THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

School of Accountancy

AUDITING [ACCT 4131 A&B] (1

st Semester, 2014-2015)

INSTRUCTOR

Prof. Cao Ying (曹颖)

Office: Room 1012, 10th Floor of Cheng Yu Tung Building (CYT)

Phone/Email: 3943-7645 / yingcao@cuhk.edu.hk

Office Hour: Tuesday 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm; Wednesday, 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm; or by appointment

You are welcome to stop by my office or send me emails if you have any questions.

TEACHING ASSISTANT

Li Yuk Ping (Delicia)

Office/Phone: Room 1049, CCS 10/F

Phone/ E-mail: 3943-7644 / yurama@cuhk.edu.hk Office Hour: Tuesday and Friday 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

COURSE CONTENT

This course is an introduction of auditing and other assurance services to undergraduate students with an

intermediate level of accounting knowledge and with a career interest in accounting. The course provides a

comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of auditing principles, concepts and its underlying theories and

integrates them in a logic manner to assist students in understanding audit decision making and evidence

accumulation. The course also provides students with real-world examples with an emphasis on professional

ethics.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED OUTCOMES

After completing this course, you should be able to:

1. Understand fundamental auditing concepts and principles

2. Apply basic auditing techniques in performing an audit

3. Understand the role of accountants in ensuring the integrity of financial and other information

4. Be able to identify and explain ethical issues faced by accountants.

5. Apply the working knowledge of accounting concepts and theories in a business context

6. Develop professional judgment in today’s complex auditing environment

7. Develop problem-solving skills and ability that you will need to succeed as a business professional

8. Learn the technology that allows you access to numerous online materials relating the real world of

accounting, auditing and business

9. Learn to work in teams and develop interpersonal and communication skills

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Lecture (including in-class

discussion / presentation) (hr)

in / out class

Lab / tutorial

(hr)

in / out class

Project / Case

discussion (hr)

in / out class

Expected out-of-class

activities (hrs)

in / out class

3 0 0 0 0 0.5 0 6

COURSE ASSESSMENT

Final Exam 50%

Mid-term Exam 30%

Class Participation 5%

Homework (individual) 5%

Term Project (group assignment) 10%

Total 100%

EXAMINATIONS

Mid-term exam: closed-book, Oct.16 (Thursday), 2014. 7:00 - 8:20 pm, YIA LT 3 (to be confirmed)

Final exam: a closed-book, comprehensive final exam will be given to all ACCT 4131 students.

No individual make-up exam will be given unless approved by the University (a valid doctor’s letter is

required if you miss the mid-term or final exam for health reason).

CLASS PARTICIPATION

You will obtain marks in participation by asking questions or by responding to questions during class.

Equally important, please do not constantly talk in class. You will lose participation marks by constantly

talking in class or missing a significant portion of the class.

HOMEWORK

You are required to complete the homework assignment by yourself, and submit the homework using the drop

box located on the 2nd floor of the CYT building. The homework is due one week from the assignment date.

No late homework will be accepted. Each homework assignment accounts for 1% of your total grade.

GROUP ASSIGNMENT

The objective of this project is to help you pull together various auditing concepts and techniques learned in

this course and apply them to real-world auditing situations. You will form your own team of four to six

people. Details of the project will be provided after the mid-term exam.

SELF STUDY

Self-study is as important as attending the lectures. The minimum required study time outside the classroom is

six hours each week. Please focus on lecture notes and read the textbook to make sure you fully understand the

class material.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Topic Chapter Week Homework Assignments

Introduction 1,2 1 HW1 (available at Elearn)

Professional ethics; Audit responsibilities and

objectives

5,6 2 HW2 (available at Elearn)

Audit evidence; Audit planning 7,8 3

Materiality and risk; Internal control 9,10 4 HW3 8-28 (p257), 9-35 (p301)

Fraud auditing; Audit plan and audit program 11,13 5

Sales and collection cycle 1;

Audit sampling for tests of controls and

substantive tests of transactions

14,15 6,7 HW4

14-29, (p490)

15-30, a,b,c and d (p531)

Sales and collection cycle 2;

Audit sampling for tests of details of balances

16,17 8,9

Acquisition and payment cycle 1, 2,

Inventory, Cash balances

18,19,20,23,3 9,10 HW5 (available at Elearn)

Audit Report, Completing the audit 2 3-28 part c only 3,24 11

REQUIRED LEARNING RESOURCES

Arens, Elder, and Beasley, Auditing and Assurance Services – an Integrated Approach 15th Edition, 2013,

Global Edition, Pearson

PowerPoint slides will be posted on Blackboard before each class. Please bring a printout of the slides to class.

http://elearn.cuhk.edu.hk

USEFUL WEBSITE

A few useful internet addresses:

1. The Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants: http://www.hkicpa.org.hk

2. The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited: www.hkex.com.hk

3. The Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants: www.cicpa.org.cn

4. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (U.S.): http://www.pcaobus.org

ACADEMIC HONESTY AND PLAGIARISM

The Chinese University of Hong Kong places very high importance on honesty in academic work submitted by

students, and adopts a policy of zero tolerance on cheating and plagiarism. Any related offence will lead to

disciplinary action including termination of studies at the University. Attention is drawn to University policy

and regulations on honesty in academic work, and to the disciplinary guidelines and procedures applicable to

breaches of such policy and regulations. See http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/ for details.