Auditing & Assurance Services 6th Edition by Timothy Louwers

Exercise 23

Audit Sampling: Types of Audit Samples. You have been assigned to the audit of Phillip's Inc., a chain of convenience stores. As part of the audit planning, you decide to perform the following tests:
1. Perform a walkthrough of purchase transactions by selecting one purchase and following it through all processing steps from the initial purchase order to recording in the general ledger.
2. Select a sample of purchase vouchers and ensure they are supported by receiving documents.
3. Select a sample of payroll checks and agree the time to the time cards and ensure they have supervisor approval. Using the sample, project the total payroll expense for the year.
4. Select a sample of items from the inventory on hand and estimate the total inventory on hand at the balance sheet date.
5. Vouch all long-term debt issued during the year to the loan agreement and the cash received.
6. Select a sample of long-term debt agreements and ensure they have been approved in the board of directors' minutes.
7. Evaluate the control environment by inquiring of personnel as to the existence of a code of conduct.
Required:
a. Define the terms attributes sampling, variables sampling, and dual-purpose testing.
b. Indicate whether each of the items (1)-(7) suggests an attributes sample, a variables sample, a dual-purpose test, or if it is not an example of sampling.