Chapter 5 Legal LiabilityLO 5-1Discuss three major factors that have contributed to the recent increase in the number of lawsuits against auditors and the size of awards to plaintiffs.LO 5-21) A (n) _____ failure occurs when an auditor issues an erroneous opinion because it failed to comply with

requirements of auditing standards.A. BusinessB. AuditC. EthicsD. Process

2) Distinguish between what is meant by business failure and audit failure.Answer: Business failure occurs when a business is unable to repay its lenders or meet expectations of its investors because of economic or business conditions, such as recession, poor management decisions, or unexpected competition in the industry. Audit failure occurs when the auditor issues an incorrect audit opinion because it failed to comply with the requirements of auditing standards.

3) Audit risk is the risk there will be an audit failure for a given audit engagement.A. TrueB. False

4) The term “audit failure” refers to the situation when the auditor has followed auditing standards yet still fails to discover that the client’s financial statements are materially misstated.

A. TrueB. False

LO 5-3 1) In the performance of an audit, a CPA:

A. Is legally liable for not detecting client fraudB. Must strictly follow GAAS for privately held clientsC. Must strictly follow PCAOB auditing standards for publicly held clientsD. Must exercise due professional care in the performance of their audit responsibilities

2) Auditors who fail to exercise due care in their performance of professional services may be liable for: A. Punitive liabilityB. Breach of contractC. Excess liabilityD. Criminal charges

3) Recklessness in the case of an audit is present if the auditor knew an adequate audit was not done but still issued an opinion, even though there was no intent to deceive financial statement users. This description is the legal term for:A. Ordinary negligenceB. Gross negligenceC. Constructive fraudD. Fraud

4) The standard of due care to which the auditor is expected to adhere to in the performance of the audit is referred to as the:

A. Prudent person conceptB. Common law doctrineC. Due care conceptD. Vigilant person concept

5) Auditors may be liable to their clients for:

6) Under the laws of agency, partners of a CPA firm may be liable for the work of others on whom they rely. This would not include:

A. Employees of the CPA firmB. Employees of the audit clientC. Other CPA firms engaged to do part of the audit workD. Specialists employed by the CPA firm to provide technical advice on the audit.

7) “absence of reasonable care that can be expected of a person in a set of circumstances” defines:A. Pecuniary negligenceB. Gross negligenceC. Extreme negligenceD. Ordinary negligence

8) An example of a breach of contract would likely include:A. An auditor’s refusal to return the client’s general ledger book until the client paid last year’s audit fees.B. A bank’s claim that an auditor had a duty to uncover material errors in financial statements that had been

relied on in making a loan.C. A CPA firm’s failure to complete an audit on the agreed-upon date because the firm had a backlog of other

work which was more lucrative.D. An auditor’s claim that the client staff is unqualified.

9) Privity of contract exists between:A. Auditor and the federal government.B. Auditor and third parties.C. Auditor and client.D. Auditor and client attorney.

10) An individual who is not party to the contract between a CPA and the client, but who is known by both and is intended to receive certain benefits from the contract is known as:

A. A third party.B. A common law inheritor.C. A tort.D. A third-part beneficiary.

11) Laws that have been passes by the U.S. Congress and other governmental units are:A. Statutory laws.B. Judicial lawsC. Federal lawsD. Common laws

12) The assessment against a defendant of the full loss suffered by a plaintiff regardless of the extent to which other parties shared in the wrongdoing is called:

A. Separate and proportionate liabilityB. Shared liabilityC. Unitary liabilityD. Joint and several liability

13) The assessment against a defendant of that portion of the damage caused by the defendant’s negligence is called: A. Separate and proportionate liabilityB. Joint and several liabilityC. Shared liabilityD. Unitary liability

14) Audit fraud occurs when:A. A misstatement is made and there is both knowledge of its falsity and the intent to deceiveB. A misstatement is made and there is knowledge of its falsity but no intent to deceiveC. The auditor lacks even slight care in the performance in performing the auditD. The auditor has an absence of reasonable care in the performance of the audit

15) Which of the following most accurately describes constructive fraud?A. Absence of reasonable careB. Lack of slight careC. Knowledge and intent to deceiveD. Extreme or unusual negligence without the intent to deceive

16) Which of the following most accurately describe fraud?A. Absence of reasonable careB. Lack of slight careC. Knowledge and intent to deceiveD. Extreme or unusual negligence without the intent to deceive

17) A third-party beneficiary is one which:A. Has failed to establish legal standing before the courtB. Does not have privity of contract and is unknown to the contracting partesC. Does not have privity of contract, but is known to the contracting parties and intended to benefit under the

contractD. May establish legal standing before the court after a contract has been consummated.

18) If the CPA negligently failed to properly prepare and file a client’s tax return, the CPA may be liable for:A. The penalties the client owes the IRSB. The penalties and interest the client owesC. The penalties and interest the client owes, plus the tax preparation fee the CPA chargedD. The penalties and interest, the tax preparation fee, and the amount of tax that was underpaid.

19) Which of the following, if present, would most likely support a finding of constructive fraud on the part of a CPA?A. Gross negligence in applying GAASB. Ordinary negligence in applying GAASC. Lack of duty to performD. Contributory negligence

20) Which of the following statements is true?

21) When performing an audit the CPA is required to:A. Exercise the level of care of a reasonably prudent CPAB. Strictly adhere of GAASC. Strictly be liable for the detection of material misstatements in the financial statementsD. Avoid gross negligence in the performance of their duties

22) Gregory & Hedrick, a medium-sized CPA firm, employed Elise as a staff accountant. Elise was negligent while auditing several of the firm’s clients. Under these circumstances, which of the following statement is true?

A. Elise would have no personal liability for negligence.B. Gregory & Hedrick is not liable for Elise’s negligence because CPAs are generally considered to be

independent contractors.C. Gregory & Hedrick would not be liable for Elise’s negligence if Winters disobeyed specific instructions in the

performance of the audits.D. Gregory & Hedrick can recover against its insurer on its malpractice policy even if one of the partners was

also negligent in reviewing Elise’s work.23) Define ordinary negligence, gross negligence, and constructive fraud.#23 (Page 148) ~ 27 (Page 150) are definition questions and matching.28) The standard of due care to which the auditor is expected to be held is referred to as the prudent person concept.

A. TrueB. False

29) In a CPA firm operating as a limited liability partnership (LLP), the liability for one partner’s actions does not extend to another partner’s personal assets.

A. TrueB. False

30) In a CPA firm operating as a limited liability partnership (LLP), the liability for one partner’s actions does extend to another partner’s personal assets

A. TrueB. False

31) Statutory laws are laws that have been developed through court decisions rather than through the U.S. Congress and other governmental units.A. TrueB. False

32) The doctrine of joint and several liabilities is one factor that has contributed to the recent increase in the number of lawsuits against auditors and the size of awards to plaintiffs.A. TrueB. False

33) Several states have statutes that permit privileged communication between the client and auditor, allowing a CPA to refuse to testify in state and federal courts.

A. TrueB. False

34) Gross negligence is the existence of extreme or unusual negligence with the intent to deceive.A. TrueB. False

LO 5-41) Audit contract (engagement letters):

A. May be either oral or writtenB. Must be writtenC. Must be written and notarizedD. Must be written if the client is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission

2) In third-party suits, which of the auditor’s defenses contends lack of privity of contract?A. Lack of dutyB. Non-negligent performanceC. Contributory negligenceD. Absence of causal connections

3) In connection with the audit of financial statements, an independent auditor could be responsible for failure to detect a material fraud if:A. Statistical sampling techniques were not used on the audit engagementB. The auditor planned the audit in a negligent mannerC. Accountants performing important parts of the work failed to discover a close relationship between the

treasurer and the cashierD. The fraud was perpetrated by one employee who circumvented the existing internal controls.

4) Which of the following is an illustration of liability to clients under common law?A. Client sues auditor for not discovering a theft of assets by an employee.B. Bank sues auditor for not discovering that borrower’s financial statements are misstated.C. Combined group of stockholders sue auditor for not discovering materially misstated financial statements.D. Federal government prosecutes auditor for knowingly issuing an incorrect audit report.

5) Which of the following is an illustration of liability under the federal securities acts?A. Client sues auditor for not discovering a theft of assets by an employee.B. Bank sues auditor for not discovering that borrower’s financial statements are misstated.C. Combined group of stockholders sue auditor for not discovering materially misstated financial statements.D. Auditor sues client for not cooperating during engagement.

6) A CPA firm normally uses one or a combination of four defenses when there are legal claims by clients. Which one of the following is generally not a defense?A. Lack of dutyB. Non-negligent performanceC. Contributory negligenceD. Foreseeable users

7) The legal term for when an auditor issues an opinion of an audit, knowing that an adequate audit was not performed is called?A. Breach of contractB. Tort action for negligence

C. Constructive fraudD. Fraud

8) Tort actions against CPAs are more common than breach of contract actions because”A. There are more torts than contracts.B. The burden of proof is on the auditor rather than on the person suingC. The person suing need prove only negligenceD. The amounts recoverable are normally larger.

9) The principal issue to be resolved in cases involving alleged negligence is usually:A. The amount of the damages suffered by plaintiff.B. Whether to impose punitive damages on defendant.C. The level of care exercised by the CPAD. Whether defendant was involved in fraud

10) In the auditing environment, failure to meet auditing standards is often:A. An accepted practice.B. A suggestion of negligenceC. Conclusive evidence of negligenceD. Tantamount to criminal behavior.

11) A common way for a CPA firm to demonstrate its lack of duty to perform is by use of a(n):A. Expert witness’ testimonyB. Audit contract, or engagement letterC. Management representation letterD. Confirmation letter

12) To succeed in an action against the auditor, the client must be able to show that:A. The auditor was fraudulentB. The auditor was grossly negligentC. There was a written contractD. There is a close causal connection between the auditor’s behavior and the damages suffered by the client.

13) Matthers & Co., CPAs, issued an unqualified opinion on Dodgers Corporation. Millennium Bank, which relied on the audited financial statements, granted a loan of $200,000 to Dodgers Corporation. Dodgers subsequently defaulted on the loan. To succeed in an action against Matthews & Co., Millennium Bank must prove that the bank was:A. In privity of contract with DodgersB. In privity of contract with MillenniumC. Free from contributory negligenceD. Justified in relying on the financial statements granting the loan.

14) The preferred defense in third-party suits is:A. Lack of duty to performB. Non-negligent performanceC. Absence of causal connectionD. Client fraud

15) One of the changes in auditing procedure which was brought about as a result of the 1136 Tenants case was that auditors were encouraged to begin using:A. Letters of representationB. Confirmation lettersC. Engagement lettersD. Billet doux letters

16) The King Surety Company wrote a general fidelity bond covering thefts of assets by the employees of Wilson, Inc. Thereafter, Cooney, an employee of Wilson, embezzled $17,200 of company funds. When the activities were discovered, King paid Wilson the full amount in accordance with the terms of the fidelity bond, and then sought recovery against Wilson’s auditors, Lynch & Merritt, CPAs. Which of the following would be Lynch & Merritt’s best defense?A. King is not in privity contract.

B. The shortages were the result of clever forgeries and collusive fraud which would not be detected by an examination made in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards.

C. Lynch & Merritt were not guilty either of gross negligence or fraud.D. Lynch & Merritt were not aware of the King-Wilson surety relationship.

17) An example of auditor legal liability to third parties under common law would be the federal government prosecuting an auditor for knowingly issuing an incorrect audit reportA. TrueB. False

18) The 1136 Tenants case was a criminal case concerning a CPA’s failure to uncover fraud during a financial statement audit.A. TrueB. False

19) The preferred defense in third-party suits is absence of causal connection.A. TrueB. False

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LO 5-6

LO 5-7

LO 5-8