ACCA考试总共分为多少科啊？

正确答案：
(b) ‘Opinion shopping’
Explanation of term
‘Opinion shopping’ occurs when management approach auditing firms (other than their incumbent auditors) to ask their views
on the application of accounting standards or principles to specific circumstances or transactions.
Ethical risks
The reasons for ‘opinion shopping’ may be:
■ to find alternative auditors; or
■ to get advice on a matter of contention with the incumbent auditor.
The member who is not the entity’s auditor must be alert to the possibility that their opinion – if it differs from that of the
incumbent auditor – may create undue pressure on the incumbent auditor’s judgement and so threaten the objectivity of the
audit.
Furthermore, by aligning with the interests of management when negotiating taking on an engagement, an incoming auditor
may compromise their objectivity even before the audit work commences. There is a risk that the audit fee might be seen to
be contingent upon a ‘favourable’ opinion (that is, the audit judgement coinciding with management’s preferences).
Employed professional accountants (accountants in industry) who support their company’s management in seeking second
opinions may call into question their integrity and professional behaviour.
Sufficiency of current ethical guidance
Current ethical guidance requires that when asked to provide a ‘second opinion’ a member should seek to minimise the risk
of giving inappropriate guidance, by ensuring that they have access to all relevant information.
The member should therefore:
■ ascertain why their opinion is being sought;
■ contact the auditor to provide any relevant facts;
■ with the entity’s permission, provide the auditor with a copy of their opinion.
The member’s opinion is more likely to differ if it is based on information which is different (or incomplete) as compared with
that available to the incumbent auditor. The member should therefore decline to act if permission to communicate with the
auditor is not given.
‘Opinion shopping’ might be less prevalent if company directors had no say in the appointment and remuneration of auditors.
If audit appointments were made by an independent body ‘doubtful accounting practices’ would (arguably) be less of a
negotiating factor. However, to be able to appoint auditors to multi-national/global corporations, such measures would require
the backing of regulatory bodies worldwide.
Statutory requirements in this area could also be more stringent. For example, an auditor may be required to deposit a
‘statement of circumstances’ (or a statement of ‘no circumstances’) in the event that they are removed from office or resign.
However, disclosure could be made more public if, when a change in accounting policy coincides with a change of auditors,
the financial statements and auditor’s report highlight the change and the auditors state their concurrence (or otherwise) with
the change. This could be made a statutory requirement and International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) amended to give
guidance on how auditors should report on changes.
Further, if the incoming auditor were to have a statutory right of access to the files and working papers of the outgoing auditors
they would be able to make a better and informed assessment of the desirability of the client and also appreciate the validity
(or otherwise) of any ‘statement’ issued by the outgoing auditor.

正确答案：

(b) [Ben’s address]                                                                                                     [Firm’s address]
Dear Ben                                                                                                                              [Date]
A company purchase of own shares can be subject to capital gains treatment if certain conditions are satisfied. However, one
of these conditions is that the shares in question must have been held for a minimum period of five years. As at 1 May 2010,
your shares in Flower Limited have only been held for four years and ten months. As a result, the capital gains treatment will
not apply.
In the absence of capital gains treatment, the position on a company repurchase of its own shares is that the payment will
be treated as an income distribution (i.e. a dividend) in the hands of the recipient. The distribution element is calculated as
the proceeds received for the shares less the price paid for them. On the basis that the purchase price is ￡500,000, then the
element of distribution will be ￡499,500 (500,000 – 500). This would be taxed as follows:

正确答案：C

正确答案：
(d) (i) The main reason why it may not be possible to provide a high level of assurance is that the KPIs are not defined
precisely:
– The value of donated pharmaceutical products is compared to revenue to provide a percentage. However, it will be
difficult to accurately value the donated products – are they valued at cost, or at sales price? Are delivery costs
included in the valuation? The intrinsic value may be lower than sales value as Sci-Tech Co may decide to donate
products which are not useful or relevant to the charities they are donated to.
– The value of ‘cost of involvement with local charities’ is also not defined. If the donations are purely cash, then it
should be easy to verify donations using normal audit procedures to verify cash payments. However, the
‘involvement with local charities’ is not defined and will be difficult to quantify as a percentage of revenue. For
example, involvement may include:
? Time spent by Sci-Tech Co employees at local charity events
? Education and training provided to members of the local community in health care matters
– Number of serious accidents is also difficult to quantify as what constitutes a ‘serious’ accident is subjective. For
example, is an accident serious if it results in a hospitalisation of the employee? Or serious if it results in more than
five days absence from work while recovering?
In addition, the sufficiency of evidence available is doubtful, as such matters will not form. part of the accounting records
and thus there may be limited and possibly only unreliable sources of evidence available.
– Donated goods may not be separately recorded in inventory movement records. It may not be possible to
distinguish donated goods from sold or destroyed items.
– Unless time sheets are maintained, there is unlikely to be any detailed records of ‘involvement’ in local charities.