You are the winter intern on the Widget Manufacturing audit. Widget has a $\frac{12}{31}$ year$-$

end, and you are working on their year$-$end fieldwork in early February. The new associate

on the engagement documented the cash cycle processes during the interim stage of the

engagement. Your first assignment is to audit Widget's cash balances for their operating

and payroll accounts.

a$)$ The Widget controller will be giving you the reconciliations for these two accounts when

the audit starts on Monday, and she has asked you to let her know in advance what

support you will need for the reconciliations and why you will need those items. Other

than the reconciliations themselves, what are $1)$ three $(3)$ items $($or types of items$)$ you will

ask the controller to provide as support for the reconciliations and $2)$ why do they

represent or provide support for reconciling items on the bank reconciliation?

b$)$ Your senior associate asks you to determine what types of evidence several items

related to the cash area represent: the bank transfer schedule, bank confirmations, and the

bank reconciliation. Explain $1)$ whether each of these three $(3)$ items is internal or external

to the client, and $2)$ how at least three $(3)$ of the six factors related to evidence reliability

and persuasiveness that we discussed during class might apply to these items. $($You can

discuss these reliability$/$persuasiveness factors collectively or individually for the three

cash$-$related items.$)$