The purpose of the report is to identify the key responsibilities and matters concerned with performing the auditing work efficiently and effectively. For this purpose one of the top operating companies of Australia has been considered BHP billion limited whichis a global resource company and has been dealing in various energy resources. The independent auditors report together with the remuneration report will be taken into consideration and the specific audit matters will be identified in order to discuss the same in this report. The role and functionso the auditor together with the composition of the audit committee will be discussed in this report.
The auditors have made the declaration of independence under Section 307C of the Australian Corporation Act 2001 and have stated all their responsibilities and duties in regard to maintaining the independence for same. The auditors of BHP Billion have declared that in the best of their knowledge there have been no contravention or noncompliance of the independencerequirements of the auditors as stated in Australian Corporations Act 2001 and also there has been no contravention in regard to code of ethics which shall be followed by the auditors. The declarations have been made in respect of the entity itself and all other subsidiaryentities which are controlled by BHP Billion Limited. This shows that the auditor has complied with the independence requirements of the Act. As per the independentauditors, report presented in the annual report the auditors KPMG has denotedthemselves in relation to the responsibilities and reporting obligations of the company to be complied with Australia responsibilities and obligations (BHP Billiton, 2018).
Yes there were somenon auditservices provided by the external auditors of BHP Billion Limited for which approval were taken in accordance whichis in agreement with the policy set out for performing the non-audit services by the external auditor. There are has been no auditservices performed by the auditorwhich are excluded from the policy covered. The directors are of the view and have ensured that the services performed are in accordance with the general standard of independence and the nature is such that the independence if auditorshave not been compromised. There are certain types of external services provided by the auditor which have benperformed only after the prior approval of RAC and the other services have not been performed (BHP Billiton, 2018). The various pre approve services includes:
Thus all of these services falls under the nature of services provided in relation to audit engagement and does not affect the independence of the auditor in order to generate any conflict of interest in this regard. Therefore, all of these services have been approved by RACand has been taken in place in order to perform the audit work in company (Sirois, et. al., 2018).
The composition of remuneration of the auditors of the company is associated with describing the structure of the remuneration and other salaries to be paid for their professional engagement (Hartley, 2014). It can be established that the remuneration of theauditors of thecompanyhas ben decided by the Board in their meeting and the remunerationhasbeen approved in the annual general meeting of the Board as required under the statutory provisions. The Board and the auditcommittee will review the remuneration and the necessary terms and conditions will be approved accordingly (Köhler, et. al., 2016)
Yes there has been a risk and audit committee (RAC) established by the company including the Non-Executivedirectors appointed in its composition. The non-executives directors who are the members of RAC include Lindsay Maxsted, Terry Bowen, Malcolm, Anta Frew, and Wayne Murdy. All of this non-executiveis independent as ensured by the company (Collier, 2015). Yes there has been a charter created by the Board in order to summarise the rules, functions and responsibilities of the risk and audit committee established within the company The roles of the audit committee includes the function of assisting the Board in monitoring and reviewing the actions and various types of decisions of the CEO and the Group for acquiring a related assurance that progress has been made for acquire the success and purposes required in long run (Sirois, et. al., 2018).
The responsibilities of RAC include the following:
The roles and functions of the audit committee includes confirming the annual report as fair and balanced and t should be understandable for the users to take the investing decision more easily. The audit committee will ensure that the financial statementscomplywith the requirements of SOX, capital allocation framework and other compliances required ensuring its fairness and integrity (Fields, 2016). The audit committee will verify and check the external auditor report and fees and the remuneration structure as prepared by the Board. The function will be extended to review the internal control prevailing in thecompany and ensuring that it is prevailing efficiently and effectively. The other governance matters associated with the RAC are concerned with induction and training program and other matters (Köhler, et. al., 2016).
The auditors of thecompanyhas audited the consolidatedfinancialstatements of company for the year ending 30 June 2018 which comprises of the statement of profit and loss, statement of financial position and the statement of cash flows for thecompany. In the opinion expressed by the auditors o company can be established that financial statements as presented by the company gives a true and fair view in regard to the state of affairs concerned with the company and its group entities, all the consolidated financial statements have been prepared andpresented in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Framework (IFRS) which has been adopted by the EU. The financialreports and statements as presented by thecompany BHP Billion Limited are in accordance with the issued accounting standards and policies, including the FRS 101 Reduced Disclosure Framework. The financialstatement is in accordance with the requirements of the UK Companies Act 2006 and, as regards to the Consolidated Financial Statements, Article 4 of the IAS Regulation. The company has also applied the provision of IFRS, which have been issue by IASB, and there is a true and fair presentation has been made in the financial reports (Christensen, et. al., 2014).
The first key audit matter was valuation of Onshore US assets and its classification. It was important as the assets was declared to be divested and this asset was key for financial performance of the organisation. The judgement process for the assets was used as “Discontinued operations”. The test control procedures used in the process was to determine classification, presentation and valuation of Onshore US assets in context of impairment charge (Lee, 2014).
Further, there was analysis of “Share purchase agreement”. The testing was done by estimating the carrying value and comparing it with the recoverable amount of the assets and further, cross examination of the asset was done with regard to discontinued assets. The analysis of the amount for “held for sale” and “discontinued operations “in regard to the accounting standard. The last analysis was that the carrying amount and other related disclosures with respect to the asset was acceptable (Pavlova, 2017).
The second key audit matter was analysis of loss attributed towards dam failure. The total amount attributed was US $0.6 billion. The Samarco dam was essential key audit matter as it was essential to claim the legal status of the dam as claimed by BHP and further there was also risk in estimation of the dam and there was assessment of legal claims made by BHP Billiton (Christensen, et. al., 2014).
The testing control was associated with the accounting treatment and disclosures made for the dam failure. The procedure included assessment of accounting standards as applicable. Further, there was assessment of key assumptions made in the funding obligation. There was assessment discount rate, foreign exchange rates and cash flows. There was further evaluation of governance agreement, preliminary agreement, framework agreement and analysis of the output of these agreements. The testing also include analysis of forecasted cash flows. Further, there was testing of contingent liabilities through assessment of legal documents, assessment of legal personnel and analysis of external legal counsel. There is also analysis of the legal proceeding against the group. The result of the analysis was that the provisions and other disclosures was quite acceptable and it was in uniformity with the accounting standard and legal framework (Christensen, et. al., 2014).
The third key audit matter was income tax expense and the contingent liability disclosure with respect to the amount. The BHP group operates in number of countries and hence, has to oblige with number of taxation regime. It has to comply with items such as tax, production based tax, other resource and other employment related taxes. It was a key audit matter as there was incorporation of US tax reform, which is quite complicated and requires high specialisation. The testing control included assessment of accounting and tax disclosure related matters. All the documents were investigated with regard to tax disputes and uncertain tax obligations. There was also analysis of estimation of tax provisions, contingent liabilities, across countries like Chile, United States and Australia. The main testing was in relation with the US tax legislations and specialists were appointed to analyse the tax reforms and tax accounting impact.
The next key audit matter is asset valuation. The asset of property, plant and equipment is US $ 67.2 billion. The key audit matter in this was to analyse the impairment charges. There was analysis of future cash flows through CGU. This is mainly done to evaluate the recoverable amount. This was a key audit matter as the size of the asset was quite large and to analyse the reasaboleness put in the group in its assessment (Petty, et .al., 2015).
The testing control included assessment of asset impairment and to make comparisons with the market value. There was analysis of reserves estimates as made by the expert such as considering experience, industry trend and methodology. There was also analysis through discount rates, country specific risk rates, foreign exchange rate etc. Apart from this, lastly is to make sensitivity analysis. After, analysing, it was analysed that the carrying amount of the key asset was acceptable and appropriate. The other key audit matter included closure and rehabilitation provision. This matter was significant as it has significant size and is in relation with the group financial position (Christensen, et. al., 2014).
As a third party person, it is analysed there is proper and accurate financial information was presented in the annual report. It was analysed that all the disclosure was made in respect to accounting standard and accounting framework.After analysing all the key audit matter such as divestment of Onshore US assets, Samrco dam, taxation control, and asset valuation and closure and rehabilitation provision. There were quite effectiveness in presentation of all the accounting information (Smith, et. al., 2017).
There was in-depth detail and there is no such information was missing or under report and the entire financial report was found to be provided in-depth detail and the accounting information was in sync with the key audit matters.
The management responsibilities incontext of financial statement and reports is concerned with preparation and presentation of reports in an adequate manner and ensuring that the statement are prepared after adopting a suitable framework of accounting and applying all the policies and standards appropriately. Whereas the responsibility of the directors is to ensure that the internal control is in place for preparing the finance statement and the true and fair view has been maintained by the management (Weil, et. al., 2013).
By referring the note mentioned in the annual report for the year ending 2018 it can be established that there were no subsequent events recognized other than those matters outlined in the financialstatement of company.
Conclusion:
This report has presented the authenticity and reliability of BHP Billiton annual reports and disclosures with regard to financial performance and auditing matters. The company director’s has adhered, complied with the entire key audit matters, and has adhered with the Australian corporation act, 2001 and the accounting framework of IAASB and AUASB. Further, the audit analysis presented that there is proper ascertainment of compliances and that the auditors perform their services and the audit committee perform their function in accordance with compliance. Lastly, the analysis of key audit matters such as dam failure, tax obligations and divestment of onshore asset presented that the proper test control has been conducted to ensure any significant risk. The overall conclusion made in this regard helps in taking the important and critical decision of investing in the company. The decision related with the same is associated with analysing the current financial position and performance of company BHP Billion Limited which can be correctly assessed on the basis of audit report provided.
Reference:
BHP Billiton, (2018).Annual report.[Online]. Available at: https://www.bhp.com/media-and-insights/reports-and-presentations (Assessed on: 19th September 2018).
Christensen, B.E., Glover, S.M. and Wolfe, C.J., (2014) Do critical audit matter paragraphs in the audit report change nonprofessional investors’ decision to invest?. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, 33(4), pp.71-93.
Köhler, A., Ratzinger-Sakel, N. V., &Theis, J. (2016) The Effects of Key Audit Matters on the Auditor’s Report’s Communicative Value: Experimental Evidence from Investment Professionals and Non-Professional Investors.
Kueppers, R. J., & Sullivan, K. B, (2010)How and why an independent audit matters,International Journal of disclosure and governance, 7(4), PP.286-293.
Sirois, L. P., Bédard, J., &Bera, P. (2018)The informational value of key audit matters in the auditor’s report: evidence from an Eye-tracking study,Accounting Horizons.PP. 1-57.
Cavusgil, S.T., Knight, G., Riesenberger, J.R., Rammal, H.G. and Rose, E.L., 2014. International business.Pearson Australia.
Collier, P.M., 2015. Accounting for managers: Interpreting accounting information for decision making. John Wiley & Sons.
Fields, E., 2016. The essentials of finance and accounting for nonfinancial managers.AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.
Hartley, W.C., 2014. An introduction to business accounting for managers.Elsevier.
Kim, J.B., 2016. Accounting flexibility and managers’ forecast behavior prior to seasoned equity offerings. Review of Accounting Studies, 21(4), pp.1361-1400.
Lee, T.A., 2014. Evolution of Corporate Financial Reporting (RLE Accounting).Routledge.
Pavlova, K., 2017. Revenue management system for the hospitality industry–essence and elements. Economics and computer science, (1), pp.42-71.
Petty, J.W., Titman, S., Keown, A.J., Martin, P., Martin, J.D. and Burrow, M., 2015. Financial management: Principles and applications. Pearson Higher Education AU.
Smith, S.B. and Thomas, N.A., Smith Steven B. and Thomas Nicholas A., 2017. Systems and Methods for Managing Financial Transaction Information. U.S. Patent Application 15/43,930.
Weil, R.L., Schipper, K. and Francis, J., 2013, “Financial accounting: an introduction to concepts, methods and uses”, Cengage Learning.
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