Candidates were required to state the aim of a test of control and substantive procedure and then to provide examples of those tests/procedure with reference to inventory count attendance.

The marking scheme for this question was simply 1 mark for each explanation and 1 mark for each test/procedure. As in parts (a) and (c), the test/procedure had to be linked to the specific scenario, hence 1 mark was available for each test/procedure rather than 0.5.

This question turned out to be an unusually good discriminator of candidates. Many candidates obtained full marks, clearly demonstrating their knowledge of tests of control and substantive audit procedures. However, a significant minority of candidates either did not attempt the question or scored zero points due to poor and incorrect explanation and examples.

Common errors and reasons why those errors did not obtain marks included: