Engagement Supervision and Communication

Midway through an engagement at a university, the team has used most of its budgeted hours but completed only half of the work program. What should the audit manager do first?

A bank's internal audit function hires an outside firm to perform the testing on part of an engagement over anti-money-laundering controls. How should supervision of the firm's work be handled?

An engagement over a retailer's cloud security controls is due to start in two weeks. The audit manager realizes that none of the auditors assigned has the technical skills to test the cloud configuration settings, which are a key risk. What is the manager's best course of action?

What is the main purpose of the closing meeting with management at the end of an engagement?

Internal audit has finished an assurance engagement over a utility company's payroll process. Who should receive the final engagement report?

Management's comments on a draft report state that the value of unreconciled items in a finding is overstated by a large amount. What should the auditor do?

During three weeks of fieldwork at a manufacturer, what is usually the most effective way to keep the process owner informed of routine progress?

Halfway through fieldwork at an insurer, an auditor finds that claims over the approval limit are being paid without a second signature. The issue is not urgent. What should the auditor do?

While testing till records at a supermarket, an auditor sees a pattern suggesting one cashier is voiding sales and keeping the cash. What should the auditor do?

During an engagement over revenue, an auditor finds indicators that the chief financial officer may have directed staff to record sales before goods were shipped. To whom should the chief audit executive communicate these indicators?

Management disagrees with a well-supported finding on weak user access reviews and asks for it to be removed from the final report. What is the most appropriate response?

Internal audit is planning a routine assurance engagement over a regional warehouse's receiving process. There are no fraud concerns. How should the objectives, scope and timing be communicated to the warehouse before fieldwork?

A joint venture partner asks a company's internal audit function for a copy of an engagement report on the venture's shared costs. No law or contract requires the report to be shared. What should the chief audit executive do?

A senior vice president asks an auditor to remove a finding on weak vendor approvals from the draft report, saying it will embarrass the division. The workpapers fully support the finding. What should the auditor do?

A two-page report on a charity's donor database is accurate and was issued promptly, but its findings use technical security terms and abbreviations that the fundraising managers who must act on it do not understand. Which quality of effective communication does it most lack?

A draft report on a school district's payroll is factually correct, balanced and on time, but runs to 40 pages, describing every procedure in detail before reaching the four significant findings. Which quality of effective communication does the draft most lack?

A chemical manufacturer's operations director decides not to fix a significant safety control weakness, accepting a level of risk the chief audit executive believes is beyond the organization's risk appetite. What should the chief audit executive do?

After an engagement at a pharmaceutical distributor, the client's feedback survey calls the auditor-in-charge "difficult". The supervisor's review shows the auditor acted professionally and that the significant finding management disputed is well supported. How should the supervisor treat the survey in the auditor's evaluation?

Which of the following best describes a supervisor's role in evaluating the performance of auditors on an engagement?

Early in fieldwork, an audit manager notices that a staff auditor's interview notes do not record who was interviewed or what documents were shown. What should the manager do?

End-of-engagement evaluations across a year show that several auditors struggle with data analytics tools. What is the most useful way for the chief audit executive to use this result?

Reviewing workpapers for an engagement at a regional water utility, the audit manager sees that the auditor concluded a billing control works well, based only on an interview with the billing supervisor. What should the manager do?

What is the main purpose of a supervisor's review of engagement workpapers?

An audit manager has limited time to review two files: a routine inventory count file prepared by an experienced senior auditor, and a complex revenue recognition file prepared by an auditor in the first year. Which approach to review is best?

A tech firm's internal audit function runs an engagement in short agile sprints, with findings shared with management at the end of each sprint. How is supervisory review best fitted to this approach?

In a large internal audit function, the chief audit executive delegates the day-to-day review of engagement workpapers to four audit managers. Who keeps overall responsibility for engagement supervision?

A chief audit executive is setting guidance for audit managers on how closely to supervise engagements. Which factors should mainly drive the extent of supervision on a given engagement?