You are a first-year external auditor assigned to a client whose primary business activity is breeding and raising bison. They sell the meat to grocery stores and distributors, who then sell to restaurants. You will audit the company’s accounts receivable allowance for doubtful accounts. The client has prepared a schedule that indicates they have over 200 customers with outstanding receivables balances as of year-end. Your audit senior indicated that the primary assertion on which you should focus is valuation of the allowance for doubtful accounts. You must perform an analysis to recalculate the company’s recorded balance. For each step in the data analysis process, use the critical thinking framework by applying at least two critical thinking elements.
Stage Data Analysis Process Critical Thinking
Plan 1. Motivation
2. Objective
3. Strategy

Analyze 4. Prepare data
5. Build models
6. Explore data

Report 7. Interpret
8. Communicate