What is wrong with the following report on internal control over financial reporting for AB Corporation? The auditor believes an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting is warranted. Report of Registered Public Accounting Firm We have audited AB Corporation's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2013, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). AB's management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the entity's internal control

Question

over financial reporting based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion. An entity's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. An entity's internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the entity; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the entity are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the entity; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the entity's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements. In our opinion, AB Corporation maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2013, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the consolidated financial statements of AB Corporation, and our report dated February 20, 2014 expressed an unqualified opinion. Protzman & Hull Morgan Hill, CA February 10, 2014

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

First, the title of the report should include the word "independent." Second, the report should include a paragraph stating that, because of inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements and that projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subjected to certain risks and uncertainties. Finally, the date of both the auditor's report on the entity's financial statements and the auditor's report on the entity's internal control over financial reporting should be the same.