Prior to commencing fieldwork, an auditor usually discusses the general audit strategy with the client's management. Which of the following matters do the auditor and management agree upon at this time?

If you need to select one then d is the most appropriate.

In my opinion all the four given options need to be discussed and agreed with client in first and subsequent meeting.

1. Business plans for next couple of years and scope of audit.

2 Asessment of fraud risks and control weaknesses in Governance

3 The cleint team supporting auditors to conduct the review smoothly. 

The Answer is "d" The coordination of the assistance of the client's personnel in data preparation.

Option D

d

The answer is D. The coordination of the assistance of the client's personnel in data preparation. This is a requirement prior to commencing the audit as any resistance from the clients staff can hinder the audit and all which is required from the client needs to made clear and agreed to before the engagement begins.

Option A, does not really fall within the scope of an audit, but rather an advisory engagement.

Option B, fraud risk factors are not always obvious and will most likely be discovered during an audit not prior to commencement and if there is any indication of fraud prior to an audit, alerting the client to this may not be the best course of action as attempts to hinder the audit may be made by the client, if the auditor takes on the engagement in the first place, which may not be in his/her best interests.

Option C involves factors which will only be discovered in the course of the audit, however if the client has concerns about the controls they have in place this should be discussed and provision should be made in the audit plan to address this, but again, evidence and the extent of the weakness and possible solutions can only be discussed during/after the audit has taken place.

The Nswer D

(D) is the correct answer.

The Determination of the fraud risk factors that exist within the client's operations