ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS

Assessment Practical – Presentation of an audit strategy to a client

Assessment code: 010
Academic Year: 2023/24
Trimester: 1
Module Title: Financial Auditing
Module Code: MOD003377
Level: 6
Module Leader: Julia Spencer
Weighting: 50%
Time Limit: 5 minutes per student (including questions)
Assessed Learning 1,2,3
Outcomes
Assessment date: Week 8 - Week commencing Monday tbc

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
• This is a group assignment, with teams of 4 where possible.

• However, each team member will be assessed on their individual performance and
given an individual mark.

• No extensions are available for this assessment.

• Exceptional Circumstances: The deadline for submission of Exceptional

Circumstances in relation to this assignment is no later than five working days after
the submission date of this work. Please contact the Director of Studies Team -
DoS@london.aru.ac.uk. See rules 6.112 – 6.141:
http://web.anglia.ac.uk/anet/academic/public/academic_regs.pdf

• You may bring a small note card to the meeting (no bigger than A5) containing any
data or key bullet points.

• See the detailed instructions below. Students must comply fully with these.
PRACTICAL TASK

TASK

Attend an audit planning meeting and verbally brief the audit partner on the key
elements of your audit strategy for the forthcoming audit.

SCENARIO

You are one of the audit seniors on the audit team of Burberry Group plc for the
audit of the financial statements, year ending 30th March 2024. You are coming
to the end of the planning stage of the audit and have been invited to a meeting
with the audit partner (played by your lecturer).

Prior to the meeting, you will be allocated one of four audit senior roles, by the
audit partner. At the briefing, each audit senior will need to brief the partner
about certain aspects of the audit strategy as follows:

Team member Key strategy areas to cover

Audit Senior 1 Timetable
Audit Risks
Audit Senior 2 Relevant Laws and Regulations
Audit Risks
Audit Senior 3 Materiality
Audit Risks
Audit Senior 4 Analytical procedures
Audit Risks

Each audit senior will be asked to talk for 4 minutes on their allocated strategy
areas. If you exceed your time limit, the audit partner will stop you. Therefore,
you should focus on delivering a concise and precise briefing on the strategy
areas you have been allocated.

Once you have completed your briefing, the audit partner will ask questions for
at least a further 1 minute to clarify their understanding of anything you said. The
practical will therefore total 5 minutes per student.

You should NOT produce any PowerPoint slides to accompany your verbal
briefing.
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

The following Learning Outcomes are being assessed in this assignment:

Learning Outcomes (MDF) % Mark

allocation
Explain the nature, purpose, and scope
Knowledge
of assurance engagements, including
and
regulatory, ethical, and corporate
Understanding
LO 1 governance frameworks.
How this will be assessed in the assignment:
Students should show an understanding of the planning
process of an audit in relation to the elements of the
audit strategy that they have been allocated.
Ability to Interpret and explain
Knowledge 30%
International Standards on Auditing
and
(ISAs)
Understanding
(This assignment - ISAs Related to planning)
LO 2
How this will be assessed in the assignment:
This is a practical assignment. Students are NOT
expected to talk about the theory of the ISAs, but should
correctly apply those ISAs to Burberry Group plc.
Intellectual,
practical,
Ability to assess the risk of material
affective, and
misstatement and plan an audit
transferrable
LO 3 accordingly 60%
skills
How this will be assessed in the assignment:
Students should analyse source information to establish
specific and relevant audit risks and address the
elements of the strategy they have been allocated.
Intellectual,
practical,
affective, and Ability to present clearly, confidently &
transferrable concisely
skills
How this will be assessed in the assignment:
Employability Students should engage with the audit partner and 10%
present in a structured and clear way. Students should
be concise and keep to time.

You may bring a small note card to the meeting (no

bigger than A5) containing any data or key bullet points.
However, you MUST NOT read from a script when you
are speaking. Reading from a script may incur a
penalty.
READING LIST / RESOURCES

Burberry Group plc (2023) Burberry Annual Report 2022-23. Available at:
https://www.burberryplc.com/content/dam/burberryplc/corporate/documents/annu
al-report-2022-23/Annual-report-2022-23.pdf (Accessed: 27 June 2023).

[Students should remember that they are presenting the planning issues for
the next year's audit and not just repeating historical issues covered in the
annual report. Students should review the issues raised in the latest report
and then evaluate what they think will be the key audit risks which the
auditors will need to focus on, in the coming audit.]

Financial Reporting Council (2019) INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ON AUDITING (UK) 250

(REVISED November 2019) : Section A — Consideration of laws and regulations in an audit
of financial statements. Available at: https://www.frc.org.uk/getattachment/51e5abb4-
4307-4b36-9005-b6cc677492ad/ISA-(UK)-250A_Revised-November-2019.pdf
(Accessed: 27 June 2023).

Financial Reporting Council (2020) ISA (UK) 315 (REVISED JULY 2020): Identifying and
Assessing the Risks of Material Misstatement. Available at:
https://www.frc.org.uk/getattachment/a23392ac-9063-4f13-a064-23b879f5321c/ISA-
(UK)-315-Jul-2020.pdf (Accessed: 27 June 2023).

Financial Reporting Council (2022) INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ON AUDITING (UK) 300

(REVISED JUNE 2016) Planning an Audit of Financial Statements. Available at:
https://www.frc.org.uk/getattachment/44a4c993-03f2-4197-920c-a65ed9660183/ISA-
(UK)-300_Revised-June-2016_Updated-May-2022.pdf (Accessed: 27 June 2023).

Financial Reporting Council (2022) INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ON AUDITING (UK) 320

(REVISED JUNE 2016) Materiality in Planning and Performing an Audit. Available at:
https://www.frc.org.uk/getattachment/163782e0-f168-4992-9cd3-c22dee7ce22f/ISA-
(UK)-320_Revised-June-2016_Updated-May-2022.pdf (Accessed: 27 June 2023).

Financial Reporting Council (2022) INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ON AUDITING (UK) 520

Analytical Procedures. Available at: https://www.frc.org.uk/getattachment/c64beeef-
069c-4153-a7d9-04d008f0ca0d/ISA-(UK)-520_Updated-May-2022.pdf (Accessed: 27
June 2023).

Kaplan Financial Limited. (2022) ACCA Audit and Assurance (AA) Study Text 2022-23.
Wokingham: Kaplan Publishing UK.

Other potential resources:

• News stories and other information you can find about the client company.
• Other general news issues/stories that may have an impact on audit risks.
 ARU GENERIC ASSESSMENT CRITERIA AND MARKING STANDARDS: LEVEL 6 – the Depth
stage

Level 6 is characterised by an expectation of students’ increasing autonomy in relation to their study and developing skill
sets. Students are expected to demonstrate problem solving skills, both theoretical and practical. This is supported by an
understanding of appropriate theory; creativity of expression and thought based in individual judgement; and the ability to
seek out, invoke, analyse and evaluate competing theories or methods of working in a critically constructive and open
manner. Output is articulate, coherent and skilled in the appropriate medium, with some students producing original or
innovative work in their specialism.

Characteristics of Student Achievement by Marking Band for ARU’s Generic

Mark Learning Outcomes (Academic Regulations, Section 2)

Outcome
Bands Intellectual (thinking), Practical, Affective and
Knowledge & Understanding
Transferable Skills

Exceptional information base

Exceptional management of learning resources, with a
exploring and analysing the
higher degree of autonomy/exploration that clearly
90- discipline, its theory and ethical
exceeds the assessment brief. Exceptional structure/
issues with extraordinary
accurate expression. Demonstrates intellectual originality
100% originality and autonomy. Work
and imagination. Exceptional team/practical/professional
may be considered for publication
skills. Work may be considered for publication within ARU
within ARU

Outstanding management of learning resources, with a

Achieves Outstanding information base
degree of autonomy/exploration that clearly exceeds the
80- module exploring and analysing the
assessment brief. An exemplar of structured/accurate
outcome(s) discipline, its theory and ethical
expression. Demonstrates intellectual originality and
89% issues with clear originality and
imagination. Outstanding team/practical/professional
autonomy
skills

Excellent knowledge base that
70- supports analysis, evaluation and
problem-solving in theory/
79% practice/ethics of discipline with
considerable originality
Excellent management of learning resources, with degree
of autonomy/research that may exceed the assessment
brief. Structured and creative expression. Excellent
academic/ intellectual skills and practical/team/
professional/ problem-solving skills
 Good knowledge base that
Good management of learning resources, with consistent
60- supports analysis, evaluation and
self-directed research. Structured and accurate
problem-solving in theory/
expression. Good academic/intellectual skills and
69% practice/ethics of discipline with
team/practical/ professional/problem solving skills
some originality

Sound management of learning resources. Some

Sound knowledge base that
50- autonomy in research but inconsistent. Structured and
supports some analysis,
mainly accurate expression. Sound level of academic/
evaluation and problem-solving in
59% intellectual skills going beyond description at times. Sound
theory/practice/ethics of discipline
team/practical/professional/problem-solving skills

Adequate knowledge base with

Adequate use of learning resources with little autonomy.
A marginal some omissions at the level of
40- Some difficulties with academic/ intellectual skills. Some
pass in ethical/ theoretical issues.
difficulty with structure/ accuracy in expression, but
module Restricted ability to discuss theory
49% evidence of developing team/practical/professional/
outcome(s) and/or or solve problems in
problem-solving skills
discipline

A marginal
fail in module Limited knowledge base. Limited use of learning resources. Unable to work
30- outcome(s). Limited understanding of autonomously. Little input to teams. Limited academic/
Satisfies discipline/ethical issues. Difficulty intellectual skills. Still mainly descriptive. General difficulty
39% default with theory and problem solving in with structure/ accuracy in expression. Practical/
qualifying discipline professional/problem-solving skills that are not yet secure
mark

Little evidence of knowledge Little evidence of use of learning resources. Unable to

base. Little evidence of work autonomously. Little input to teams. Little evidence
20-
understanding of discipline/ of academic/ intellectual skills. Work significantly
Fails to
ethical issues. Significant descriptive. Significant difficulty with structure/accuracy in
29% achieve
difficulty with theory and problem expression. Little evidence of practical/professional/
module
solving in discipline problem-solving skills
outcome(s)
Qualifying
Deficient knowledge base. Deficient use of learning resources. Unable to work
mark not
10- Deficient understanding of autonomously. Deficient input to teams. Deficient
satisfied
discipline/ethical issues. Major academic/intellectual skills. Work significantly descriptive.
19% difficulty with theory and problem Major difficulty with structure/accuracy in expression.
solving in discipline Deficient practical/professional/problem-solving skills
 No evidence of use of learning resources. Completely
No evidence of knowledge base;
unable to work autonomously. No evidence of input to
1- no evidence of understanding of
teams. No evidence of academic/intellectual skills. Work
discipline/ethical issues. Total
wholly descriptive. Incoherent structure/accuracy and
9% inability with theory and problem
expression. No evidence of practical/professional/
solving in discipline
problem-solving skills

Awarded for: (i) non-submission; (ii) dangerous practice and; (iii) in situations where the student
0% fails to address the assignment brief (eg: answers the wrong question) and/or related learning
outcomes