Try 10 focused CPA Canada Assurance questions on Audit and Assurance, with answers and explanations, then continue with Finance Prep.
CPA Canada means Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada. Use this page to isolate Audit and Assurance before returning to mixed CPA Canada Assurance practice.
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Exam route | CPA Canada Assurance |
| Issuer | CPA Canada |
| Topic area | Audit and Assurance |
| Blueprint weight | 60% |
| Page purpose | Focused sample questions before returning to mixed practice |
Use this page to isolate Audit and Assurance for CPA Canada Assurance. Work through the 10 questions first, then review the explanations and return to mixed practice in Finance Prep.
| Pass | What to do | What to record |
|---|---|---|
| First attempt | Answer without checking the explanation first. | The fact, rule, calculation, or judgment point that controlled your answer. |
| Review | Read the explanation even when you were correct. | Why the best answer is stronger than the closest distractor. |
| Repair | Repeat only missed or uncertain items after a short break. | The pattern behind misses, not the answer letter. |
| Transfer | Return to mixed practice once the topic feels stable. | Whether the same skill holds up when the topic is no longer obvious. |
Blueprint context: 60% of the practice outline. A focused topic score can overstate readiness if you recognize the pattern too quickly, so use it as repair work before timed mixed sets.
These questions are original Finance Prep practice items aligned to this topic area. They are designed for self-assessment and are not official exam questions.
Topic: Audit and Assurance
Northline Tools Ltd. is a private ASPE manufacturer with a December 31 year end. During interim audit work, the audit team found that goods received near month-end were not being compared with unmatched supplier invoices before the purchases accrual was prepared. In a sample of 35 receiving reports, 12 items were missing from the accrual listing, with a projected possible understatement of approximately $320,000. Planning materiality is $500,000. The audit manager documented the matter as a significant deficiency because there was no compensating review and Northline is close to a current ratio covenant.
On November 15, management implemented a weekly unmatched receiving report reviewed by the CFO. The auditor observed the new control being performed once and inspected two signed weekly reports showing corrections made. Management asks the auditor to return to the original low-risk audit approach for purchases and payables and to omit the issue from the board communication because it was fixed before the audit report date.
Which interpretation is best?
Best answer: A
What this tests: Audit and Assurance
Explanation: Corrective action affects audit planning, but only for the period and assertions supported by sufficient appropriate evidence. A new or redesigned control can support reliance only after it has been designed, implemented, and operated effectively for a sufficient period. Here, the deficiency affected the purchases accrual before November 15, and the covenant sensitivity makes it important to those charged with governance. Observing one performance and inspecting two signed reports may help assess design and implementation, but it does not justify full-year reliance or removal of substantive work for the earlier period. Significant deficiencies identified during the audit should be communicated to those charged with governance; the communication can also describe management’s remedial action so the board understands both the issue and the response.
Remediation is relevant to future reliance but does not erase the significant deficiency or provide evidence that the control operated effectively before it existed.
Topic: Audit and Assurance
You are planning the CAS audit of Maple Ridge Tools Ltd., a private ASPE manufacturer. The bank requires audited annual financial statements. During risk assessment for the sales and inventory cycle, you noted the following:
Which interpretation is most appropriate for audit planning?
Best answer: A
What this tests: Audit and Assurance
Explanation: A new integrated sales and inventory system can improve processing, but it also creates financial reporting risks when access, approval, monitoring, and reconciliation controls are weak. Here, manual credit notes and inventory edits directly affect revenue, returns, inventory, and cost of sales. Logs are available but not reviewed, returns lack automated approval, gross margin exceptions were not documented, and the subledger-to-general-ledger reconciliation is missing for much of the year with a significant unresolved year-end difference. Even though CAD 180,000 is below planning materiality, it is close enough and connected to broader control weaknesses to affect risk assessment and audit scope. The audit plan should address the relevant controls and, if they are not suitably designed or operating effectively, expand substantive procedures over the affected accounts and assertions.
The observations show unreviewed system changes, weak returns controls, unexplained margin changes, and an unresolved reconciliation difference affecting multiple financial statement areas.
Topic: Audit and Assurance
You are reviewing draft observations from an interim control review over purchases and disbursements for a private company. The engagement objective is to identify control issues that could allow unauthorized or inaccurate payments. Which workpaper result is best interpreted as a control deficiency requiring remediation rather than a minor process observation?
Recurring utilities PO timing:
Vendor banking changes:
Bank reconciliation initials:
Expense receipt storage:
A. Treat the recurring utilities purchase order timing as a control deficiency requiring remediation.
B. Treat the electronic storage of expense receipts as a control deficiency requiring remediation.
C. Treat the missing wet-ink initials on bank reconciliations as a control deficiency requiring remediation.
D. Treat the vendor banking change process as a control deficiency requiring remediation.
Best answer: D
What this tests: Audit and Assurance
Explanation: A control deficiency requiring remediation is more than a formatting issue or isolated administrative preference. It exists when the design or operation of a control could fail to prevent or detect an error, unauthorized transaction, or fraud on a timely basis. Vendor banking changes are high-risk because they determine where cash is paid. Here, the same clerk can enter and approve changes through a shared login, there is no independent callback, and one unsupported change was followed by payment. That points to a real deficiency in authorization, segregation of duties, and accountability. The other observations are minor because the underlying control objective was still achieved through approved contracts, manager approval, system evidence of review, or reliable electronic support.
Incompatible access, shared credentials, no independent verification, and an unsupported bank change create a real risk of unauthorized payments.
Topic: Audit and Assurance
Maple Robotics Ltd. is a private company audited under Canadian Auditing Standards and reports under ASPE. The bank requires audited financial statements, and the loan covenant requires EBITDA of at least CAD 3.0 million. Draft EBITDA is CAD 3.05 million, and the CFO receives a bonus if the covenant is met. During year-end revenue testing, the audit senior finds a December 31 invoice for CAD 520,000. The customer confirms the goods were not requested until January 5. A January 10 credit memo reversed the invoice, and the same goods were reinvoiced on January 12. The warehouse log provided by management shows shipment on December 31, but the system export shows the shipment record was created on January 5, with no carrier pickup before January 3. An accounting clerk says the CFO asked staff to “make December look bank-ready.” The controller asks the audit team not to contact the customer again because “it is just a timing issue.” Which interpretation best reflects the implication of these findings?
Best answer: A
What this tests: Audit and Assurance
Explanation: Fraud indicators do not require the auditor to prove fraud, but they do require a risk-responsive change in the engagement approach. Revenue was recognized in the period needed to meet a bank covenant and bonus target, external evidence conflicts with management’s records, and the CFO appears involved in influencing December results. These facts indicate possible fraudulent financial reporting and management override. The audit team should reassess fraud risk and management integrity, extend procedures beyond the single transaction as needed, evaluate whether the financial statements are materially misstated if revenue is not adjusted, and communicate suspected management-involved fraud to those charged with governance at an appropriate level.
The conflicting evidence, covenant pressure, and CFO involvement indicate possible management fraud, requiring expanded audit work and governance-level communication.
Topic: Audit and Assurance
A CPA firm is considering whether to accept the audit of Lakeview Components Ltd., a private company reporting under ASPE. Lakeview’s controller says the current auditor will not be reappointed because “they asked too many questions about year-end inventory” and the bank wants an audited statement package within six weeks. The partner has confirmed that the firm has industry experience and appears independent, but no engagement letter has been signed.
What should the partner do before accepting the engagement?
Best answer: C
What this tests: Audit and Assurance
Explanation: Before accepting an external audit engagement where another auditor is being replaced, the proposed auditor should obtain the prospective client’s permission to communicate with the predecessor auditor. The purpose is to identify matters that may affect acceptance, such as disputes with management, scope limitations, unpaid fees that impair cooperation, integrity concerns, or unresolved accounting issues. The suspicious comment about inventory makes this communication especially important, but the need arises because the firm is replacing the prior external auditor. If the client refuses permission, that refusal itself is a significant acceptance concern and would normally lead to declining the engagement.
Because the firm is being asked to replace an external auditor, predecessor communication is needed before acceptance to identify any matters affecting the acceptance decision.
Topic: Audit and Assurance
Birch Lake Components Inc. is a Canadian private company audited under CAS for its December 31 year end. Revenue and inventory are material. In the prior year, the audit team selected sales samples from an internally produced invoice register, agreed each invoice to a signed warehouse shipping log, and attended the physical inventory count at Birch Lake’s own warehouse.
During current-year planning, the senior documented the following:
all invoices omitted July to September shipments with manual address overrides; management says the interface was fixed in October.Management says the accounting policies are unchanged and suggests rolling forward the prior-year procedures with a larger sales sample. Which interpretation is best?
Best answer: C
What this tests: Audit and Assurance
Explanation: When operations and IT infrastructure change, rolling forward prior procedures may no longer provide sufficient appropriate audit evidence. Here, sales and inventory moved from client-controlled manual processes to an ERP integrated with a third-party logistics provider. The team also identified untested data migration and a known interface omission in the invoice population. These facts affect completeness of populations, reliability of system reports used for sampling, relevant controls, and the evidence available over inventory existence and rights. The team should update its understanding, reassess risks, validate report completeness before sampling, test migration and interface controls or perform responsive substantive procedures, and obtain appropriate evidence over the third-party logistics provider’s custody and count information.
The operational and IT changes affect the relevant audit trail, report reliability, populations, controls, and sources of inventory evidence.
Topic: Audit and Assurance
You are reviewing process documentation prepared during planning for the audit of Northshore Components Ltd. The workpaper must document what the audit team observed in the walkthrough, not what management says should happen.
Walkthrough notes for the order-to-cash cycle:
rush; no separate approval is obtained at the time of override.Which process narrative best documents the actual operational process observed?
Best answer: C
What this tests: Audit and Assurance
Explanation: Process documentation from a walkthrough should record the process as it actually operates, including manual steps, system-generated steps, overrides, handoffs, and monitoring activities observed. It should not replace observed practice with the policy manual or assume approvals and controls that were not performed. Here, the key operational fact is that ERP exception flags can be overridden by the sales coordinator without separate approval during busy periods. The narrative should also preserve the sequence from order entry to release, picking, shipment record creation, invoicing from the shipped-not-invoiced report, and weekly review of unmatched shipments. That documentation gives the audit team a reliable basis for identifying relevant risks and controls in the order-to-cash cycle.
This narrative follows the observed sequence and distinguishes actual override practice from the policy expectation.
Topic: Audit and Assurance
Parkview Components Ltd. is a private company reporting under ASPE. During the December 31 audit, revenue cut-off was assessed as a significant risk because management bonuses and a bank covenant are based on EBITDA. Overall materiality is CAD 750,000 and performance materiality is CAD 300,000.
The engagement team prepared this evidence summary:
Which interpretation and next step are best supported by the findings?
Best answer: D
What this tests: Audit and Assurance
Explanation: Subsequent cash receipts can support occurrence and collectability, but they do not resolve the cut-off assertion. With FOB shipping point terms and no bill-and-hold arrangement, shipment after year-end indicates the sales should not have been recorded before December 31. The known exceptions total CAD 420,000, which exceeds performance materiality, and all exceptions involve the same manual override by a sales manager. That pattern is not consistent with an isolated clerical error and may indicate management bias or override. The appropriate response is to propose an adjustment for the identified misstatement and expand procedures over similar year-end manual billings, while considering the control and fraud-risk implications.
The shipping evidence and FOB shipping point terms contradict current-year recognition, and the clustered overrides require risk-responsive follow-up.
Topic: Audit and Assurance
Northgate Fabricators Ltd. is a private company reporting under ASPE. You are reviewing the completion summary for the year-end audit. Overall materiality was set at $240,000, performance materiality at $180,000, and amounts below $12,000 were considered clearly trivial. The audit file requires accumulated uncorrected factual and likely projected misstatements to be evaluated in aggregate; if the aggregate uncorrected amount exceeds performance materiality, the team must request correction and consider whether further procedures are needed before concluding.
Management has declined to record the following entries because each item is individually below overall materiality.
The controller says the statements are still fairly presented because the net overstatement is below overall materiality. What is the best interpretation of the completion summary?
Best answer: C
What this tests: Audit and Assurance
Explanation: Uncorrected misstatements are accumulated unless clearly trivial and then evaluated both individually and in aggregate. Here, the net income overstatement is $86,000 + $66,000 + $50,000 - $18,000 = $184,000. That is below overall materiality of $240,000, but it exceeds performance materiality of $180,000 and triggers the file’s completion guideline. The concentration of income-increasing errors also raises a qualitative concern about possible management bias. The audit team should request that management correct the misstatements and determine whether additional procedures are needed before accepting the statements as fairly presented. A reporting effect would be considered only after management’s response and the final evaluation of uncorrected misstatements.
The accumulated uncorrected misstatements exceed the stated completion guideline and mostly increase income, so correction and further evaluation are needed before concluding.
Topic: Audit and Assurance
Jaya, CPA, is reviewing a revenue cutoff working paper for the audit of Northgate Parts Ltd., a private company reporting under ASPE. Northgate is a parts distributor with a December 31 year end. Overall materiality is $90,000; performance materiality is $60,000. Before the item below, uncorrected misstatements overstate income by $25,000.
The audit file includes the following evidence for one large invoice recorded on December 31:
The audit assistant concluded: “No adjustment is required because the invoice was issued before year end and was collected after year end.”
Which conclusion should Jaya make?
Best answer: D
What this tests: Audit and Assurance
Explanation: A conclusion on cutoff must be tied to the period in which the revenue recognition criteria were met, not merely to invoice date or later collection. Here, the sales terms make delivery and customer acceptance decisive. Both occurred after December 31, so the revenue and receivable were recorded too early. The related cost of goods sold should also be reversed because the sale did not occur in the audit period. The net income overstatement from this transaction is $105,000, and combined with the existing $25,000 overstatement, uncorrected misstatements would exceed overall materiality. Jaya should therefore require correction or assess the effect on the auditor’s report if management refuses.
Delivery and acceptance occurred after year end, so the recorded sale is a known cutoff misstatement that is material when combined with existing uncorrected misstatements.
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