Problem:
An auditor is conducting an audit of the financial statements of a wholesale cosmetics distributor with an inventory consisting of thousands of individual items. The distributor keeps its inventory in its own distribution center and two public warehouses. An inventory computer file is maintained on a computer disk and at the end of each day the file is updated. Each record of the inventory file contains the following data:
1. Item number
2. Location of item
3. Description of item
4. Quantity on hand
5. Cost per item
6. Date of last purchase
7. Date of last sale
8. Quantity sold during year
The auditor is planning to observe the distributor's physical count of inventories as of a given date. The auditor will have available a computer tape of the data on the inventory file on the date of the physical count and a general-purpose computer software package.
Required:
The auditor is planning to perform inventory substantive tests. Identify the inventory tests and describe how use of the general-purpose software package and the tape of the inventory file data might be helpful to the auditor in performing such tests. Organize your answer in a table with one column for the inventory substantive test and one column for how generalized audit software might be helpful.