CPA Audit Exam Questions

****Updated October 16, 2019

Here are 12 different CPA Audit Exam Questions with detailed answers. Like our AUD study guide, we only focus on the topics that you are most likely to be tested on. 

Below are some sample CPA Audit Exam Questions that you can find in our Auditing practice exam test bank.

10 Practice CPA Audit Exam Questions

1. Which of the following acts is generally prohibited by the professional standards?

A. Witholding an audit report because fees charged to client are past due and the client has demanded their return. .
B. Witholding an audit report due to outstanding audit issues and the client has demanded their return.
C. Witholding an incomplete audit report requested by client.
D. Retaining client records after an engagement is terminated prior to completion and the client has demanded their return.

1. ANSWER: D

According to Interpretation 501-1 “If an engagement is terminated prior to completion, the member is required to return only client records.”

2. Which of the following is not a close relative of the covered member?

A. Sibling
B. Nondependent child
C. Parent
D. Dependent child.

ANSWER: D

This answer is correct because a dependent child is considered to be immediate family of the covered member.

3. Which type of conduct would not result in an automatic expulsion from AICPA?

A. Preparation of a fraudulent tax return.
B. Felony conviction.
C. Accidentally failing to file a personal tax return.
D. Preparation of fraudulent tax return for a client.

4. According to AICPA standards, which of the following situations will compromise the independence of the CPA performing an audit?

A. Acting as an executor of an estate that had an immaterial indirect financial interest in the client.
B. Receving a private loan from a hedge fund manager who owns 9% of the outstanding shares of the client company.
C. Owning 9% of a client’s outstanding shares.
D. Refinancning an automobile loan from a bank client.

ANSWER: C is correct.

According to Rule 101, a partner or professional cannot own more than 5% of the client’s outstanding shares.

5. According to AICPA standards, which of the following situations will not compromise the independence of the CPA performing an audit?

A. CPA’s wife works as an executive assistant for the client.
B. CPA’s nondependent son has a material financial interest in the client that the CPA is not aware of.
C. CPA’s brother works as a stock promoter for the client.
D. CPA’s father works as the CFO for the client.

ANSWER: A

According to the exception to Rule 101, a spouse may be employed by a client if s/he was not employed in a key position. Someone in a key position exerts significant influence over the contents of the client’s financial statements.

Part 2: More AUD CPA Exam Questions

6. When nonattest service are provided, the client must:

A. Assume all responsibilities of decision making.
B. Designate an individual in senior management with requisite skills and knowledge to oversee these services.
C. Must be responsible for establishing internal controls.
D. All of the above.

ANSWER: D.

The client must oversee, evaluate and accept responsibility for results. In addition the client must establish and maintain internal controls.

7. In performance of any professional service, a member shall
A. Maintain objectivity and integrity
B. Avoid conflicts of interest
C. Not knowingly misrepresent facts or subordinate judgment
D. All of the above

ANSWER: D

Rule 102 Integrity and Objectivity states all three requirements.

8. A customer that provides 9% of revenues for an audit client experiences a flood in their head offices prior to completion of year-end fieldwork. The audit client believes that this event could have a significant direct effect on the financial statements. The auditor should:

A. Withhold submission of the auditor’s report.
B. Advise management to disclose the event in notes to the financial statements.
C. Submit the auditor’s report because disclosures are only required for events that effect more than 10% of revenues.
D. Advise management to adjust the financial statements at a point in the future when the extent of the flood and the direct effect on the financial statements is known.

Conditions which come into existence after year-end which may have a significant direct effect on the financial statements should be disclosed in the notes to the financial statements.

9. Which of the following is an example of an advocacy threat to member independence?

A. An engagement team member sells securities of the attest client’s company.
B. An engagement team member is the CFO of the attest client’s company.
C. An engagement team member is litigating a bill for unpaid invoices by the attest client.
D. An engagement team member’s spouse has a direct financial interest in the attest client.

ANSWER A:

An advocacy threat stems from action that promote the client’s interests. Selling securities is an example of an activity that promotes a client’s interests.

10. The following would most likely be a violation of the profession’s ethical standards

A. CPA provides consulting services with a contingent fee based on reducing the client’s tax burden by 5%.
B. CPA provides tax preparation service with a contingent fee based on reducing the client’s tax burden by 5%.
C. CPA represents that consulting services will cost approximately $25,000 when the CPA knew the services would most likely cost twice that amount.
D. CPA provides consulting services and charges less than a competitive rate in order to win the business of the client.

10. ANSWER: C

According to Rule 102, in performance of any professional service, a member shall maintain objectivity and integrity, avoid conflicts of interest, and not knowingly misrepresent facts. The CPA would be knowingly misrepresenting the facts by providing a bid that was clearly off the mark.

11.The process of cleaning data for it to be used in an audit data analytic is called:

A. Data extraction.

B. Data transformation.

C. Data loading.

D.  Data smoothing.

Answer: B

Data must be cleaned to ensure format consistency, blank fields are accurate, field types are correct, etc. Cleaning data as part of the data analysis process is called data transformation.

12. Your firm, Mac CPA, has been engaged to audit a mobile phone hardware manufacturer. The client provided data files for all sales transactions for the year under audit. The audit team will use the data files to perform a non-statistical analysis of sales revenue trends by product type.

The following information pertains to the files obtained:

  • The record count of transactions in the file agrees with the number of transactions completed for the year under audit.
  • The file provided is encrypted.
  • The data does not include a field for product type.
  • Total sales revenue agrees to the general ledger.

What primary concern should the auditor have with the data files obtained?

A. Data integrity.

B. Data clarity and relatedness.

C. Data freshness.

D.  Data accuracy.

ANSWER: B

Your objective is to evaluate sales trends by product. Data clarity and relatedness answers whether the data has the elements requested and needed for the objective. The auditor will not be able to perform the desired analysis without the product type field.

Need More AUD Practice Questions?

If the CPA Audit Exam Questions above were helpful, you can find more Auditing Exam Questions that you can download to your computer or smartphone.

AUD CPA Exam Structure

Here is a good overview of the Audit CPA exam that will give you a basic idea of what is covered on the test.

The Audit CPA Exam is the longest and arguably most challenging section of the CPA exam. The AUD exam is 4 hours long and is split evenly between Task based simulations and multiple choice questions.

The Audit multiple choice questions count for 50% of your total score. The SIM section counts for the other 50%.

During the AUD Exam you will take five testlets.
1. 36 question MCQ Testlets
2. 36 question MCQ Testlet
3. Task Base Simulation Testlet with 2 Questions

***15 minute break

4. Task Based Simulation Testlet with 3 Questions
5. Task Based Simulation Testlet with 3 Questions

You can find a sample AUD test at the AICPA website. This practice exam is useful to get acquainted with the user interface during the actual AUD exam.

AUD CPA Exam Topics

The Audit CPA exam includes content from the following subjects:

15-25% Ethics, Professional Responsibilities and General Principles

  • Nature and Scope of Audit and Non-Audit Engagements
  • Ethics, Independence and Professional Conduct
  • Terms of Engagement for Audit and Non-Audit Engagements
  • Requirements for Engagements Documentation
  • Communication with Management and Those Charged with Governance
  • Communication with Component Auditors and Parties Other Than Management and Those Charge with Governance
  •  A Firm’s System of Quality Control, Including Quality Control at the Engagement Level

20-30% Assessing Risk and Developing a Planned Process

  • Planning an Engagement
  • Understanding an Entity and Its Environment
  • Understanding an Entity’s Internal Control
  • Assessing Risks Due to Fraud
  • Identifying and Assessing the Risk of Material Misstatement and Planning Further Procedures Responsive to Identified Risks
  • Materiality
  • Planning for and using the Work of Others, Including Group Audits, the Internal Audit Function and the Work of a Specialist
  • Specific Areas of Audit Risk

30-40% Performing Further Procedures and Obtaining Evidence

  • Understanding Sufficient Appropriate Audit Evidence
  • Sampling Techniques
  • Performing Specific Procedures to Obtain Evidence
  • Specific Matters that Require Individual Attention
  • Misstatements and Internal Control Deficiencies
  • Written Representations
  • Subsequent Events and Subsequently Discovered Facts

15-25% Forming Conclusions and Reporting

  • Reports On Auditing Engagements
  • Reports On Attestation Engagements
  • Accounting and Review Service Engagements
  • Reporting On Compliance
  • Other Reporting Considerations

70-76% Auditing Engagements and Standards

  • Engagement Acceptance and Understanding
  • Understanding the Entity, its Context, and its Internal Control
  • Audit Procedures and Evidence Evaluation
  • Audit Reports and Opinions

16-20% Professional Responsibilities

  • Ethics
  • Independence

12-16% Accounting & Review Services

  • Engagement Planning
  • Evidence
  • Reports

You can find over 500 CPA Audit Exam Questions that are guaranteed to help you pass the exam.