Question

Your audit objective is to determine that purchases of office supplies have been properly authorized. If purchases of office supplies are made through the purchasing department, which of the following procedures is most appropriate?

a. Vouch purchase orders to approved purchase requisitions.
b. Trace approved purchase requisitions to purchase orders.s
c. Inspect purchase requistions for proper approval

Answer 1

The most suitable audit procedure to ensure office supplies have been properly authorized is to inspect purchase requisitions for proper approval, and trace approved purchase requisitions to purchase orders.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine that purchases of office supplies have been properly authorized when made through the purchasing department, the most appropriate audit procedure is to inspect purchase requisitions for proper approval. This process involves verifying that all purchase requisitions, which are the documents used to request the purchase of supplies, have been appropriately signed off by individuals with the requisite authority. This is an important control to ensure that procurement is carried out in accordance with the organization's policy and within the established limits of authority.

Trace approved purchase requisitions to purchase orders is another key procedure. Here, you confirm that for every authorized requisition, a corresponding purchase order exists. This validates that purchases advance as intended and rules out unauthorized procurement. The tracing can also reveal if any unauthorized acquisitions slipped through without proper requisition. Both of these procedures help auditors to ascertain the efficiency and effectiveness of the purchasing system.