Bultz & Prime LLP is the external auditor for Bain Corp. You have been assigned to this audit. You are meeting with Chelsea, the Director of Finance, to discuss existing internal controls in order to evaluate them, and she asks you the following:

“As you go through all of our controls, can you please write up a report with any deficiencies you notice? Also, if you and your audit team could come up with some suggestions on how to improve existing controls or add new controls, that would be great! We know you like to rely on controls during your audits, so if you can let us know how to get better, the audit should be a lot easier next year. After you are done with me, you can also go and talk to Mark, the quality control manager for our production facility. He may also be able to use your recommendations for his department.”

Required:
Prepare a response to Chelsea to indicate the responsibilities of the external auditors and the responsibilities of Bain Corp.’s management. Ensure that you remain professional in your response and that you adapt your tone to someone who is not familiar with the auditing rules and requirements. Explain to Chelsea why each element you identify is, or is not, the responsibility of the auditor.