Audit Risk Model–Based Comprehensive Audit Plan Assignment for a Publicly Traded Company Using IT-Enabled Procedures and Internal Control Evaluation

Comprehensive Audit Plan Final Paper

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, review the following chapters in your textbook, Auditing & Assurance Services:
Chapter 11: Completing the Audit
Chapter 12: Reports on Audited Financial Statements

These chapters discuss audit completion procedures, the various types of audit reports, and the conditions under which each is appropriate. They will guide you in structuring a logically sequenced comprehensive audit plan that reflects current professional standards for financial statement audits, including guidance issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

You should also review all required discussion and assignment resources throughout the course. Drawing on prior learning materials will help you design an audit plan that integrates risk assessment, internal control evaluation, substantive testing, and technology-supported procedures in a coherent and professionally defensible manner.

In this assignment, you will prepare a comprehensive audit plan for a company of your choice. For purposes of relevance and data availability, select a company with recent annual reports, Form 10-K filings, or equivalent public disclosures that allow you to apply audit concepts in a realistic practice context.

Please choose any publicly traded company that interests you. Selecting an entity with complex operations, such as multinational activities, digital platforms, or extensive use of enterprise information systems, can enrich your discussion of audit risk, IT controls, and data-driven evidence gathering.

Assignment Requirements

In your paper, address the following components in clearly labeled sections.

1. Company Background and Engagement Purpose

Explain the company you selected and the purpose of the audit engagement. Briefly describe the company’s industry, primary products or services, regulatory environment, governance structure, and recent financial performance. This contextual background should support your explanation of the auditor’s responsibility to provide reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework.

Clarify whether the engagement relates to a statutory annual audit, a first-year audit, or a recurring engagement, and explain how this affects planning considerations and risk assessment.

2. Engagement Scope and Responsibilities

Assess the scope of the engagement, including clear distinctions between the roles and responsibilities of management and the auditor. A thorough scope section should address:

The applicable financial reporting framework
The auditing standards governing the engagement
Planned materiality thresholds and performance materiality
Inherent limitations of an audit
Any engagement-specific constraints or reliance on component auditors

You should explicitly state that management is responsible for preparing and fairly presenting the financial statements and for maintaining effective internal control, while the auditor is responsible for expressing an opinion based on sufficient appropriate audit evidence.

3. Risk Assessment and the Audit Risk Model

Formulate a structured risk assessment incorporating the audit risk model. Discuss:

Inherent risk
Control risk
Detection risk

Explain how these components interact and how your assessment influences the nature, timing, and extent of audit procedures for significant accounts and disclosures. Identify high-risk areas such as revenue recognition, complex estimates, fair value measurements, related-party transactions, and areas involving significant judgment.

Where appropriate, link your analysis to regulatory and professional guidance, including principles reflected in materials published by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

4. Audit Procedures and Evidence Gathering

Explain specific audit procedures you will use to gather evidence and support relevant financial statement assertions. These may include:

Tests of controls over transaction processing and IT general controls
Substantive analytical procedures
Tests of details for revenue, inventory, receivables, liabilities, and estimates
Confirmation procedures
Recalculation and reperformance
Observation and inspection

For each major account area, clearly link procedures to assertions such as existence, completeness, valuation, rights and obligations, and presentation and disclosure. Your discussion should demonstrate how evidence reduces detection risk to an acceptably low level.

5. Internal Control Systems and Fraud Risk

Analyze the importance of internal control systems in preventing and detecting material misstatements. Explain how you will evaluate the design and operating effectiveness of controls, including segregation of duties, authorization processes, access controls, and monitoring activities.

Connect internal control evaluation to fraud risk assessment by discussing procedures such as:

Journal entry testing
Review of non-routine and unusual transactions
Data analytics to identify anomalies
Trend and ratio analysis
Evaluation of management override risk

Effective integration of technology and internal control evaluation strengthens audit quality and supports more targeted risk responses.

A growing body of research demonstrates that the strategic integration of advanced data analytics and automated audit tools enhances audit quality by expanding transaction coverage and improving anomaly detection rates. For example, Vitali (2024) finds that the adoption of robotic process automation and artificial intelligence in audit firms is positively associated with efficiency gains and improved risk identification in complex engagements. These findings support the inclusion of IT-enabled procedures within a comprehensive audit plan, particularly for publicly traded entities operating in digitally intensive environments.

6. Information Technology in the Audit

Outline how you plan to use information technology to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the audit. Consider the use of:

Computer-assisted audit techniques
Audit data analytics platforms
Continuous auditing tools
Automated workflow documentation
Visualization software for large datasets

Explain how IT tools allow broader population testing, real-time analysis of transactional data, and more precise identification of outliers. Demonstrate how technology reduces manual sampling limitations and supports a more robust evaluation of risk.

7. Audit Completion and Reporting

Propose audit completion procedures that would be most appropriate based on your planned findings. Address:

Subsequent events review
Going concern considerations
Evaluation of identified and uncorrected misstatements
Final analytical procedures
Written representations from management
Communication with those charged with governance

Conclude by explaining the circumstances under which you would issue:

An unqualified opinion
A qualified opinion
An adverse opinion
A disclaimer of opinion

Ensure that your proposed reporting approach aligns with current professional standards and reflects the overall results of your risk assessment and evidence evaluation.

Paper Length and Format

The Comprehensive Audit Plan final paper:

Must be eight to nine double-spaced pages in length, excluding title and references pages
Must be formatted according to APA Style
Must include properly formatted in-text citations and a reference list
Must use clear, professional academic language

Organize your paper using section headings that mirror the assignment components listed above. Logical sequencing and professional tone are essential.

Title Page Requirements

Include a separate title page containing the following elements in title case:

Title of paper in bold font
Student’s name
Name of institution: The University of Arizona Global Campus
Course name and number
Instructor’s name
Due date

Ensure spacing, font, and alignment follow current APA guidelines and any institutional preferences provided by your instructor.

Learn how to structure a comprehensive audit plan for a listed company, define engagement scope, assess risk using the audit risk model, design technology-supported audit procedures, and determine the appropriate audit opinion.

References (Harvard Style)

Fatikasari, C.D., 2024. Evaluating the impact of information technology on audit quality and efficiency. Review of Accounting Information and Data Analytics, 6(2), pp.45–62. Available at: https://analysisdata.co.id/index.php/RAIDA/article/view/159.

Oluoch, C.O., 2022. Effects of information technology on internal auditing in commercial banks in Kenya. Unpublished MBA thesis, University of Nairobi. Available at: http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/162279.

Vitali, S., 2024. Emerging digital technologies and auditing firms: The role of robotic process automation and artificial intelligence. International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, 54, 100639. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accinf.2024.100639.

Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, 2025. Audit reports: overview. Audit and Assurance Helpsheets. Available at: https://www.icaew.com/technical/tas-helpsheets/audit-and-assurance/audit-reports-overview.

Study.com, 2022. Audit plan overview, templates & examples. Study.com. Available at: https://study.com/academy/lesson/designing-an-audit-plan-procedure-example.html.

Appelbaum, D., Kogan, A. and Vasarhelyi, M., 2017. Big data and analytics in the modern audit engagement: Research needs. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, 36(4), pp.1–27.