You Have Been Hired as a Consultant by Building Contractor

question 26

Essay

You have been hired as a consultant by building contractor, who have been sued by the owners' representatives of a large condominium project for shoddy construction work. In order to assess the damages for the various units, the owners' association sent out a letter to owners and asked if people were willing to make their units available for destructive testing. Destructive testing was conducted in some of these units as a result of the responses. Based on the tests, the owners' association inferred the damage over the entire condo complex. Do you think that the inference is valid in this case? Discuss how proper sampling should proceed in this situation.

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Definitions:

Retrospective Restatement

The process of revising previously issued financial statements to correct errors or to reflect changes in accounting policies, as if the new information had been known at the original reporting date.

Material Error

A significant mistake in financial reporting that could influence the economic decisions of users of the financial statements.

Prospective Adjustment

An accounting adjustment applied to transactions or valuation changes that occur in the current or future accounting periods.

Adjusting Events

Events after the balance sheet date that provide further evidence of conditions that existed at the end of the reporting period, requiring adjustments to financial statements.