Question

Prior to publishing and sending the accounts to shareholders - Identify three (3) procedures you would perform on a set of financial statements to ensure they are accurate, error free and complete (in terms of all reporting and disclosure requirements) and to ensure clerical and numerical accuracyAn example would be: "check the figures in the Statements and Notes to the accounts are all correctly aligned". (The example supplied is not to be used in your response)

Answer 1

To ensure financial statements are error-free before sharing with shareholders, reconciliation of balances, review of disclosures, and analytical procedures are essential to validate accuracy and completeness.

Step-by-step explanation:

Prior to publishing and sending the accounts to shareholders, there are several key procedures to be performed on a set of financial statements to ensure their accuracy, completeness, and adherence to reporting and disclosure requirements. First, one should reconcile balances and transactions, matching the figures in the financial statements with the respective ledger accounts and ensuring any discrepancies are investigated and resolved. Second, a thorough review of key financial statement notes and disclosures should be conducted to confirm that all required information is present and that it accurately reflects the underlying transactions and events. Finally, the application of analytical procedures, such as ratio analysis or trend analysis, can help identify any unusual or inconsistent items that might indicate errors or omissions in the financial statements.