YOUCPA is a regional CPA firm engaged in public audit work of small- and medium-size firms in the Midwest. The YOUCPA firm has their main office in Chicago, Illinois, and regional offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Indianapolis, Indiana. The managing partners are located in Chicago. YOUCPA also provides tax preparation and information consulting to customers and is an approved PCOAB audit firm.

Your client, the publicly traded Fresno Freezer Corporation, is located in Elgin, Illinois, a small city located outside of Chicago. The client has the main plant there and has distribution centers in Indianapolis and Minneapolis.

The Fresno Freezer Corporation has contracted with YOUCPA for an audit. During the audit, the audit team has asked you to determine if everyone on the engagement team is independent.

The following individuals are on the engagement team and on the management of YOUCPA:

• Sarah Ball, Senior Partner, YOUCPA
• Bill Davis, Managing Partner, YOUCPA
• David Youssef, Manager of Taxation Services, YOUCPA
• Yewel Faraday, Manager of Information Consulting, YOUCPA
• Frank Bell, Supervisor of Auditing assigned to Client, YOUCPA

The following individuals are on the engagement team and on the management of YOUCPA:

• Sarah Ball, Senior Partner, YOUCPA
  • Manages the YOUCPA partnership
  • No financial interest in client
  • No relative with firm
  • No past history working with client in a direct manner (meaning working for the client as an employee)
• Bill Davis, Managing Partner, YOUCPA
  • Managing the audit of the client
  • No financial interest in the client
  • No relative with the firm
  • No past history working with the client in a direct manner
• David Youssef, Manager of Taxation Services, YOUCPA
  • Manages the taxation services for the accounting firm
  • No financial interest in the client
  • No relative with the firm
  • No past history working with the client in a direct manner
• Yewel Faraday, Manager of Information Consulting, YOUCPA
  • Manages the information consulting for the accounting firm
  • Yewel has no financial interest in the client
  • No relative with the client in a direct manner
• Frank Bell, Supervisor of Auditing assigned to Client, YOUCPA
  • Will supervise the audit at the main plant
  • No financial interest in the client
  • Wife works with client as a worker in the plant
  • Wife has no control or influence on the impact or creation of the financial statements
  • Wife has been working there for 20 years

For each individual on the engagement team and on the management of YOUCPA, complete the following:

• Determine if they are or are not independent.
• Explain your reasoning.