Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud was as follows:
- The engagement partner ensured that the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills to identify or recognise non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
- We identified the laws and regulations applicable to the company through discussions with directors and other management, and from our commercial knowledge and experience of the sector in which the company operates;
- We focused on specific laws and regulations which we considered may have a direct impact material effect on the financial statements, or the operations of the company which included the Companies Act 2006, taxation legislation, data protection, anti-bribery, employment, environmental and health and safety legislation;
- We assessed the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations identified above through making enquiries of management and inspecting legal correspondence; and
- Identified laws and regulations were communicated within the audit team and the team remained alert to instances of non-compliance throughout the audit.
We identified the greatest risk of material impact on the financial statements from irregularities, including fraud, to involve the completeness and timing of income recognition and the override of controls by management.
To address the risk of fraud in relation to revenue recognition, we:
- Performed detailed substantive testing to address completeness and accuracy of sales;
- Assessed the appropriateness and application of the accounting policy concerning income recognition; and
- Performed detailed cut-off testing either side of the balance sheet date.
To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls, we:
- Performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships;
- Tested journal entries to identify unusual transactions;
- Assessed whether judgements and assumptions made in determining the accounting estimates were indicative of potential bias;
- Investigated the rationale behind significant or unusual transactions.
Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.