University of Technology Sydney

22522 Assurance Services and Audit

Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.

Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.

UTS: Business: Accounting
Credit points: 6 cp

Subject level:

Undergraduate

Result type: Grade and marks

Requisite(s): 22320 Accounting for Business Combinations AND 22420 Accounting Standards and Regulations
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses.
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.

Description

This subject addresses the provision of assurance services, specifically reasonable assurance over the general purpose financial statements of an entity. The subject examines the history and origins of the audit and then moves on to the examination of contemporary audit practices. During the subject, students are exposed to the entire audit process – from gathering an understanding of the client's operations and risks, planning and then executing an audit and reporting on their findings to relevant parties. The subject provides an understanding of professional, ethical and legal requirements and responsibilities in completing and reporting on assurance tasks. It is accredited by the accounting professional bodies.

Subject learning objectives (SLOs)

Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:
1. Explain the role of auditors and auditing in providing financial statement audits on the information contained within firms' annual financial reports
2. Demonstrate practice-based methodologies necessary to provide assurance and audit services in conjunction with the criteria used to measure information quality and authenticity, especially in the areas of risk assessment, audit planning, audit execution and the formulation of opinions
3. Analyse and evaluate the professional legal and ethical requirements and responsibilities in completing and reporting on assurance and audit tasks
4. Demonstrate an ability to work effectively with others as a member of an assurance/audit team in designing audit tasks and making judgments, and in communicating assurance/auditing findings to appropriate users in multiple communication formats that are part of the global business environment

Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)

This subject also contributes specifically to the following program learning objectives:

  • Communicate information clearly in a form appropriate for its audience (2.1)

Contribution to the development of graduate attributes

This subject imparts both a theoretical foundation of auditing as well as practical skills necessary to work effectively as a graduate auditor in an assurance team. It gives students an understanding of the essential role that assurance services, such as auditing, play in business in achieving good corporate governance by ensuring the integrity of information and internal control systems. It also provides students with training in real audit scenarios and procedures by working individually and in teams to solve complex audit issues.

This subject contributes to the development of the following graduate attributes:

  • Communication and collaboration
  • Professional and technical competence

Teaching and learning strategies

This subject uses both teacher and student-led approaches to help students understand and apply the concepts of assurance and auditing. This subject is taught in a blended mode – using both online platforms (and technologies) along with face to face workshops. Instead of a traditional physical lecture format, all subject learning content will be provided online through videos, documents, weblinks and quizzes (available through our subject site). This content will convey important theoretical and practical concepts which will then be built upon and analysed further through interactive activities carried out within the face-to-face workshops. These workshops are designed to help students develop skills in applying the learning content to practical and complex business situations.

Student preparation prior to workshops: This subject does not contain homework in a traditional sense. Instead, students should use their time prior to class to watch and understand the online learning content and then read any preparation materials for the workshop. Support is provided through interactive discussions attached to various pieces of learning content and live streams by the teaching staff between face to face classes.

Workshops: The first component of every workshop provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the week’s learning content by completing an assessable learning quiz. The quiz is given in two parts – first, students will complete a number of problem questions individually. Then, the students will work in teams - analysing their responses to the problem questions and coming to a consensus on the most appropriate answer.

The second component of the weekly workshop will involve complex activities that are intended to be a simulation of real-world audit tasks and experiences. These experiences will require students to work in groups and potentially with external parties such as live clients, real auditors and industry experts.

What should you bring to class? Students will need a wifi-enabled device for class activities – this can be a smartphone, tablet or laptop. If you do not have access to one of these devices – please contact your coordinator so that one can be made available to you for the session. We also recommend students bring the following:

  • Curiosity
  • Pens and paper
  • An open mind

Support for students: To accommodate the wide variety of student learning styles – support is available to students in multiple ways. These methods include:

  • Video learning content (subtitles available)
  • Online quizzes to check your understanding
  • Discussion forums
  • Staff consultation sessions

An aim of this subject is to help you develop academic and professional language and communication skills to succeed at university and in the workplace. During the course of this subject, you will complete a milestone assessment task that will, in addition to assessing your subject-specific learning objectives, assess your English language proficiency.

Content (topics)

  • Understanding of the basic principles of assurance and the assurance environment.
  • Identifying an entity's risks and controls as part of audit planning and strategy.
  • Gathering evidence to support the auditor's opinion
  • Completing the audit and communicating the findings of the audit with stakeholders and the entity

Assessment

Assessment task 1: Weekly class quiz (7.5% Individual + 7.5% Group)*

Objective(s):

This addresses subject learning objective(s):

1, 2, 3 and 4

Weight: 15%
Length:

11 in-class quizzes comprise of 10 minutes individual quiz and 12 minutes group quiz each week (total of 242 minutes).

Criteria: The assessment will be graded on the following criteria:
  • Demonstration of knowledge
  • Accuracy of answers
  • Level of detail and the clarity of your answers
  • Accurate application of accounting standards and auditing standards

*Note: Late submission of the assessment task will not be marked and awarded a mark of zero.

Students who do not attend one half (6) of the total number of faculty based quizzes will have the weighting of that assessment added to the final examination conditional on the students submitting, receiving approval and complying with the requirements of special consideration in accordance with the UTS rules. If the composite mark for the final exam totals more than 50 percent and the student is in the final subject of their degree, the UTS rules on borderline result (range of 45-49) shall apply whereby students will be allowed to undertake a supplementary final examination. Where a student completes and passes a supplementary examination, the maximum mark awarded for the subject will be 50 Pass.

Assessment task 2: Oral communication skills (Individual)

Objective(s):

This addresses subject learning objective(s):

2

This addresses program learning objectives(s):

2.1

Weight: 25%
Length:

3 minutes video.

Criteria: This assessment will be graded on the following criteria:
  • Communication skills including verbal and non-verbal presentation
  • Quality of information being communicated

Assessment task 3: Final Exam (Individual)

Intent:

This assessment task is a compulsory component of the subject. A student must attain no less than 40% of the marks in this assessment to pass the subject irrespective of the subject’s total marks.

Objective(s):

This addresses subject learning objective(s):

1, 2 and 3

Weight: 60%
Length:

2 hours

Criteria: This assessment will be graded on the following criteria:
  • Accuracy of answers
  • Level of detail and the clarity of answers

Minimum requirements

A student must achieve 50% or more of the subject’s total marks AND achieve 40% or more in the final exam to pass the subject.
A Fail (X) Grade is awarded to a student who attains 50% or more of the overall subject assessment marks but attains less than 40% of the final exam marks. To pass the subject, the student must then attain 50% or more of the marks in the supplementary task, in which case the student is awarded an overall mark of 50P.

Required texts

There is NO REQUIRED TEXTBOOK for this subject. A textbook recommendation is provided below if students wish to supplement lecture materials, auditing standards, newspaper articles and industry reports with a formal textbook.

The Canvas site will contain all of the learning materials needed for the subject. These materials include the relevant auditing standards, videos, newspaper articles, industry reports. We will use the Discussion Board on Canvas for discussions related to the learning materials.

Recommended texts

Leung, Coram, Cooper and Richardson (2019) Audit and Assurance, 1st Edition, Wiley

Gay and Simnett (2018) Auditing & Assurance Services in Australia, 7th Edition, McGraw Hill

References

The audit profession and environment is rapidly changing in a world of new technology. References to required readings such as newspaper articles and professional reports are frequently posted on Canvas.

Other resources

Websites

Legislation

  • Corporations Act 2001
  • Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (replacing the Trade Practices Act 1974)

Reading the Professional and Financial Press
Students should also be aware of new ideas practices and topical issues. Australian professional body magazines In the Black (CPA Australia) and Acuity (Chartered Accountants), business and trade magazines such as The Business Review Weekly and the financial press such as the Australian Financial Review, Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian are very useful in being aware of topical issues and in understanding practical aspects of this subject as well as business and professional views on auditing. Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory is another interesting source to gain a broader understanding of auditing.

BASIC NEEDS STATEMENT

Learning is hard work - it takes physical energy, emotional energy and the time and space - it requires our whole selves and I am really looking forward to us sharing our learning journey together. To be able to learn effectively, you must have basic your basic needs met - a roof over your head, somewhere safe to sleep, and enough food to eat each day. If you're having trouble with any of those things, please reach out to me before/during/after our classes, via email or the Student Services Unit on Level 6 of the Tower. We can help connect you with emergency and continuing support services at UTS. We are here to help :) Please do not hesitate to get in touch - we want to support every student on their way to success.