拿了会计证，学过税法和经济法，想知道这个专业能...

正确答案：
(b) Criticisms
The audit committee is chaired by an executive director. One of the most important roles of an audit committee is to review
and monitor internal controls. An executive director is not an independent person and so having Mr Chester as chairman
undermines the purpose of the committee as far as its role in governance is concerned.
Mr Chester, the audit committee chairman, considers only financial controls to be important and undermines the purpose of
the committee as far as its role in governance is concerned. There is no recognition of other risks and there is a belief that
management accounting can provide all necessary information. This viewpoint fails to recognise the importance of other
control mechanisms such as technical and operational controls.
Mr Hardanger’s performance was trusted without supporting evidence because of his reputation as a good manager. An audit
committee must be blind to reputation and treat all parts of the business equally. All functions can be subject to monitor and
review without ‘fear or favour’ and the complexity of the production facility makes it an obvious subject of frequent attention.
The audit committee does not enjoy the full support of the non-executive chairman, Mr Allejandra. On the contrary in fact,
he is sceptical about its value. In most situations, the audit committee reports to the chairman and so it is very important
that the chairman protects the audit committee from criticism from executive colleagues, which is unlikely given the situation
at Gluck and Goodman.
There is no internal auditor to report to the committee and hence no flow of information upon which to make control decisions.
Internal auditors are the operational ‘arms’ of an audit committee and without them, the audit committee will have little or no
relevant data upon which to monitor and review control systems in the company.
The ineffectiveness of the internal audit could increase the cost of the external audit. If external auditors view internal controls
as weak they would be likely to require increased attention to audit trails, etc. that would, in turn, increase cost.

正确答案：
(b) There are several issues which have to be addressed if an international conceptual framework is to be successfully developed.
These are:
(i) Objectives
Agreement will be required as to whether financial statements are to be produced for shareholders or a wide range of
users and whether decision usefulness is the key criteria or stewardship. Additionally there is the question of whether
the objective is to provide information in making credit and investment decisions.
(ii) Qualitative Characteristics
The qualities to be sought in making decisions about financial reporting need to be determined. The decision usefulness
of financial reports is determined by these characteristics. There are issues concerning the trade-offs between relevance
and reliability. An example of this concerns the use of fair values and historical costs. It has been argued that historical
costs are more reliable although not as relevant as fair values. Additionally there is a conflict between neutrality and the
traditions of prudence or conservatism. These characteristics are constrained by materiality and benefits that justify
costs.
(iii) Definitions of the elements of financial statements
The principles behind the definition of the elements need agreement. There are issues concerning whether ‘control’
should be included in the definition of an asset or become part of the recognition criteria. Also the definition of ‘control’
is an issue particularly with financial instruments. For example, does the holder of a call option ‘control’ the underlying
asset? Some of the IASB’s standards contravene its own conceptual framework. IFRS3 requires the capitalisation of
goodwill as an asset despite the fact that it can be argued that goodwill does not meet the definition of an asset in the
Framework. IAS12 requires the recognition of deferred tax liabilities that do not meet the liability definition. Similarly
equity and liabilities need to be capable of being clearly distinguished. Certain financial instruments could either be
liabilities or equity. For example obligations settled in shares.
(iv) Recognition and De-recognition
The principles of recognition and de-recognition of assets and liabilities need reviewing. Most frameworks have
recognition criteria, but there are issues over the timing of recognition. For example, should an asset be recognised when
a value can be placed on it or when a cost has been incurred? If an asset or liability does not meet recognition criteria
when acquired or incurred, what subsequent event causes the asset or liability to be recognised? Most frameworks do
not discuss de-recognition. (The IASB’s Framework does not discuss the issue.) It can be argued that an item should be
de-recognised when it does not meet the recognition criteria, but financial instruments standards (IAS39) require other
factors to occur before financial assets can be de-recognised. Different attributes should be considered such as legal
ownership, control, risks or rewards.
(v) Measurement
More detailed discussion of the use of measurement concepts, such as historical cost, fair value, current cost, etc are
required and also more guidance on measurement techniques. Measurement concepts should address initial
measurement and subsequent measurement in the form. of revaluations, impairment and depreciation which in turn
gives rise to issues about classification of gains or losses in income or in equity.
(vi) Reporting entity
Issues have arisen over what sorts of entities should issue financial statements, and which entities should be included
in consolidated financial statements. A question arises as to whether the legal entity or the economic unit should be the
reporting unit. Complex business arrangements raise issues over what entities should be consolidated and the basis
upon which entities are consolidated. For example, should the basis of consolidation be ‘control’ and what does ‘control’
mean?
(vii) Presentation and disclosure
Financial reporting should provide information that enables users to assess the amounts, timing and uncertainty of the
entity’s future cash flows, its assets, liabilities and equity. It should provide management explanations and the limitations
of the information in the reports. Discussions as to the boundaries of presentation and disclosure are required.

正确答案：
(c) Absolutism and relativism
Absolutism and relativism represent two extreme positions of ethical assumptions.
Definitions
An absolutist assumption is one that believes that there are ‘eternal’ rules that should guide all ethical and moral decision
making in all situations. Accordingly, in any given situation, there is likely to be one right course of action regardless of the
outcome. An absolutist believes that this should be chosen regardless of the consequences or the cost. A dogmatic approach
to morality is an example of an absolutist approach to ethics. A dogmatic assumption is one that is accepted without
discussion or debate.
Relativist assumptions are ‘situational’ in nature. Rather than arguing that there is a single right choice, a relativist will tend
to adopt a pragmatic approach and decide, in the light of the situation being considered, which is the best outcome. This will
involve a decision on what outcome is the most favourable and that is a matter of personal judgment.
Outcomes
If Anne were to adopt absolutist/dogmatic assumptions, she would be likely to decide that she would need to pursue what
she perceives is the right course of action regardless of cost to herself or the relationship with the client or her manager. Given
that she unearthed a suspect and unaccounted-for payment, and that she received an inadequate explanation from the client,
she would probably recommend extension to the audit beyond the weekend.
If Ann were to adopt relativist or pragmatic assumptions, she would have a potentially much more complicated decision to
make. She would have to decide whether it was more important, ethically, to yield to the pressure from Zachary in the
interests of her short-term career interests or ‘hold out’ to protect the interests of the shareholders. Anne could recommend
sign off and trust the FD’s explanation but she is more likely to seek further evidence or assurance from the company before
she does so.

正确答案：
(iii) There are several disadvantages to incorporation relief as follows:
1. The requirement to transfer all business assets to the company means that it will not be possible to leave behind
certain assets, such as the property. This might lead to a double tax charge (sale of the property, then extraction
of sale proceeds) at a future date.
2. Taper relief is lost on the transfer of the business. This means that any disposal of chargeable business assets (the
shares) within two years of the incorporation will lead to a higher chargeable gain, as the full rate of business asset
taper relief will not be available.
3. The relief does not eliminate the tax charge, it merely defers the payment of tax until some future event. The
deferred gain will become taxable when Sharon sells her shares in the company.
Gift relief could be used instead of incorporation relief. The assets would be gifted to the company for no consideration,
with the base cost of the assets to the company being reduced by the deferred gain arising. Unlike incorporation relief,
gift relief applies to individual assets used in a trade and not to an entire business. This is particularly useful if the
transferor wishes to retain some assets, such as property outside the company, as not all assets have to be transferred.
Note: If the business was non-trading, incorporation relief would still be available, but gift relief would not. However,
this restriction should not apply to Sharon and gift relief remains an option in this case.