Inherent risk at the financial statement level relates to (a) business and operating-related risks and (b) financial reporting risks. The Professional Judgment in Context feature, "Risks Associated with Financial Statement Misstatements," summarizes various risks from ISA 315; that list is reproduced below. For each risk factor, categorize it as indicating
(a) Business and operating risk,
(b) Financial reporting risk,
(c) Other - describe.
● Operations in regions that are economically unstable, such as countries with significant currency devaluation or highly inflationary economies
● Operations exposed to volatile markets, such as futures trading
● Operations that are subject to a high degree of complex regulation
● Going concern and liquidity issues, including loss of significant customers or constraints on the availability of capital or credit
● Offering new products or moving into new lines of business
● Changes in the organization such as acquisitions or reorganizations
● Entities or business segments likely to be sold
● The existence of complex alliances and joint ventures
● Use of off-balance sheet financing, special-purpose entities and other complex financing arrangements
● Significant transactions with related parties
● Lack of personnel with appropriate accounting and financial reporting skills
● Changes in key personnel, including departure of key executives
● Deficiencies in internal control, especially those not addressed by management
● Changes in the Information Technology (IT) system or environment and inconsistencies between the entity's IT strategy and its business strategies
● Inquiries into the entity's operations or financial results by regulatory bodies
● Past misstatements, history of errors, or significant adjustments at period end
● Significant amount of nonroutine or nonsystematic transactions, including intercompany transactions and large revenue transactions at period end
● Transactions that are recorded based on management's intent, such as debt refinancing, assets to be sold and classification of marketable securities
● Accounting measurements that involve complex processes
● Pending litigation and contingent liabilities, such as sales warranties, financial guarantees, and environmental remediation