Simon works as an senior internal auditor in Good Prospect Limited (GP). Every March, GP conducts staff appraisal. Staff is required to give three examples that may illustrate his or her performance during the past year. Simon writes down the following three cases.

Case 1

I dressed like a wealthy customer and went to the retail shop of the company (i.e., GP). I chose three shirts and tested the fit in the changing room. Then, I returned them to a saleslady and tried another three shirts. After several rounds, I only bought one shirt.

Case 2

I went to the accounts office and took the file containing monthly bank reconciliations for the year. I checked whether the amount per the cash book agreed with the bank statement. In addition, I examined whether outstanding cheques were cleared the next month.

Case 3

I got the tax file from the accountant and examined whether the withholding tax for employees was remitted not later than the allowed deadline by the tax authority. I also reconciled the amount paid with the payroll master file for accuracy.

In addition, Simon has several junior internal auditors for his evaluation. Two of them are good candidates for a senior post which preferably requires the qualification of a professional accountant. One is Nancy and the second is Mary. Nancy graduated with a degree in information system and works in the team of IT internal auditing. Her job involves documenting the information system and advising on the weaknesses in the system. Mary assists in the monthly internal audit of GP’s financial statements and also liaises with the external auditor with assignments that the external auditor wants to rely upon.

Required:

(a) For each of the three cases of Simon, discuss the nature of the assignments performed.

(b) With reference to the admission requirements for a professional accountant of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, discuss the cases of Nancy and Mary if each of them applies for admission as a member of the institute.