The PCAOB issues audit practice alerts to highlight new, emerging, or otherwise noteworthy circumstances. Revenue is the largest account in the financial statements for many companies, and many fraudulent financial reporting cases have involved the intentional overstatement of revenue. For these reasons, the audit of revenue is often a significant focus of PCAOB inspections. PCAOB Audit Staff Practice Alert No. 12, Matters Related to Auditing Revenue in an Audit of Financial Statements, provides guidance to auditors and also highlights several deficiencies in the audit of revenue as identified through inspections. Download the practice alert at www.pcaobus.org to answer the following questions: 

Required:

a. What are the deficiencies identified by the PCAOB related to the use of substantive analytical procedures in testing revenue? What sources of information does the PCAOB recommend auditors use to develop plausible expectations of revenue when performing substantive analytical procedures? 

b. What procedures does the PCAOB recommend auditors perform to assess the risks of material misstatements related to omitted, incomplete, or inaccurate financial statement disclosures? What deficiencies have been identified by the PCAOB related to auditing disclosures? 

c. The audit practice alert discusses the auditor’s responsibilities once revenue-related fraud risks are identified. What guidance does the PCAOB provide to auditors for performing procedures that are “specifically responsive” to identified fraud risks?