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This case invites you to identify audit issues and evaluate an audit team's judgments and decisions on a new engagement (VITALOGISTICS). You will consider a variety of issues in the client acceptance, planning, execution, and reporting phases of an Integrated Audit. Identifying the audit issues and evaluating the audit team's decisions will enhance your: (1) appreciation of the role of research in audit practice; (2) recognition of the conflicting pressures faced by auditors and the potential for these pressures to compromise audit work; and (3) understanding of the requirements of the Integrated Audit and how it differs from the requirements of an audit of financial statements.

ABSTRACTA pervasive challenge for decision‐makers is evaluating data of varying form (e.g., quantitative vs. qualitative) and credibility in arriving at an overall risk assessment judgment. The current study tests the efficacy of a Decision Support System (DSS) for facilitating auditors' evaluation and assimilation of financial and nonfinancial information in accurately assessing the risk of material misstatements (RMM) in financial information. Utilizing the proximity compatibility principle, the DSS manipulates the display of cues either in an integral (where pieces of information are displayed on one computer screen) or separable (where pieces of information are displayed on different computer screens) format. Based on cognitive fit theory, we expect that the integral (separable) display best supports financial (nonfinancial) information processing, leading to enhanced risk assessment performance. In addition, we predict that consistent DSS display of financial and nonfinancial information facilitates risk assessment performance. Further, this study accentuates the importance of auditors' preference for presentation of financial and nonfinancial information and consistent presentation of all the information in strengthening the effect of DSS display format on risk assessment performance. We design a case which includes a seeded high fraud risk. A total of 112 audit seniors participated in the experiment where the DSS display format was manipulated and the auditors' RMM assessments and display preferences were measured. The results support the hypotheses and highlight the value of the DSS in enhancing risk assessment performance.

Corporate governance issues have grown more salient in light of alleged corporate accounting scandals and the subsequent enactment of the landmark Sarbanes-Oxley Act (U.S. House of Representatives 2002). However, even in cases where no fraud has occurred and management is completely aboveboard, the role of various players in the corporate governance framework in maintaining a high-quality financial reporting process cannot be overlooked. This case presents facts surrounding the valuation of inventory at Dynamic Data, a high-tech firm. You will be asked to consider, from an auditor's perspective, whether inventory should be carried at cost in light of changing market conditions. Further, you will be asked to consider the role, if any, that the Audit Committee and Board of Directors might play in the financial reporting process. Special consideration will also be given to examining the implications of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the audit process.