CPDStore Ireland

The inventory cycle sits at the heart of most trading businesses, yet it remains one of the most common sources of financial statement error, audit adjustment and fraud exposure. 

This session takes you through the full cycle from ordering and receipt of goods, through supplier payments, to cost of sales and closing inventory The session focuses on common pitfalls and audit evidence.

Whether you are preparing accounts, auditing them, or advising clients on strengthening their systems, this webinar will sharpen your ability to identify risk in the cycle, get the numbers right, and add genuine value to your practice, business or clients through better-quality financial information and fewer year-end surprises.

Lungi Sepotokele will cover the following topics during this webinar:

• The purchases and payments cycle end-to-end – ordering, goods receipt, invoice processing and payment; key internal controls, segregation of duties and the control weaknesses most commonly found in SMEs.
• Auditing the inventory cycle – key assertions (existence, completeness, valuation, cut-off and rights), stocktake attendance under ISA 501, sampling approaches and documenting sufficient appropriate evidence.
• Fraud risks and red flags in the cycle – fictitious suppliers, kickbacks, inventory theft and manipulation of margins; practical procedures and warning signs every accountant should recognise.

By attending this session, you will:

• Understand how the purchases, payments and inventory cycle should operate, and the controls that underpin reliable financial reporting.
• Learn how to identify and correct the most common cut-off and accrual errors affecting cost of sales and gross margin.
• Be able to plan and execute effective audit procedures over inventory, including stocktake attendance and testing of key assertions.
• Recognise the fraud risks inherent in the cycle and the red flags that warrant further investigation.

This session will be if particular interest to accountants and auditors. 

Course Level: Intermediate