Related Party Identification of related parties -Difficulties Related parties and associated transactions are often difficult to identify,

, as it can be hard to establish exactly who, or what, are the related parties of an entity. FRS 124 Related Party Disclosures contains definitions which in theory serve to provide a fra ewor! for identifyin" related parties, but decidin" whether a definition is et can be co plex and sub#ective. For exa ple, related party status can be obtained via si"nificant interest, but in reality it can be difficult to establish the extent of influence that potential related parties can actually exert over a co pany. $he directors ay be reluctant to disclose to the auditors the existence of related parties or transactions. $his is an area of the financial state ents where !nowled"e is lar"ely confined to ana"e ent, and the auditors often have little choice but to rely on full disclosure by ana"e ent in order to identify related parties. $his is especially the case for a close fa ily e ber of those in control or havin" influence over the entity, whose identity can only be revealed by ana"e ent.

Identification of material related party transactions-Difficulties Related party transactions ay not be easy to identify fro the accountin" syste s. %here accountin" syste s are not capable of separately identifyin" related party transactions, ana"e ent need to carry out additional analysis, which if not done a!es the transactions extre ely difficult for auditors to find. For exa ple sales ade to a related party will not necessarily be differentiated fro &nor al' sales in the accountin" syste s. Related party transactions ay be concealed in whole, or in part, fro auditors for fraudulent purposes. ( transaction ay not be otivated by nor al business considerations, for exa ple, a transaction ay be reco"nised in order to i prove the appearance of the financial state ents by &window dressin"'. )learly if the ana"e ent is deliberately concealin" the true nature of these ite s it will be extre ely difficult for the auditor to discover the rationale behind the transaction and to consider the i pact on the financial state ents. Finally, ateriality is a difficult concept to apply to related party transactions. *nce a transaction has been identified, the auditor ust consider whether it is aterial. +owever, ateriality has a particular application in this situation. (, --. Related Parties states that the auditor should consider the effect of a related party transaction on the financial state ents. $he proble is that a transaction could occur at an abnor ally s all, even nil, value. Deter inin" ateriality based on onetary value is therefore irrelevant, and the auditor should instead be alert to the unusual nature of the transaction a!in" it aterial.