Audit and Assurance
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ac6051cwspring1415_2.docLONDON METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY
London Guildhall Faculty of Business and Law
AC 6051 Audit and Assurance Services
Spring period 2014/ 15
COURSEWORK Home Retail Group plc
Home Retail Group Investor Centre
http://www.homeretailgroup.com/investor-centre/
This coursework contributes 50% to you overall module mark.
Hand-in date : Friday 27 March 2015 3pm
All material submitted must be the students own work. Plagiarism or copying is a University assessment offence.
Home Retail Group plc are one of the UK’s leading home and general retailers, bringing together some of the UK’s most recognisable UK brands. It comprises three divisions, Argos, Homebase and Financial Services.
Argos is the UK’s leading multi-channel retailer and Homebase is a leading home-enhancement retailer. The Financial Services business makes it easy for customers to buy the products they want.
Extracts from Annual Report and Accounts 2013/ 14
- Group consolidated income statement for the 52 weeks ended
1 March 2014
- Consolidated statement of financial position as at 1 March
2014
- Consolidated statement of cash flows for the 52 weeks ended
1 March 2014
- Independent auditor’s report to the members of Home Retail
Group plc 30 April 2014
- Audit committee report May 2014
- Half-Year results 22 October 2014 , 26 weeks to 30 Aug. 2014
- Homebase to close one in four stores The Telegraph
22 October 2014
SOURCES
· Auditing and Assurance Services Third International Edition Eilifsen & Messier McGraw Hill 2014
Chapters 17 and 18
- Auditing Millichamp & Taylor 10th edition Cengage 2013
Chapters 14, 26 and 27
- The Audit Process Gray & Manson 5th edition Thomson
2012
Chapters 14, 16 and 17
- Principles of External Auditing Porter, Simon & Hatherly
4rd edition Wiley 2013
Chapters 9, 13 and 14
- relevant APB / IAASB ISA’s and professional body
websites ( APB ISA’s revised October 2009 )
ISA 700 ( UK and Ireland Revised September 2014 )
The auditor’s report on financial statements
ISA705 ( Revised October 2012 )
Modifications to opinions
ISA 706 ( Revised October 2012 )
Emphasis of matter paragraphs
ISA 315 ( revised June 2013 )
Obtaining an understanding of the entity and its
environment and assessing the risks of a material
misstatement
ISA 500 Audit evidence
ISA 520 Analytical procedures
ISA 570 ( Revised September 2014 ) Going concern
- newspaper articles from Nexis UK website
TASKS
1. Critically evaluate the risk-based approach to external audit
with particular reference to the audit of Home Retail Group plc.
You should give examples of how you might collect evidence
and assess the degree of business risk ( obtaining
an understanding of the entity and its environment and
assessing the risks of a material misstatement ) in the 2014
audit of the company and factors affecting the company’s
‘ control environment ‘.
( 20% )
2. Identify those features of Home Retail Group plc’s results for
2012 – 2014 which might indicate to you as the external auditor
that the company was facing going concern problems.
( 40 % )
3. Identify any qualitative factors or information in the annual
reports and accounts for Home Retail Group plc for 2013/ 14 ,
including the report of the audit committee, that you as the
external auditor would consider that might suggest that the
company would be able to continue in business for the
foreseeable future.
( 15% )
4. With reference to the Independent auditors’ report of Home
Retail Group plc and specifically the areas of particular audit
focus identified by PwC discuss the factors which would
influence you as the external auditor in forming an opinion on
the financial statements of Home Retail Group plc for 2014.
Indicate briefly the form that your opinion might take including
any emphasis of matters paragraph that you may consider
making in relation to the appropriateness of the going
concern basis.
( 20% )
Overall structure and presentation, referencing and bibliography
( 5% )
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
· Your coursework should be 1500 words long +/- 10%
· The coursework must be clearly presented with an
introduction, structured headings and sections and a fully
referenced bibliography
· You must relate the specific practical issues arising from the
audit of the company to relevant ISA’s, to the audit
process and to articles from the accounting literature
· You should highlight the external auditors approach to the
assessment of audit risk in planning the overall audit programme
· You should clearly identify the range of sources you have used in obtaining evidence
