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ACCA Strategic Professional · Advanced Audit and Assurance (International) · The audit of performance information (pre-determined objectives) in the public sector

When auditing the reported number of patients treated within four hours at a public hospital, the audit team finds that the hospital's source records are held in three separate systems with no reconciliation to the reported total. Which is the most appropriate audit response?

The auditor should trace a sample of reported items to source records, test how the totals are aggregated, and consider whether weak, unreconciled systems limit the evidence obtainable. Management representations alone are insufficient, and non-financial measures still need sufficient appropriate evidence to support a conclusion on reliability.

  1. AAccept the reported figure because it is a non-financial measure and so is outside the scope of audit evidence requirements
  2. BDesign procedures to trace a sample of reported items to source records, test the aggregation and consider whether the lack of a reliable system limits the evidence availableCorrect
  3. CRely solely on management representations about the accuracy of the count
  4. DReport that the objectives were not achieved because the systems are inadequate

Explanation

Reliability requires sufficient appropriate evidence, so the auditor should trace to source and test aggregation, and consider the effect of weak systems on the scope of work. Representations alone are not sufficient evidence. Non-financial information is still audited, and system weakness does not itself prove the target was missed.

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