Audit Report Deficiencies: Accounting Change and Uncertainty. The following auditors’ report was drafted by Quinn Moore, a staff auditor with Tyler & Tyler, CPAs, at the completion of the audit of the financial statements of Park Publishing Company for the year ended September 30, 2014. The engagement partner reviewed the audit documentation and properly decided to issue an unmodified opinion. In drafting the report, Moore considered the following:

• During fiscal year 2014, Park changed its depreciation method. The engagement partner concurred with this change in accounting principles and its justification, and Moore included an emphasis- of- matter paragraph in the report.

• The 2014 financial statements are affected by an uncertainty concerning a lawsuit, the outcome of which cannot presently be estimated. Moore included an emphasis- of- matter paragraph in the report to emphasize this uncertainty.

• The financial statements for the year ended September 30, 2013, are to be presented for comparative purposes. Tyler & Tyler previously audited these statements and expressed an unmodified opinion.

Independent Auditor’s Report

To the Board of Directors of Park Publishing Company

We have audited the accompanying financial statements of Park Publishing Company, which comprise the balance sheet as of September 30, 2014 and 2013, and the related statements of income, changes in shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for the years then ended, and the related notes to the financial statements.
Management’s Responsibility for the Financial Statements Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements; this includes the design, implementation, and maintenance of internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

Auditor’s Responsibility

We conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are fairly presented.

An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The procedures selected depend on the auditor’s judgment, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to the entity’s preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s internal control. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements.
We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for determining whether any material modifications should be made to the financial statements.

Emphasis of Matter

As discussed in Note X to the financial statements, the company changed its method of computing depreciation in fiscal 2014.

Opinion

In our opinion, except for the accounting change, with which we concur, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Park Publishing Company as of December 31, 2014, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Emphasis of Matter As discussed in note Y to the financial statements, the company is a defendant in a lawsuit alleging infringement of certain copyrights. The company has filed a counteraction, and preliminary hearings on both actions are in progress. Accordingly, any provision for liability is subject to adjudication of this matter.

Required:

Identify the deficiencies in the auditors’ report as drafted by Moore. Group the deficiencies by section or paragraph and in the order in which they appear. Do not rewrite the report.