CIPA Kazakhstan cheat sheet

Under IFRS, the conceptual framework's fundamental qualitative characteristics are relevance and faithful representation; comparability, verifiability, timeliness and understandability are enhancing.

Revenue under IFRS 15 is recognised through five steps: identify the contract, identify performance obligations, determine transaction price, allocate price to obligations, and recognise revenue when each obligation is satisfied.

IAS 16 permits the cost model or the revaluation model for a class of property, plant and equipment; revaluation increases go to OCI and are accumulated in equity as a revaluation surplus.

IAS 2 requires inventory to be measured at the lower of cost and net realisable value; cost includes purchase, conversion and other costs to bring inventory to its present location and condition.

IFRS 16 recognises a right-of-use asset and a lease liability at present value of future lease payments; short-term leases (12 months or less) and low-value assets may be expensed.

IAS 36 requires an impairment test when indicators exist; goodwill and indefinite-life intangibles are tested annually regardless of indicators.

IFRS 9 classifies financial assets by business model and contractual cash-flow characteristics into amortised cost, fair value through OCI, or fair value through profit or loss.

Consolidation under IFRS 10 requires control: power over the investee, exposure to variable returns, and ability to use power to affect returns.

Contribution margin = sales revenue − variable costs; contribution margin ratio = contribution ÷ sales; break-even units = fixed costs ÷ contribution per unit.

Margin of safety = (actual or budgeted sales − break-even sales) ÷ actual or budgeted sales, expressed as a percentage.

Target profit in units = (fixed costs + target profit) ÷ contribution per unit, assuming constant unit contribution.

Absorption costing includes fixed production overhead in product cost; variable costing expenses fixed overhead in the period, so profit differences equal the change in inventory × fixed overhead per unit.

Overhead absorption rate = budgeted overhead ÷ budgeted activity base; under- or over-absorption = absorbed overhead − actual overhead.

Relevant costs for decisions are future, incremental and avoidable; sunk costs and allocated common fixed costs are irrelevant.

Standard costing variances: material price = (standard price − actual price) × actual quantity; material usage = (standard quantity − actual quantity) × standard price.

A limiting factor is ranked by contribution per unit of the scarce resource, not by contribution per unit of product.

ISA 200 requires the auditor to obtain reasonable assurance and to express an opinion on whether financial statements are prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the applicable framework.

Audit risk model: audit risk = inherent risk × control risk × detection risk; detection risk is the only component the auditor controls through the nature, timing and extent of procedures.

Materiality is set at the planning stage (commonly 5% of profit before tax or 1% of revenue) and revised if the auditor becomes aware of information affecting it.

The auditor must obtain written representations from management, including confirmation of their responsibility for the financial statements, before issuing the report.

ISA 700 modified opinions: qualified (material but not pervasive), adverse (material and pervasive misstatement), disclaimer (inability to obtain sufficient evidence, material and pervasive).

Independence under the IESBA Code: a firm cannot assume management responsibility, and key audit partner rotation applies after seven years for listed entities.

ISA 315 requires the auditor to identify and assess risks of material misstatement at the financial statement and assertion levels, including IT risks.

The audit report for a listed entity must include key audit matters, being those of most significance in the audit of the current period.

Kazakhstan corporate income tax is levied at 20% on taxable profit of resident legal entities; the rate for agricultural producers is 10% on income from agricultural activity.

Individual income tax on employment income in Kazakhstan is 10%; dividends and other passive income may attract different rates, and social and pension contributions apply to payroll.

VAT in Kazakhstan is levied at 12% on taxable turnover and imports; the registration threshold is set by the Tax Code and is periodically amended.

Resident legal entities are taxed on worldwide income; non-residents are taxed on Kazakhstan-source income, often through withholding tax at source.

Taxable profit = accounting profit adjusted for non-deductible expenses, exempt income, and tax-deductible provisions and depreciation under the Tax Code.

Losses may be carried forward for a limited number of years under the Tax Code; carryback is generally not permitted for corporate income tax.

Withholding tax applies to certain payments to non-residents, including dividends, interest and royalties; treaty relief requires documentary evidence of residence.

Tax returns are filed with the state revenue authority; the Tax Code sets deadlines and late filing and late payment attract penalties and interest.

A limited liability partnership (LLP) is a separate legal person; partners' liability is limited to their contribution to the charter capital unless they have assumed additional obligations.

A joint-stock company issues shares; shareholders' liability is limited to the value of their shares, and the company is the owner of its property.

A contract requires offer, acceptance, consideration or lawful cause, capacity, and lawful object; a material breach allows the injured party to claim damages and termination.

The Civil Code of Kazakhstan governs obligations, property, and legal entities; specific business forms are also regulated by separate laws such as the Law on Limited Liability Partnerships.

Agency: the principal is bound by acts of an agent acting within actual or apparent authority; the agent owes fiduciary duties of loyalty, care and disclosure.

The IESBA conceptual framework requires professional accountants to identify, evaluate and address threats to compliance with the five fundamental principles.

The five fundamental principles are integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality, and professional behaviour.

Safeguards against threats include education and training, independent review, rotation, and ethical policies; if no safeguard reduces a threat to an acceptable level, decline or terminate the engagement.

Net present value = present value of cash inflows − present value of cash outflows; accept projects with positive NPV when cash flows are discounted at the cost of capital.

Internal rate of return is the discount rate at which NPV = 0; accept a project if IRR exceeds the required rate of return, subject to ranking conflicts with NPV.

Weighted average cost of capital = (E/V) × Ke + (D/V) × Kd × (1 − tax rate), using market values of equity and debt.

The capital asset pricing model: Ke = risk-free rate + beta × market risk premium; beta measures systematic risk.

Payback period is the time to recover the initial investment from cumulative cash flows; it ignores cash flows after payback and the time value of money, but measures liquidity and risk.

Working capital = current assets − current liabilities; the cash conversion cycle = days inventory + days receivables − days payables.

Dividend policy models include the residual approach, constant payout and constant growth; in a perfect market, dividend policy does not affect firm value (Modigliani–Miller).

Leverage: financial leverage raises the return on equity when the return on assets exceeds the after-tax cost of debt, and magnifies losses when it does not.

The CIA triad - confidentiality, integrity and availability - is the core model for information security controls.

Segregation of duties requires that no single person controls authorisation, custody and recording of a transaction; in IT, development, testing and production access must be separated.

General IT controls cover access management, change management, IT operations and backup; application controls cover input, processing and output controls.

Input controls include field checks, validation rules, batch totals and hash totals; output controls include distribution logs and reconciliation of report totals.

A disaster recovery plan addresses restoring IT services after disruption; a business continuity plan covers the whole organisation and is broader in scope.

Encryption protects data in transit (TLS) and at rest (disk or database encryption); hashing provides integrity checks but is not encryption.

A computer-assisted audit technique (CAAT) includes data analytics, test data and parallel simulation, used to test large volumes of transactions.

Audit trails should log user identity, timestamp, action and record affected; logs must be protected from modification by the users they monitor.

An engagement letter states the objective and scope of the engagement, management's responsibilities, the applicable framework, and the basis of fees; it is agreed before work begins.

Professional scepticism means questioning information and evidence, remaining alert to contradiction, and not assuming management is dishonest or honest.

Confidentiality applies to information acquired through professional relationships; disclosure is permitted when required by law or with client consent.

An auditor's report contains: title, addressee, opinion, basis for opinion, key audit matters (listed entities), responsibilities of management and of the auditor, and signature, date and place.

Documentation must be sufficient to enable an experienced auditor with no previous connection to the engagement to understand the work performed, evidence obtained and conclusions reached.

Written communication to those charged with governance covers significant findings, independence matters, and material weaknesses in internal control.

Conflicts of interest must be identified and managed through disclosure and, where appropriate, separate teams or declining the engagement.

Continuing professional development maintains competence; the IESBA Code requires compliance with CPD requirements set by the relevant professional body.