1. Case 6.5
Qwest
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2. Qwest Case Relevant Technical Knowledge
Full Disclosure Principle
A company should not withhold information that would be considered material to an investor or creditor of the company. So, the disclosures should be enough to allow the users of financial statements to make evaluations and judgments about the company at a reasonable cost.

3. Qwest Case Relevant Technical Knowledge
PCAOB AS #12 – Paragraph 67
“the auditor's evaluation of fraud risk factors should include evaluation of how fraud could be perpetrated or concealed by presenting incomplete or inaccurate disclosures or by omitting disclosures that are necessary for the financial statements to be presented fairly in conformity with the applicable financial reporting framework.”

4. Qwest Case Relevant Technical Knowledge
PCAOB AS #5
Paragraph # 25 – “because of its importance to effective internal control over financial reporting, the auditor must evaluate the control environment at the company.” The control environment is influenced heavily by a company’s management team and is therefore often referred to as “the tone at the top.”

5. Qwest Case Relevant Technical Knowledge
PCAOB AS #5 – Paragraph A4
“References to financial statements and related disclosures do not extend to the preparation of management's discussion and analysis or other similar financial information presented outside a company's GAAP-basis financial statements and notes.”

6. Qwest Case Relevant Technical Knowledge
Revenue Recognition Principle
Revenue must be both earned and realized before it is recognized. That is, the product must have been delivered or the services must have been provided to the customer. In addition, the amount of the sale needs to be fixed and determinable. And, there must be a belief that the cash will be collected from the customer in a timely manner.

7. Qwest Case Relevant Technical Knowledge
PCAOB AS No. 5 – Paragraph A5
“Internal controls provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP.”

8. Qwest Case Relevant Technical Knowledge
PCAOB AS #12 – Paragraph #65
“fraud risk factors are events or conditions that indicate (1) an incentive or pressure to perpetrate fraud, (2) an opportunity to carry out the fraud, for example, the absence of controls, ineffective controls, or the ability of management to override controls—that provide an opportunity for a fraud to be perpetrated, or (3) an attitude or rationalization that justifies the fraudulent action”

9. Qwest Case Relevant Technical Knowledge
PCAOB AS #12 – Paragraph #7
“The auditor should obtain an understanding of the company and its environment to understand the events, conditions, and company activities that might reasonably be expected to have a significant effect on the risks of material misstatement.”

10. Qwest Case Relevant Technical Knowledge
PCAOB AS #13
Paragraph # 8 – The auditor should design and perform audit procedures in a manner that addresses the assessed risks of material misstatement for each relevant assertion of each significant account and disclosure.
Paragraph # 9 – when identifying the “audit procedures to be performed” that the auditor should “obtain more persuasive audit evidence the higher the auditor's assessment of risk.”

11. Qwest Case Relevant Technical Knowledge
PCAOB AS #5
Paragraph # 29 – outlines nine specific risk factors that are “relevant to the identification of significant accounts and disclosures and their relevant assertions.”
Paragraph #32 – there are often multiple components that make up a particular significant account. Each may be “subject to differing risks.”

12. Qwest Case Relevant Technical Knowledge
PCAOB AS #15 – Paragraph #4
“The auditor must plan and perform audit procedures to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to provide a reasonable basis for his or her opinion.”
PCAOB AS # 15 – Paragraph #6
”To be appropriate, audit evidence must be both relevant and reliable in providing support for the conclusions on which the auditor's opinion is based.”

13. Qwest Case Relevant Technical Knowledge
PCAOB AS #5 – Paragraph #28
“relevant assertions are those financial statement assertions that have a reasonable possibility of containing a misstatement that would cause the financial statements to be materially misstated.”
PCAOB AS #5 – Paragraph #30
“what could go wrong?”

14. Qwest Case Relevant Technical Knowledge
PCAOB AS #5
Paragraph #39 – “the auditor should test those controls that are important to the auditor's conclusion about whether the company's controls sufficiently address the assessed risk of misstatement to each relevant assertion.”
Paragraph #41 – “the decision as to whether a control should be selected for testing depends on which controls, individually or in combination, sufficiently address the assessed risk of misstatement”

15. Qwest Case Relevant Technical Knowledge
PCAOB AS #5
Paragraph #28 – “relevant assertions are those financial statement assertions that have a reasonable possibility of containing a misstatement that would cause the financial statements to be materially misstated.”
Paragraph #30 – “what could go wrong?”

16. Qwest Case Relevant Technical Knowledge
PCAOB AS No. 15 – Paragraph 7
“The relevance of audit evidence refers to its relationship to the assertion or to the objective of the control being tested.”
PCAOB AS No. 15 – Paragraph 8
“The reliability of evidence depends on the nature and source of the evidence and the circumstances under which it is obtained.”

17. Qwest Case Relevant Technical Knowledge
PCAOB AS No. 15 – Paragraph 11
“In representing that the financial statements are presented fairly in conformity with the applicable financial reporting framework, management implicitly or explicitly makes assertions regarding the recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure of the various elements of financial statements and related disclosures.”

18. Qwest Case Relevant Technical Knowledge
PCAOB AS #5
Paragraph #39 – “the auditor should test those controls that are important to the auditor's conclusion about whether the company's controls sufficiently address the assessed risk of misstatement to each relevant assertion.”
Paragraph #41 – “the decision as to whether a control should be selected for testing depends on which controls, individually or in combination, sufficiently address the assessed risk of misstatement”

19. Epilogue - Qwest
Earnings were restated, lowering revenues by $2.5 billion.
CEO Joe Nacchio convicted of 19 counts of insider trading and sentenced to 6 years in prison