scenario:

Your neighbor Mary invited you to lunch yesterday. She knew previously that you are taking an Auditing and Assurance course at EVC College. Sure enough, it was no "free lunch" because Mary wanted to discuss the annual report of XYZ Corporation. She owns XYZ stock and just received the annual report. Mary says, "our auditors prepared the audited financial statements and gave an Unqualified opinion, so my investment must be safe."

Required discussion question:

What misconceptions does Mary seem to have about the auditor's role with respect to XYZ Corporation?