An audit engagement is a critical exercise for stakeholders such as employees, owners, investors and lenders. For the sake of efficiency, auditors must focus on standard audit tasks; they can't focus on every quirk the audited company displays. Doing so can cost the auditor his time and may result in unnecessary expenses for the company. Auditors can make the audit engagement more efficient and complete if they use audit checklists.
Auditing is a hectic exercise because auditors must gather and document evidence for every function of the organization that is subject to audit. For example, they'll need to inspect every document and every aspect of the balance sheet. Checklists are control documents that help auditors identifying procedures that they need to perform. They also can be used as quick references to identify whether a company complies with a regulation or meets the criteria for a control. Before auditors finalize the audit report, they consult these checklists, and If items were missed or the company's processes did not meet the required controls, they can be addressed.
The entire balance sheet is audited against generally accepted accounting practices. These practices outline the criteria for dealing with transactions and the amounts that must be presented in the financial statements. Financial statement checklists help auditor reassess if they overlooked GAAP requirements, which are extensive and can change at any time. Organizations such as the American Institute of CPAs prepare checklists that detail the procedures that the auditor should perform. These checklists often include applicable reporting requirements and GAAP disclosure guidance. From the audited company's viewpoint, the financial statement checklist might include a list of items that auditors typically request.
Auditors also inspect companies for legal and regulatory compliance. This is done at the same time when auditors check for accounting practices and treatments. The company may be required to observe compliance pertaining to stock market listing, environmental protection or employee compensations. For example, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires sets out requirements for financial statements that must be filed in Regulation S-X. Auditors can develop checklists and confirm that they have performed all the procedures that cover the disclosure requirements the SEC outlines in this regulation.
Audit firms are also reviewed for the quality of the work they do. It is for these purposes that auditors maintain internal quality review checklists. This list outlines the procedures and steps that auditors need to take to make sure that they conduct objective audits. Some items in the checklist might be extremely basic. For example, the list might ask if the audit report is in writing and if the word “independent” is included in the title. Although basic, these items are required audit standards. The quality review checklist itemizes all processes that the auditor should have performed and gives an opportunity for the auditor to explain processes that were not performed.
To ensure this doesn’t happen in the future, please enable Javascript and cookies in your browser.
If you have an ad-blocker enabled you may be blocked from proceeding. Please disable your ad-blocker and refresh.
Many hobbyists and hackerspaces have the $500 Chinese 40W lasercutters which most of us know are about as successful at etching metals as a featherduster is at drilling. [Frankie] and [Bryan] have figured out a way to use the laser to chemically activate an etching process. See experiment part 2 as well.
First, to be clear, they are using a quality 40W Epilog Zing, not the cheap one, but40W is40W. They mixed the plaster (calcium sulfate) with Isopropyl until it resembled white ketchup. After either thinly painting or airbrushing the material onto the stainless surface (both worked), the mixture is dried with a heatgun then put into the laser. 100% power and 5% speed was what worked for them.
The result was an engrave with a noticeable bite. Something they claim had no effect at all without the mixture.
Stainless steel is an alloy of iron and some chromium – not the same as chrome-plated steel. [Frankie]’s explanation of the chemistry is that the surface layer of the stainless is a transparent chromium oxide. With the heat of the laser, the calcium and chromium swap dance partners. Calcium takes the oxygen and chromium takes the sulfate. The calcium oxide washes off but the chromium sulfate causes the etch.
Next time you’re at your local space, provide this a try.
Pro-crypto lawyer, James Murphy, evaluated the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) vs Ripple lawsuit and the likely options that the regulator can exercise in appealing Judge Analisa Torres’ ruling. Murphy explains the four options facing the Securities and Exchange Commission and their impact on the XRP holder community.
Also read: Pro-XRP John Deaton argues SEC vs Ripple ruling is sound, cites Celsius bankruptcy example
Lawyer John Murphy laid out the four options that the US financial regulator can exercise in the SEC vs Ripple ruling.
The first option is filing for an interlocutory appeal. This means Judge Analisa Torres’ ruling in the SEC vs Ripple lawsuit will be appealed during the course of the litigation.
No final judgment has been entered yet, therefore, the SEC needs permission from the ruling Judge Torres and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to proceed in this case. Three key requisites on which such an appeal will be granted are:
If these three conditions are met, the SEC will have the requisite permission to appeal the ruling and attempt to change the outcome of the lawsuit. Ideally, this process needs to be completed within a 30-day timeframe.
The second option facing the regulator is to go to trial against Ripple executives Chris Larsen and Brad Garlinghouse and file a regular appeal. Third, the SEC could drop the claim against Ripple executives and take an immediate appeal – no permission needed – or resort to the final and fourth option of settlement.
In Murphy’s experience, a settlement is unlikely and the regulator is likely to resort to option one.
The pro-crypto lawyer explains that there is tremendous political pressure on Gensler to get the Torres decision reversed as looms over the regulator’s cases against two large cryptocurrency exchanges, Coinbase and Binance.
As exchanges worldwide went on an XRP re-listing spree, it shifted attention to the ruling and the SEC’s next steps. Murphy argues that a settlement is unlikely at this point and an interlocutory appeal is likely within the next two weeks.
The lawyer believes that the SEC’s actions would be in the interest of the XRP Community and he likes the payment firm’s chances on appeal.
It depends on the transaction, according to a court ruling released on July 14:
For institutional investors or over-the-counter sales, XRP is a security.
For retail investors who bought the token via programmatic sales on exchanges, on-demand liquidity services and other platforms, XRP is not a security.
The United States Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Ripple and its executives of raising more than $1.3 billion through an unregistered asset offering of the XRP token.
While the judge ruled that programmatic sales aren’t considered securities, sales of XRP tokens to institutional investors are indeed investment contracts. In this last case, Ripple did breach the US securities law and will need to keep litigating over the around $729 million it received under written contracts.
The ruling offers a partial win for both Ripple and the SEC, depending on what one looks at.
Ripple gets a big win over the fact that programmatic sales aren’t considered securities, and this could bode well for the broader crypto sector as most of the assets eyed by the SEC’s crackdown are handled by decentralized entities that sold their tokens mostly to retail investors via exchange platforms, experts say.
Still, the ruling doesn’t help much to answer the key question of what makes a digital asset a security, so it isn’t clear yet if this lawsuit will set precedent for other open cases that affect dozens of digital assets. subjects such as which is the right degree of decentralization to avoid the “security” label or where to draw the line between institutional and programmatic sales are likely to persist.
The SEC has stepped up its enforcement actions toward the blockchain and digital assets industry, filing charges against platforms such as Coinbase or Binance for allegedly violating the US Securities law. The SEC claims that the majority of crypto assets are securities and thus subject to strict regulation.
While defendants can use parts of Ripple’s ruling in their favor, the SEC can also find reasons in it to keep its current strategy of regulation by enforcement.
The court decision is a partial summary judgment. The ruling can be appealed once a final judgment is issued or if the judge allows it before then. The case is in a pretrial phase, in which both Ripple and the SEC still have the chance to settle.
Like this article? Help us with some feedback by answering this survey:
Information on these pages contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Markets and instruments profiled on this page are for informational purposes only and should not in any way come across as a recommendation to buy or sell in these assets. You should do your own thorough research before making any investment decisions. FXStreet does not in any way guarantee that this information is free from mistakes, errors, or material misstatements. It also does not guarantee that this information is of a timely nature. Investing in Open Markets involves a great deal of risk, including the loss of all or a portion of your investment, as well as emotional distress. All risks, losses and costs associated with investing, including total loss of principal, are your responsibility. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of FXStreet nor its advertisers. The author will not be held responsible for information that is found at the end of links posted on this page.
If not otherwise explicitly mentioned in the body of the article, at the time of writing, the author has no position in any stock mentioned in this article and no business relationship with any company mentioned. The author has not received compensation for writing this article, other than from FXStreet.
FXStreet and the author do not provide personalized recommendations. The author makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability of this information. FXStreet and the author will not be liable for any errors, omissions or any losses, injuries or damages arising from this information and its display or use. Errors and omissions excepted.
The author and FXStreet are not registered investment advisors and nothing in this article is intended to be investment advice.
Kayode Tokede
In a bid to ensure that the initiatives of the Revised Capital Market Master Plan 2015 – 2025 (RCMMP), which it the blueprint for harnessing the opportunities for economic growth and development in the country are copiously implemented, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is set to hold a hybrid workshop on ESG to sensitize market stakeholders on the concept of sustainability.
According to the SEC, the objective of the workshop is to drive sustainable finance instruments issuances, create awareness on climate change mitigation and adaptation, and connect projects that address climate risks with potential investor, advocate for policy incentives and proved access to funding for climate smart initiatives.
“The workshop is premised on one of the strategic themes highlighted in the Revised Capital Market Master Plan which is to create awareness, deploy educational and advocacy campaigns for ESG compliant products’’ the SEC said.
The Commission further stated that the Nigerian capital market, as an integral part of the financial system, is assiduously working to address society’s needs and concerns by undertaking a transformation, driven by initiatives of the Capital Market Master Plan to educate investors on different approaches to sustainable investment, and equally enhance confidence and participation in the market.
The Commission is organizing the workshop in collaboration with the Financial Centre for Sustainability Lagos (FC4SL), a network platform that is leading the development of global standards required to accelerate the expansion of green and sustainable finance, and ARM-Harith Infrastructure Investment Limited, a leading Pan-African infrastructure fund manager based in South Africa.
Though a report that Florida State is pursuing private equity investments for the Seminoles wasn’t the most important news during one of the biggest days in conference realignment history, it was the most enlightening.
College sports is a business. Period.
Friday’s news that the Pac-12 was losing Washington and Oregon for the Big Ten and Arizona, Arizona State and Utah for the Big 12 was another cold reminder that the deciding factor isn’t rivalries, traditions or fans. It’s cold, hard cash.
Ignore whatever school presidents and conference commissioners say about helping student-athletes or strengthening academic relationships. Nothing about flying 2,600 miles from Eugene, Oregon, to State College, Pennsylvania, for a Big Ten volleyball game helps players or their education.
Even if the Oregon-Oregon State and Washington-Washington State rivalries survive, others won’t. Cal and Oregon first met in 1916. Washington and Stanford have played 92 times. Both series could end. It doesn’t matter if that’s what West Coast fans want because the bottom line trumps all.
FSU suggested as much this week when its trustees argued to leave the ACC. The exit strategy, if one exists, isn’t public, but sports business site Sportico reported the school is exploring opportunities with JPMorgan Chase and investment firm Sixth Street. Perhaps private equity could fund FSU’s nine-figure departure.
But at what cost?
Here are five other thoughts on Friday’s realignment:
Major conferences will eventually hit a point of diminishing returns in expansion, and one of them just grew again. Does that mean there are two fewer lifeboats available in the Big Ten for FSU, Miami or Clemson? We don’t know, but it’s a fair question.
Seminoles athletic director Michael Alford said at a February board meeting that the Pac-12′s collapse would open TV windows for the ACC. His comments were hypothetical then but on the cusp of becoming ready. We’re about to learn what those windows look like and if they can provide the monetary jolt the ACC needs.
Subscribe to our free Sports Today newsletter
We’ll send you news and analysis on the Bucs, Lightning, Rays and Florida’s college football teams every day.
Loading...
Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.
Explore all your optionsThe impending demise of the Pac-12 likely keeps SMU with the Bulls in the AAC, which is good news. The league needs as many solid programs as it can get.
The bad news is that a Power Four might be worse for USF than a Power Five. Here’s why: The 12-team playoff that starts next year guarantees spots for six league champions. That accommodated every Power Five league while providing a playoff path for a mid-major champ.
A Power Four changes the math. Does it make sense to guarantee two spots to mid-majors? Or will a future AAC champ have to fight for an at-large bid? Remember that the playoff format isn’t set for 2026 and beyond, so it can adjust based on this round of realignment.
Perhaps the SEC will feel the need to respond so it will have 18 teams like the Big Ten. We doubt it unless the ACC schools can defect or Notre Dame wants to end its independence. This wave isn’t likely to affect Florida.
Though the Knights can’t compete financially with Georgia or Michigan, the Big 12 is a deep, competitive league with upper-middle-class programs like Oklahoma State and TCU. Adding Arizona, Utah and Arizona State boosts the conference’s stability and stature.
We’re getting closer to an era of two super conferences, but we’re not there yet. For now, college football has four major conferences, and UCF is in one of them. That’s a fine place to be.
What happens to the Pac-12′s leftovers? Will Washington State and Oregon State move to the Mountain West? Could the AAC take them, adding some heft to USF’s conference? If the Power Five becomes the Power Four, does the playoff change in a way that forces Notre Dame to join a league?
FSU just watched two peers join the Big Ten while other major programs were left behind. How much urgency does that add for the Seminoles to join the Big Ten or SEC?
Those are among our unanswered questions after a chaotic, seismic week that left us with one undeniable conclusion:
Realignment won’t stop until the money does.
• • •
Sign up for the Sports Today newsletter to get daily updates on the Bucs, Rays, Lightning and college football across Florida.
Never miss out on the latest with your favorite Tampa Bay sports teams. Follow our coverage on Twitter and Facebook.
As if this round of conference realignment wasn’t wild enough, Florida State added to the chaos Wednesday by going public (again) with its unhappiness with the ACC and its finances. Now that the smoke has cleared, let’s break down the Seminoles’ uneasy present and unknown future:
At the end of a mundane board of trustees meeting, president Richard McCullough said FSU must consider leaving the ACC unless its conference payouts change drastically. Trustees echoed their support, with one — former quarterback Drew Weatherford — saying “it’s not a matter of if we leave, it’s a matter of how and when.” FSU officials have said things like this before, but the tone was stronger this time.
Money. FSU faces a $30 million gap between what it receives from the ACC and what teams like Florida and Ohio State will get from the SEC and Big Ten. The Seminoles believe that shortfall will keep them from competing for titles.
Also money. A $120 million exit fee is the easy part; the full cost could hit half a billion dollars and hinges on the ACC’s grant of rights.
It’s a contract where schools grant (or give) a conference the media rights to their games. The ACC sold those rights to ESPN, then takes that money and doles it back to schools. The grant of rights runs into 2036, so unless FSU finds a way out, the ACC owns its TV rights until then.
They can try, but any escape plan is destined for court. Though we don’t know FSU’s potential legal arguments, we do know there’s only one undefeated entity in college football history: attorneys’ billable hours.
One option is for FSU to try to buy back its TV rights. Some back-of-the-envelope math — call it $30 million annually for 13 years — equals $390 million plus the exit fee. Is there a way to negotiate that figure down? Or could a private equity firm finance the Seminoles’ exit in exchange for a chunk of FSU athletics?
The Big Ten and SEC are the only options clearly better than staying put.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has stressed “reasonable geography among like-minded universities.” FSU fits the geographic footprint and offers a strong football history and passionate fanbase that match the SEC’s culture. The Seminoles would also add another brand name to a league full of them.
The conference already has a strong in-state presence with the Gators, so FSU wouldn’t add new recruiting areas or TV markets unlike, say, North Carolina. It’s worth wondering how much, if at all, Florida would object to FSU’s addition. Money is an issue, too. ESPN has the rights to FSU games in the ACC. Does the network want to pay even more to keep airing them at a time when its finances are being stretched? And how valuable is FSU after a accurate stretch of mediocrity?
Subscribe to our free Sports Today newsletter
We’ll send you news and analysis on the Bucs, Lightning, Rays and Florida’s college football teams every day.
Loading...
Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.
Explore all your optionsThe conference would get a big brand in a new area, giving the Big Ten a presence in one of the four biggest states in population and recruiting.
The Seminoles are more than 700 miles from the nearest Big Ten school (Indiana). Geography doesn’t matter much, but it’s not irrelevant. Though FSU is a top-tier research institution, it’s not in the prestigious Association of American Universities — long considered an unofficial Big Ten prerequisite. The same concerns about FSU’s accurate history and TV companies’ economics also apply.
Aside from geography, rivalries with Clemson/Miami, three decades of history and other things the powers-that-be don’t seem to care about? FSU probably has an easier path to making the expanded 12-team playoff by winning the ACC than withstanding the SEC/Big Ten grind.
It’s hard to say. The Big Ten is reportedly weighing Washington and Oregon as expansion candidates. Would it still have room for FSU if the Seminoles become free agents? We doubt more Big Ten expansion triggers more expansion in the SEC, but we can’t rule it out, either. We can also envision a scenario where the Pac-12 leftovers join or partner with the ACC in a deal that saves the likes of Oregon State while boosting the ACC’s bottom line. But we can’t see that making enough extra cash to satisfy FSU.
We don’t know. FSU wants out unless the ACC’s finances change, but it seems impossible for the finances to change enough to matter It’s also unclear how/when FSU will challenge the grant of rights and whether the Seminoles will have a home as they try to escape.
The only thing we feel confident saying: The situation is untenable, and FSU wants it resolved sooner rather than later. The deadline for FSU to leave in time for the 2024 season is Aug. 15.
• • •
Sign up for the Sports Today newsletter to get daily updates on the Bucs, Rays, Lightning and college football across Florida.
Never miss out on the latest with your favorite Tampa Bay sports teams. Follow our coverage on Twitter and Facebook.
