Publicly traded companies must electronically file a variety of forms or reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Form 10-K, which includes the audited annual financial statements. The SEC makes most of these electronic documents available on the Internet via EDGAR, which stands for Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system. The primary purpose for EDGAR is to increase the efficiency and fairness of the securities market for the benefit of investors, corporations, and the economy by accelerating the receipt, acceptance, dissemination, and analysis of time-sensitive corporate information filed with the agency.
Required
a. Visit the SEC Web site (www.sec.gov) and use the link to "Company Filings Search" (under "Filings") to locate the Form 10-K filing for Google, Inc., for the year ended December 31, 2015, to answer the following questions:
1. Who was Google's auditor?
2. Did the audit firm issue a combined or separate report(s) on the financial statements and on internal controls over financial reporting?
3. What type of audit opinion did the auditor provide for the financial statements?
4. What was the auditor's opinion about internal controls over financial reporting?
5. What was the report date for the audit report?
b. Visit the PCAOB's Web site (www.pcaob.org) and use the link to "Auditing" under the heading for "Standards" to locate the PCAOB's Auditing Standards. Search the links to the Auditing Standards to answer the following questions:
1. Where would the auditor locate guidance about changes to the auditor's report if Google makes a change in accounting principle that is considered material? Identify the appropriate section in the Auditing Standards and identify the relevant paragraph(s) within that section that would be applicable to this situation. Assume that Google properly reports the change in the financial statements.
2. Where would the auditor locate guidance to determine the effect on the auditor's report if he or she has substantial doubt about Google's ability to continue as a going concern? Identify the appropriate section and the relevant paragraph(s) within that section that would be applicable to this situation.
3. Google's Form 10-K contains information that is in addition to the financial statements and related footnotes. Where would the auditor locate guidance that addresses his or her responsibility for this other information and what is the auditor's obligation related to that information? Identify the appropriate section and the relevant paragraph(s) within that section that would be applicable to this situation.