Audit Materiality
　　According to ISA200, auditors are responsible for obtaining reasonable assurance that financial statements and related disclosures are free from material misstatements (they have no duty to detect immaterial misstatements). Accordingly, an audit is designed to identify potential misstatements that, individually or collectively, are material. This objective requires the audit team to determine and document a materiality amount for each audit.
　　Materiality
　　“Misstatements, including omissions, are considered to be material if they, individually or in the aggregate, could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of the financial statements”
　　-ISA 320 Materiality in Planning and Performing an Audit
　　The concept of materiality is applied by the auditor both in planning and performing the audit.
　　Determined planning materiality
　　In planning stage, planning materiality is determined by applying a percentage to a chosen benchmark. Determining materiality involves the exercise of professional judgment. A percentage is often applied to a chosen benchmark as a starting point in determining materiality for the financial statements as a whole. Factors that may affect the identification of an appropriate benchmark include the following:
　　- The elements of the financial statements (for example, assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, expenses);
　　- Whether there are items on which the attention of the users of the particular entity’s financial statements tends to be focused (profit, revenue, net assets, cashflow);
　　- The nature of the entity, where the entity is in its life cycle, and the industry and economic environment in which the entity operates;
　　- The size of the entity.
　　- The entity’s ownership structure and the way it is financed
　　- The relative volatility of the benchmark.
 
　　Some guidelines of select an appropriate benchmark
　　- Public entities – earnings before taxes
　　- Commercial entities operating under normal circumstances – earnings before taxes
　　- Entities with volatile earnings – normalized earnings before taxes.
　　- Entities operating at breakeven levels – normalized earnings before taxes. In some circumstances where users do not focus on earnings, total revenues or total assets may be suitable benchmarks.
　　- Entities reporting losses – Normalized earnings before taxes. If losses are actually attributable to abnormal or unusual items. these items should be excluded from normalized earnings. When losses occur from operations and are expected to continue on an extended period (e.g., start-up operations, declining industry), consider using total revenues or total assets.
　　- Very small and closely-held entities – normalized earnings before taxes, total revenues or total assets.
　　- Entities under buy/sell agreements – equity or total assets.
　　- Not-for-profit/governmental entities – total revenues, total contributions, or total assets.
 
　　The following table provided examples of measurement percentages commonly used in practice
　　Benchmark Measurement Percentage
　　Earnings before taxes:
　　Public entity
　　Non-public entity
　　5%
　　5% to 10%
　　*Normalized earnings before taxes:
　　Public entity
　　Non-public entity
　　5%
　　5% to 10%
　　Total revenues ?% to 1%
　　Total assets ?% to 1%
　　Equity 1% to 2%
　　Net assets ?% to 1%
　　*Audit teams should normalize earnings before taxes by averaging recent years (at least three years)
　　The above guidelines are not meant to be strictly used in all circumstances. The audit team must exercise their professional judgment in determining materiality level.
　　Setting planning materiality too low results in tolerable error that is too low and the potential for over auditing. Setting planning materiality too high results in tolerable error that is too high and the potential for not obtaining sufficient, appropriate audit evidence.
　　
　　
　　高頓網(wǎng)校特別提醒：已經(jīng)報(bào)名2013年ACCA考試的考生可按照復(fù)習(xí)計(jì)劃有效進(jìn)行！另外，高頓網(wǎng)校2013年ACCA考試輔導(dǎo)高清課程已經(jīng)開通，通過針對(duì)性地講解、訓(xùn)練、答疑、?？?，對(duì)學(xué)習(xí)過程進(jìn)行全程跟蹤、分析、指導(dǎo)，可以幫助考生全面提升備考效果。
　　
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