A major multi national corporation secures a lucrative contract to build
and manage a massive hydro-electric power generation facility across the
Falls of a major African river. The project promises to bring electrical
power to thousands of citizens of the emerging nation, and to create
numerous economic benefits for the country and its inhabitants as well.
Soon after the announcement of the contract, however, audit personnel
uncover evidence that appears to imply that questionable cash
disbursements might have been paid to certain governmental officials
prior to the finalization of the contract. Furthermore,
environmentalists have begun to protest that the construction project
may lead to the destruction of the habitat of the Blue Frog and other
endangered species, as well as the contamination of the ground water and
the erosion of the soil.
This scenario serves as the basis for a staff training case at the Big
Four accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, and has been adapted for
use in the capstone course of the undergraduate and graduate accountancy
programs at Providence College as well. A live, experiential virtual
reality version of the training case is now under development on CPA
Island, site of this online continuing professional education session.
In this second part of our series, we will review the Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) standards governing relevant special
engagements, as well as the COSO Enterprise Risk Management standards
that underly all professional service engagements. The learning goal of
our session is to understand the risks that public accounting firms take
when engaging in such activities, and the steps that may be taken to
ameliorate these risks.
Join project team director “Dr. Mike” Kraten for a lively discussion
regarding the conceptual design and virtual implementation of this
auditing education activity. In future sessions, participants in the
continuing education session will be welcome to engage directly in the
learning activity as well.