Chapter 14 Vignette Question When auditors should rely extensively on internal controls and when they should place less reliance on controls? The Choice Is Simple-Rely on Internal Control City Finance is the largest client managed out of the Pittsburgh office of a Big Four firm. It is a financial services conglomerate with almost 1,000 offices in the United States and Canada, as well as correspondent offices overseas. The company's records contain more than a mil- lion accounts receivable and it processes millions of sales and other transactions annually. The company's computer data center is in a large, environ- mentally controlled room that contains several large computer servers and a great deal of an- cillary equipment. There are two complete online systems, one serving as a backup for the other, as systems failure would preclude operations in all of the company's branches The company has an unusual system of checks and balances in which branch office transaction records are reconciled to data processing controls daily, which, in turn, are reconciled to out- side bank account records monthly. Whenever this reconciliation process indicates a significant Out-of-balance condition, procedures are initiated to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. A large internal audit staff oversees any special investigative efforts. Because City Finance is a large public company, it must file its annual financial report includ- ing management's report on internal control over financial reporting on Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 60 days after its fiscal year-end. In addition, the company likes to announce annual earnings and issue its annual report as soon after year-end as reasonably feasible. Under these circumstances, there is always a great deal of pressure on the CPA firm to complete the audit quickly. The CPA firm must conduct an integrated audit of the financial statements and internal control over financial reporting in accordance with PCAOB Standard 5. In the case of City Finance, there is no question that the auditor must rely extensively on internal control in the integrated audit and extensively test internal control over financial reporting. Even if the auditing stan- dards requirements did not exist, it would be difficult to complete the audit within the report- ing deadlines without extensively relying on key controls. In all honesty, if City Finance did not have excellent internal controls, the CPA firm admits that an audit of the financial statements just could not be done