The board should set the company’s values and standards and ensure that its obligations to shareholders and others are understood and met. But the primary responsibility of the board of directors is to protect the shareholders’ assets and ensure they receive a decent return on their investment. b. The board of directors definitely could have prevented the fall of Enron. First of all‚ if the board of directors made the right strategies for Enron rather than created hundreds of SPEs to remove assets
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shareholders of what they thought were “good companies”. Arthur Andersen LLP was one of the “Big Five” accounting firms before having to surrender its licenses to practice as Certified Public Accountants in 2002; due to an accumulation of criminal charges (CNN Money). Arthur Andersen was in charge for the accounting records of several companies including Enron‚ WorldCom‚ and Waste Management. By early 2002‚ they had been charged of falsely auditing books for all three companies. The business revenue from
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Generally Accepted Auditing Standards Heather Sheetz Accounting 491 Julie Oldham March 28‚ 2008 Generally Accepted Auditing Standards Generally Accepted Auditing Standards or GAAS is “a set of systematic guidelines used by auditors when conducting audits on companies’ finances‚ ensuring the accuracy‚ consistency and verifiability of auditors’ actions and reports” (Lexico Publishing Group‚ 2008). The following paper will explain the elements of GAAS and how GAAS is applied to audits. GAAS
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Generally Accepted Auditing Standards Maxx Mayeux ACC/490 February 22nd‚ 2012 Linda Carr Generally Accepted Auditing Standard • Describe how these standards apply to financial‚ operational‚ and compliance audits. • Explain the effect that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002‚ and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB)‚ will have on audits of publicly traded companies. • Discuss the additional requirements that are placed on auditors from this act and the actions
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What were the business risks enron faced‚ and how did those risks increase the likelihood of material misstatements in enron’s financial statement Enron faces most of the risk ordinarily faced by any energy company‚ including price instability and foreign currency risks. Enron operated in many different areas of the world with different regulatory and political risks. Enron faced business risks such as a complex business model‚ extensive use of derivatives and special purpose entities‚ aggressive
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Case 1.1 - Enron Corporation ------------------------------------------------- Discussion 1 The parties we believe to be most at fault for the crisis in this case are a) the Audit Firm engaged in the Enron audit (Arthur Andersen); b) Enron Management (Kenneth Lay‚ Jeffrey Skilling‚ Andrew Fastow; and c) the SEC. The Public Accounting Firm: Arthur Andersen The auditor has the responsibility to evaluate the risk of material fraud‚ including: * Incentives and motives for fraud : Enron was a fast
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1. For nearly 90 years‚ Andersen had a culture of doing the right thing. Moral courage defined the organization. However‚ there was a gradual erosion of the culture. Name three cultural changes that contributed to Andersen’s problems and defend your position. The first cultural change was that Andersen embarked on a path that valued consulting service which charged hefty fees ahead of auditing in 1990s. Compared to its original major service‚ auditing that required accountants to insist independence
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management of Enron including Kenneth Lay‚ Jeffrey Skilling and Andrew Fastow. These managers created a tone at the top of Enron that allowed and encouraged accounting that mislead investors. The audit team at Anderson and especially David Duncan the lead partner for Enron’s audit holds responsibility. Anderson was negligent in finding problematic accounting used by Enron. In addition‚ Anderson made millions on consulting services provide to Enron which makes their independence for Enron come into
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INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ON AUDITING 315 IDENTIFYING AND ASSESSING THE RISKS OF MATERIAL MISSTATEMENT THROUGH UNDERSTANDING THE ENTITY AND ITS ENVIRONMENT (Effective for audits of financial statements for periods beginning on or after December 15‚ 2009) CONTENTS Paragraph Introduction Scope of this ISA .................................................................................. 1 Effective Date ....................................................................................... 2
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Enron Summery of Enron case The Enron scandal has far-reaching political and financial implications. In just 15 years‚ Enron grew from nowhere to be America’s seventh largest company‚ employing 21‚000 staff in more than 40 countries. But the firm’s success turned out to have involved an elaborate scam. Enron lied about its profits and stands accused of a range of shady dealings‚ including concealing debts so they didn’t show up in the company’s accounts. As the depth of the deception
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