RIM 2011 Audit Planning Memo

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RIM
Audit Planning Memo
Cheuk Hei Cheng 20242415
Irvin Hann Pinn Choo 20243322
Kieng Iv 20233702
Sylvia Luong 20225279
Tara Mathanda 20224148
Sherina Hsuan Yang 20247975
Monday, July 11th, 2011
To: RIM Engagement Partner
From: CA
Re: RIM Audit Planning Memo
Brief Overview of RIM
History and Key Information
Research in Motion (RIM) was founded in 1984 in Waterloo, Ontario.1 Its founders were
then university students Mike Lazaridis (current President and Co-CEO) and Douglas Fregin.2
Since its inception in 1984, the company’s product offerings have expanded from the designing,
manufacturing and marketing of wireless communication devices to the provision of e-mail,
phone, short message service, internet and intra-net application solutions.3 Please refer to
Appendix I for a brief timeline of RIM’s history. The company’s headquarters remains based in
Waterloo; however, the company has since expanded to operate in Asia, Europe, and other parts
of North America. Currently, RIM’s products are directed at both businesses and consumers.
RIM has an extensive management and corporate governance team (See Appendix II for
list of officers), led by the two co-CEOs, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis. Jim Balsillie, a
graduate from Harvard’s School of Business and a Chartered Accountant, is in charge of driving
corporate strategy, business development, marketing, sales and finance.4,5 Mike Lazaridis resides
over product strategy, research and development, and manufacturing.6 Brian Bidulka, a CA
formerly of Ernst & Young LLP, is the current CFO in charge of overseeing financial reporting
and compliance activities.7 All of the executives are well qualified in their respective fields.
The shareholders of RIM are represented by nine additional independent directors who
are responsible for oversight and governance.8 In addition, RIM has an audit and risk
management committee that provides assistance to the board of directors with regards to legal
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and fiduciary obligation in areas such as accounting auditing, financial reporting, and internal
controls.9 As well, a compensation, nomination and governance committee provides assistance to
the board of directors in areas such as compensation of senior management and the selection and
appointment of new directors.10
Recent Operations
In the past year, RIM has continued in its efforts to stay ahead of the market with the
release of the newly designed Blackberry Torch and Blackberry Style, as well as the new
Blackberry OS 6.0. The company also released updates of existing but popular Blackberry
phones.11 RIM’s BlackBerry App World also underwent changes with the unveiling of a 2.0
version in June 2010.12 These product innovations appear to be in direct response to some of
their recently publicized shortcomings. Critics have stated that competitors, such as Google’s
Android and Apple’s iPhone, “have gigabytes more memory, faster processors, slicker software
and better browsers.”13 RIM’s App World has also been previously criticized for not being at par
with Apple’s App Store in terms of selection, pricing, and payment options.14 These criticisms
may suggest that RIM is lagging in the marketplace. On the other hand, The Nielson Company, a
reputable research firm, shows that just fewer than 80% of American wireless subscribers have
yet to upgrade to a smartphone in May 2010,15 leaving much of the market untapped. As well,
the NPD research group highlighted a major strength for Blackberry, stating that “e-mail is what
often drives people to adopt a data plan.”16 RIM’s Blackberry continued to be the number one
selling smartphone in Canada, United States, Latin America, and the United Kingdom as of the
most recent fiscal year end.17 However, at the end of March 2011, RIM had a market share of
27.1% among U.S subscribers, down from the 42.1% just a year before in February 2010.18
One of the most anticipated of RIM’s product introductions would be the Blackberry
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Playbook tablet. The release of the tablet is extremely time sensitive, given the fact that Apple
has already launched its own tablet, the iPad, in January 2010 and has had it available for sale
worldwide since May 2010.19 In fact, there have been rumours circulating that the iPad 2 will be
released sometime in March 2011.20 Although RIM, released information on the Playbook in
September 2010, it is not scheduled for sale until April 2011.21 Yet, Apple has taken the first to
market advantage in the tablet market, which puts RIM at a disadvantage. Some analysts have
argued that this will potentially impair RIM’s ability to capture a large share of this market.22
RIM has significantly expanded its foreign operations in the past year, and “international
markets accounted for approximately 54% of revenue in fiscal 2011 versus 37% a year ago.”23
RIM attributes this adoption in foreign markets to their BlackBerry Messenger service and
prepaid BlackBerry service plans.24 Foreign markets could prove to be very lucrative for RIM, as
they tend not to offer subsidies on cell phones. As such, lower priced Blackberry phones might
be a more appealing option to consumers than higher price smartphones such as Apple’s
iPhone.25 One threat to foreign operations has been the government bans in India and the UAE
due to RIM’s refusal to relax its SMS security programming.26 Although, RIM views these
obstacles as something that highlights one of their security value propositions, they definitely
have impeded its ability to serve these markets. As well, despite expansion, RIM appears to be
losing global market share, as it decreased to 16.1% for the calendar year 2010 from 19.9% in
the prior year. In fact, Apple actually surpassed RIM in this measure in Q4 2010.27
Recent operations also included the acquisition of several companies including “QNX
Systems, The Astonishing Tribe, Viigo and Cellmania.”28
Recent Financial Performance
The draft financials of RIM for the fiscal year 2011 provided by management, showed an
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overall growth in revenue of 33.13% from $14,953 million in fiscal 2010 to $19,907 million in
fiscal 2011. This figure is in line with analyst forecasts, which had estimates as high as $20.2
billion and as low as $18.8 billion.29 Comparatively, 3 and 5 year sales growth percentage of
49.07% and 57.32%, respectively, signal that RIM’s trend of hyper growth is starting to slow.
However, RIM is still outperforming the industry sales growth rate of 9.26%.30 Despite
marginally slowing sales figures, RIM’s gross margin of 44.33% for fiscal 2011 has remained
constant when compared to the prior year gross margin of 44.03% and the 5 year average of
44.95%.31 Earnings per share also grew 46.21% from $4.35 basic in fiscal in 2010 to $6.36 basic
in fiscal 2011. This figure also corresponds with analysts’ forecasts, who had estimated them to
be as high as $7.03 and as low as $6.10.32 In general, over the four quarters in fiscal 2011, RIM
has usually met or slightly exceeded analyst estimates. (See Appendix III)
In terms of stock performance, although RIM started the year strong at $73.47, it was
subject to a low of $45.69 on September 10, 2010. However, after issuing guidance above
analyst expectations and releasing details of the Playbook, RIM closed the year at $61.64. (See
Appendix IV) 33,34,35,36
Strategic Objectives
RIM’s strategic objectives centre on its goal to maintain and grow market share in
existing geographic markets, while expanding in new foreign markets.37 This hinges on its ability
to be first to market and maintain the product leadership and innovation that it has become
known for through the BlackBerry wireless solution. As such, its primary objective is to
continually improve the BlackBerry line of products, and also look to develop alternative
wireless technologies.38 To achieve this, RIM invests heavily in its personnel and actively
pursues investments in companies with promising technologies, in order to attain the level of
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intellectual innovation needed to compete in the marketplace.39 This strategic objective of
technology development and continuous enhancement is geared toward both the global
enterprise and consumer markets.40
Critical Success Factors
Critical success factors give a company competitive advantage over its competitors and
help differentiate its products or services. One important success factor is that RIM develops
products that meet consumers’ demands for specific features, while also ensuring that its
network’s security meets the requirements of business users. Other factors include marketability
of the BlackBerry brand, support for multiple carriers, strong intellectual property rights, a
flexible network architecture, support of a vibrant developer community, and manageability.41
Key Business Processes
A key business process of RIM would be its research and development. Research and
development is a crucial part of RIM’s success, since its strategy of continuous innovation is
dependent on its ability to develop better products to compete with its competitors.
User Analysis
Shareholders and Analysts
As per a company publication on March 31, 2011, the shareholdings of RIM are widely
dispersed. The number of shares currently held by insiders of the company comprises only 11%
of total shareholdings.42 In contrast, institutional investors and mutual fund owners hold a total of
66% of all shares, and 73% of the company’s public float. To get a sense of exactly how
dispersed RIM’s shareholdings are, consider that the top two institutional shareholders (FMR
LLC – 16,528,418 shares and the Royal Bank of Canada – 14,418,470) only hold 3.15% and
2.75% of all outstanding stock respectively. RIM’s perceived status as a growth company would
imply that they do not rely on dividends to attract shareholders. Accordingly, the Annual
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Information Form for the year ended February 26, 2011 states that the company has only paid
dividends once since its inception in 1984.43 Considering majority ownership is a highly unlikely
proposition for each and every shareholder, the only remaining incentive for them to hold
company stock is to sell them sometime in the future at the highest possible value. Following
this, the shareholder’s interests in the financial statements should be limited to measuring the
company’s ability to earn income off existing assets and reinvesting them strategically in hopes
that the intrinsic value of the stock will increase. Therefore, shareholders and analysts would
want to focus on net income, which will eventually flow to the retained earnings of the company
and result in an increase the overall share price.
Competitors
RIM is the subject of intense scrutiny not only by shareholders, but also by competitors
who monitor its practises to protect their own interests. This is merely a function of a high level
of competition in the technology industry, and according to the company, is in the normal course
of business.44 The Annual Information Form notes dozens of companies who have ongoing legal
proceedings with RIM as at the report date of March 29, 2011. Occasionally, RIM loses lawsuits
or chooses to settle with some of these competitors. For example, it has been reported that Kodak
has been favoured in a recent court judgement over a billion dollar patent infringement lawsuit.45
Another lawsuit with Motorola was settled within the 2011 fiscal year end, resulting in ongoing
royalty payments by RIM.46 Competitors would most certainly focus on the company’s revenues
and retained earnings balances, which represent income unlawfully earned historically through
the use of patented technology.
Former owners of new subsidiaries
Part of RIM’s strategy involves the acquisition of smaller companies in order to take
advantage of new and innovative technology. The majority of these acquisitions are financed
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entirely through the extensive internal cash reserves, but sometimes payment can be contingent
on future performance within the company. Currently, the company has approximately $5
million in payments which are “contingent on the achievement of certain agreed upon
technology and working capital milestones and earnings targets.”47 As expected, the
beneficiaries of these payments focus primarily on RIM’s earnings and working capital balances.
However, judging by the frequency of these events and the relatively small value of contingent
outflows, these users form a relatively small number in total. Thus, they will not be weighed as
heavily in the judgment of materiality.
Government Organizations
Government organizations are another main user of RIM’s financial statements.
Currently, RIM has entered two project development agreements with Technology Partnership
Canada (TPC), who provides funding and financial assistance to support RIM’s research
activities. The company has already fulfilled its obligations with TPC-1; however, the second
agreement has not been paid back in full as of fiscal 2011. In order for RIM to receive the $23.3
million in funding implicit in the agreement, they have to fulfill prerequisite conditions. These
include maintaining a minimum number of Canadian employees and to limit undisclosed
expenditures through fiscal 2015. They will repay TPC in the form of royalties totalling 2.2% of
gross revenues. As of fiscal 2011; they have recorded $4.9 million in royalty repayments. Hence,
some of the financial items that TPC will be most concerned with relate to the sales and revenue
accounts. TPC relies on RIM’s gross product revenues for repayment and are able to charge
interest if the repayments are not made on time.48
Board of Directors
The board of directors (BoD) meet twice every fiscal quarter with RIM management and
the independent accounting firm (Ernst & Young) to discuss the financial statements and any
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significant reporting and accounting issues.49 Together they hold less than 10% of the issued
common shares. The BoD is concerned about every aspect of the financial statements, but must
pay special attention to the company’s earnings and strategic direction. The BoD will assess the
company’s ability to generate income from existing assets and management’s ability to
effectively carry out its strategy. In doing so, they will focus primarily on revenues, expenses and
ultimately net income.
Audit Committee
The Audit and Risk Management Committee’s main purpose is to support and
communicate with the Board of Directors matters regarding the “accounting, auditing, financial
reporting, internal control, and legal compliance and risk management functions of the
Company”50. Hence, they are concerned with all aspects of the financial statements as the audit
committee has a great responsibility in determining how well the company is complying with
regulatory standards. There will be no specific account-level focus for the audit committee, as
they are primarily concerned about the financial information being fairly stated and in
accordance with pre-determined accounting policies.
Management
The management at RIM are especially concerned about the earnings of the financial
statements as most of them participate in the stock-option compensation plan. For example, both
Jim Ballsillie and Mike Lazardis draw over 50% of their total earnings from compensation
plans.51,52 As the value of their compensation increases relative to the share price, this puts the
main focus on net income, one of the main drivers of stock price.
Conflict analysis
Overall, the objectives of each of the users of RIM’s financial statements mostly aligned
with one another. For example, the Board of Directors, management, shareholders and analysts,
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would all favour income increasing accounting policies as a natural function of their implicit
goal of maximizing shareholder benefit.
However, some level of conflict does exist between some of the groups of users of the
financial statements. Whereas the government organizations, competitors and former owners of
new subsidiaries would all prefer income increase policies to in turn maximize their return from
the company (primarily through various contingencies and royalties linked to revenues, net
income and retained earnings), RIM’s management would likely prefer the opposite to occur in
order to minimize the amount of these payments. Yet, this conflict is mitigated almost entirely by
the overriding objective to management to realize growth in their own stock options. Though it
would indeed benefit the organization to minimize payments out on account of these
contingencies, the act of choosing to minimize revenues and income would inherently damage
the reputation and future prospects of the company. RIM is continuously assessed on its ability to
meet analyst forecasts, and failure to do so will mean direct penalties to management in the form
of lower compensation as stock prices decrease.
Materiality
When assessing materiality, it is important to understand “the nature of the entity, where
the entity is in its life cycle and the industry and economic environment in which the entity
operates.”53 In addition, materiality must take into consideration “the entity's ownership structure
and the way it is financed” and “the relative volatility of the benchmark”.54
As RIM is a heavily profit-oriented technology company, this will impact the decision of
what forms the base of materiality. In a profit-oriented company, materiality is usually based on
an income statement or balance sheet figures, subject to the current life cycle of the company and
the needs of the users.
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Although the earlier discussion on RIM’s financial growth shows it is slightly slowing
down, it appears the company is still in the growth stage as the growth figures are still relatively
high when compared to the industry.
The industry that RIM operates in is dominated by three major companies: RIM, Google,
and Apple. “The competitive environment for the wireless data communications industry is
rapidly evolving and, to data, no technology has been exclusively or commercially adopted as the
industry standard for wireless data communication.”55 The intense competition between each of
the parties means that net income will inherently be a volatile figure as new products emerge in
the marketplace, detracting from its usefulness as a basis for materiality.
Additionally, the ownership structure is widely dispersed with the top shareholder
holding only 3.15%. Approximately ⅔ of the total shares are held either by mutual fund
managers or institutional investors. The company is financed purely by equity and also has no
long term debt.56 RIM’s lack of leverage indicates that a net asset (equity) or earnings base will
be appropriate. Rather than reclaiming their initial investment and fixed amount of investment
income such as debt holders, equity holders are more interested in maximizing their investment,
hence, earnings is of major concern.
Given the above analysis that RIM is in the growth stage, a profit-oriented organization,
in a rapidly changing industry and its current capital structure is purely equity, it is recommended
that an income statement base be used for calculating materiality.
After assessing the needs of the users, it appears most are affected by changes in earnings
as opposed to changes in revenue. The only specific user who cares about revenue as opposed to
earnings is the government whose royalties are based on gross product revenue. Given the users’
focus on earnings and the sensitivity towards earnings, operating income shall be used as the
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base of calculating materiality. As there do not appear to be any significant changes in the user
base, materiality should continue to be set at 10% of income from operations, or approximately
$464 million. The lack of any significant changes in the user base justifies the decision to keep
materiality consistent with the prior year.
Risk Assessment
Financial Statement Level Risk
There are several financial statement level risks that have a pervasive impact on several
accounts on the financial statements.
Heavy Competition – RIM has experienced heavy competition from its leading competitors,
Apple and Google. This competitive pressure results in a marginal increase in business risk as
compared to the previous year. As previously mentioned, RIM is quickly losing market share
despite its strong revenue growth. This is reinforced by the fact that Apple recently surpassed
RIM in terms of global market share for smart phones. 57 As a result, management may want to
overstate its revenue and understate expenses in order to signal to investors that it is still a strong
competitor in a hotly contested market.
Technology Industry – RIM competes in the technology industry which has inherently difficult
accounting implications.58 For example, revenue recognition is difficult to determine because
RIM enters into long-term agreements with multiple components (Blackberry support service
and physical hardware) with many service providers globally. This impacts the occurrence and
cut-off of revenues as it is difficult to determine when they should recognize its revenue. As
well, the existence and valuation of intangibles is inherently hard to measure as the technology
industry is always evolving; success in the market place is never guaranteed. These impact the
value of the current patents and other intangible and the future economic benefit of intangibles
recognized in the current year.
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Management Stock Options and Analyst Expectations – As many of RIM’s employees are
compensated through stock options; their potential compensation depends on a higher stock
price. RIM’s stock price is also highly sensitive to analyst expectations, as they are one of the
most well covered stocks in the world. This provides management with the incentive to meet
analyst expectations and a potential bias to overstate revenue and understate expenses, as most of
expectations are around earning targets. Furthermore, in 2009, RIM had to restate its 2004-2006
financial statements due to an options backdating fraud perpetrated by management.59 This lack
of integrity from management may have a pervasive impact on the presentation of the financial
statements as management may be biased in how the statements are presented in order to obtain
personal gains. These factors increase the control risk in many of the accounts on the financials.
International Expansion – Over the years, the international market has been a target of
increasing focus for RIM. International markets are inherently more unpredictable than the North
American markets that RIM is accustomed to dealing with. This uncertainty in terms of
accounting implications may result in errors or inaccuracy of accounts receivable valuations,
litigation from foreign governments, and revenue recognition as there would be less established
controls in place to ensure the accuracy and occurrence of transactions. Thus, RIM’s expanded
foreign operations increase the inherent and control risk of the above accounts.
Assertion Level Risks
Investments and Goodwill – It may be difficult to determine the valuation of RIM’s
investments as they do acquire several start-ups in the course of their business. The amount of
goodwill that results from the acquisition method of accounting is generated based on a fair
market value assessment of the assets of the acquired company. There may not be a large enough
market to assign a proper value to how much the business is worth especially as the company’s
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feasibility may not yet be determined. Thus, this increases the inherent risk of the valuation of
assertion for goodwill.
Internally Developed Intangible Assets – As indicated in the analysis of financial statement
level risks, intangible assets are inherently difficult to account for in the rapidly developing
technology industry. Approximately $1 billion of new intangibles were either acquired or
developed in 2011. The inherent risk over the valuation for intangibles has increased over the
prior year; especially as RIM’s explosive growth has slowed down as this would make the future
economic benefit lower than under the expectation of continued explosive growth. As well,
intangibles recognized in the current period need to be tested for existence as the rapid pace of
the technology industry will make products and patents obsolete quickly.
Revenue – Due to the inherent complexity of revenue contracts in this industry, occurrence and
accuracy need to be tested as it may be difficult to determine the point and time when revenue
will meet all the revenue criteria. The high inherent risks for these assertions are compounded by
the higher distribution of revenues in foreign countries and the noted management integrity and
control issues noted in the discussion of financial statement level risks.
Provision for Litigation – The technology industry is plagued with lawsuits over patent
infringements and RIM has faced lawsuits with many companies over the years, such as Kodak
and Motorola. The high possibility of litigation suits results in a high inherent risk for the
completeness of contingencies and related liabilities. Likewise, there lies a high inherent risk
related to the presentation of less probable or measurable contingencies or lawsuits.
Accounts Receivable/Allowance for Doubtful Accounts – RIM’s management has booked a
provision for doubtful accounts of $2 million for 2011 and this same amount remained the same
from the prior year; however, revenue and accounts receivable balance have increased by 50%
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and 30%, respectfully, over the prior year. As well, RIM’s revenues are more heavily based on
international markets, where credit issues may be more prevalent, leading to uncertainty over the
collectability of the accounts. When analyzing the accounts receivable turnover ratio (2011 –
6.08 and 2010 – 6.35) and days sales outstanding (60 days and 57 days), it appears that the
receivables were of lesser quality in 2011 than in 2010. This analysis is inconsistent with the
constant allowance for doubtful accounts value, and results in a high inherent risk over the
completeness of this provision.
Inventory – As the industry advances rapidly, inventory obsolescence and valuation lead to high
inherent risk over the valuation of inventory. However, when analyzing the inventory turnover
(2011 – 17.9 and 2010 - 12), it indicates that liquidity and mobility of inventory has improved.
The margin percentage across both hardware and service lines of revenue remain unchanged
from the previous year. The introduction of the OS 6 software may be grounds for impairment of
units that feature an older operating system. Yet, the relative strength of the inventory ratios give
a measure of assurance that suggest that inventory is an inherently low risk account at the
assertion level compared to the prior year.
General Risk Mitigating Factors
Internal Audit Function – RIM has an internal audit function which increases the quality of the
financial reporting function. “A chief audit executive was hired in January 2008 to develop the
Company’s internal audit function. Internal Audit continues to develop and refine its
methodology, approach, and practices, and, in June 2009, the chief audit executive reported to
the audit committee on the conduct of four initial internal audit reviews.”60
Unqualified Audit Opinions – RIM has received unqualified audit opinions since it has gone
public; however, it did have to restate its 2004-2006 statements because of the backdating of the
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stock options.
Risk of Material Misstatement
The declining growth prospects of RIM, combined with evidence of mounting
competitive pressures have led to the increased inherent and control risks for many of the above
accounts. Of particular significance, is the fact that the allowance for doubtful accounts remains
constant despite the presence of these risks and large increase in accounts receivable for the
current year. Though the risk of material misstatement is lowered slightly by a higher materiality
level for the year, this increase in materiality will be likewise offset by a larger relative asset base
resulting from rapid development and acquisition activities during the year. Therefore, the
overall risk of material misstatement is high relative to the prior year.
Audit Procedures
The following discussion on procedures aims to address the relevant, high
assertion/account level risks discussed within the risk assessment. Proper planning with regards
to staffing and timing should be performed in order to ensure that the following procedures can
be carried out, as they specifically work to lower the detection risk and overall audit risk of the
file. These procedures are not an exhaustive list of those to be performed during the audit.
Revenue
Occurrence
 Develop an expectation on RIM’s total revenue by obtaining RIM’s monthly sales by product
line and location. Compare the analysis with prior years and seek explanation through
enquiry of management to determine any significant variances. This will help explain the
large fluctuation in revenues.

Select a sample of sales recorded on the general ledger and vouch the sales invoices to the
underlying shipping documents to ensure the occurrence of the sales. In addition, review
sales document to ensure products where the risk and reward has not been transferred (i.e.
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products could be returnable if not sold) will not be recognized into revenue.

“Revenue from software maintenance, unspecified upgrades and technical support contracts
is recognized over the period that such items are delivered or those services are provided.”61
Vouch a sample of revenue postings on the general ledger to the original support contracts to
ensure that their terms have been occurred in the period.
Cutoff
 Inspect the sales invoices near the year end and after year end to determine if the underlying
shipping documents provide evidence that the revenues are properly cutoff and not
overstated.
Accounts receivable
Existence
 Issue positive confirmations to all accounts over materiality threshold and to a random
sample of the remaining accounts to ensure the accounts receivable exist.

Vouch cash receipts after year end to determine whether payments subsequent to year end
have not been applied to the account receivable balance.
Ownership

Obtain management representation and review minutes and other loan agreements to
determine if any of the A/R was pledged or factored.
Valuation
 Evaluate the adequacy of the allowance for doubtful account by comparing the current year
write off to the prior year write off to determine if the write offs are adequate.

Recalculate the allowance based on prior experience, industry data and economic conditions
to determine the reasonability of the allowance.

Examine the aged accounts receivable listing and compare to industry averages and historical
data to determine if the allowance is a reasonable.
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Inventory
Existence
 Conduct an inventory count at year end at a random sample of warehouses not disclosed to
the client beforehand to ensure existence.

Issue confirmations or inspect inventories from public warehouses (other location where the
product is still considered being owned by RIM) to determine the existence of the RIM
products.
Valuation
 While observing inventory count, specifically look for damaged or scrapped inventory which
may be evidence of impairment/obsolescence.

Enquire with management and technology experts on the potential obsolescence of inventory
older phone models in order to ensure that there are adequate write-downs.

Obtain a schedule of inventory by age. Consider a write-down of inventory kept in storage in
excess of time indicated by historical trends.
Acquisitions and Goodwill
Valuation
 Review the purchase and sale agreement for all of the acquisitions undertaken during the year
including those of The Astonishing Tribe, QNX Software Systems, Torch Mobile Inc.,
Certicom Corp.62, in order to verify the purchase price, type of consideration, and terms of
the acquisition. This will determine the valuation and existence of goodwill, as the
consideration paid for the acquisitions is used to determine the amount of goodwill.

Obtain independent appraisals of the assets purchased through acquisitions and compare
them to the appraisals obtained by management. This will ensure that the fair market value of
the assets determined by company as part of the acquisition method used for the business
combinations is accurate. This will also ensuring the correct allocation of the purchase price
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values to individual assets acquired.

Review management’s process for evaluating whether previously recorded goodwill has
become impaired and determine whether it is in line with accounting standards.
Internally developed intangible assets
Existence
 Review the agreements for the new licenses relating to the 3G and 4G technologies, the
patent assignment and transfer agreement entered into with Motorola, and other third party
agreements for the licensing of technology in order to ensure that these are expenses meet the
definition of an intangible asset and were rightly capitalized. These two agreements are the
majority of the total additions to the intangibles account during the year. 63

Enquire with management on the legal status of any patents, copyrights, and other acquired
technology from acquisitions in order to ensure the determination of “existence” of these
intangibles takes into consideration this fact as part of the “control” and “future economic
benefit” tests of an intangible asset.

Vouch a sample of legal costs capitalized to the intangibles account, as part of the defense of
those patents, in order to ensure the description on the invoice relates to the patent lawsuit
and was correctly capitalized.
Valuation
 Enquire with management on the usability of any technology acquired, licensed or internally
developed for the Blackberry 6 operating system, in order to determine whether carrying
value that was previously capitalized has fallen below the recoverable value, as the software
will not be used in any other Blackberry smart phones.64
Lawsuits
Completeness
 Obtain a positive confirmation from RIM’s outside legal counsel, as to the likelihood of all
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lawsuits filed against the company being lost, and lawyers best estimate of the monetary loss
expected to ensure that all contingent liabilities are being either disclosed or recorded.

Review settlement agreement entered into between RIM and Motorola, in order to ensure that
any liabilities for future cross licensing payments, as well as damages, have been accrued. 65
Existence
 Obtain a positive confirmation from RIM’s outside legal counsel, as to the likelihood of all
lawsuits filed by the company being won, and lawyers best estimate of the monetary gain
expected to ensure that all contingent assets are being either disclosed or recorded.
Presentation
 While reviewing the settlement agreement, determine the timing of the cash outflows to
ensure they have been classified, in terms of current and long term appropriately. As well,
ensure the disclosure in the notes to the financials is appropriate in terms of its representation
the conditions of the settlement, as well as in terms of what is required by the US GAAP.
Accrual for product warranties
Completeness
 Determine the basis for management’s estimate of warranty costs, and review if assumptions
and inputs used are reasonable by comparing against historical trends and industry data.
Recalculate the warranty costs to determine if the amount recorded is reasonable.

Compare of the actual warranty expenses subsequent to year end to accrued amounts to
determine if the amount is reasonable.
Other liabilities
Completeness
 Take a sample of suppliers’ invoices and trace it to the general ledger.
Investments
Valuation
 For the money market and other debt securities, verify the value of the investments through
bank statements for the investment account.
Page | 19

Identify the investments that have decreased in value and follow RIM’s policy to determine if
a permanent write-down is required and have been recorded. In addition, determine whether
RIM’s policy is in accordance with US GAAP.

RIM depends on independent third party valuators to determine the fair value of securities.66
Examine the fair valuation of securities conducted by the independent third party valuators.
Determine if the valuators work can be relied on for the audit. RIM uses two primary vendors
so the valuators may not be fully independent. If it is determined that the work does not
provide enough assurance for the audit then independent valuators should be hired.
Overall Conclusion
A stable user base justifies the maintenance of a materiality base that is derived as 10% of
net income from operations. RIM, while still a profoundly successful company, has started to
exhibit signs of decreasing growth over the past fiscal year. The mounting pressure for
management to increase earnings and meet analyst expectations has increased the inherent and
control risks for many accounts at the assertion level. Overall, the risk of material misstatement
has increased at RIM for fiscal year 2011. In order to keep audit risk at acceptable levels,
extensive procedures should be performed as to reduce the amount of detection risk present in
the 2011 audit of RIM’s financial statements.
Page | 20
Appendix I – History (1984 – present)67,68
1984 – Founded by university students Mike Lazaridis (current President and Co-CEO) and
Douglas Fregin (Current Vice President, Operations)
1985 to 1996 – Development of wireless technologies and introduction of readers, point-of-sale
terminal, wireless modems and two-way messaging pagers
1997 – RIM becomes publicly trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange
1998 – Introduction of Wireless handheld and synchronization platform
1999 – RIM becomes listed on the NASDAQ. The introduction to the current Blackberry
wireless email solution, and Enterprise Server Software was introduced.
2000 to 2010 – Continue development of products, launch of different series of Blackberry
handhelds and beginning to form partnership and alliance with other tech companies such as
Nortel, Qualcomm, and Open Text.
2011 – Entered the tablet market by launching of Blackberry Playbook
* For a full comprehensive list of the history, please visit the two sources provided
Appendix II – List of Officers in the Executive Team69
Co-Chief Executive Officer
President and Co-Chief Executive Officer
Chief Operating Officer
Chief Information Officer
Chief Financial Officer
Chief Technology Officer, Software
Chief Operating Officer, Global Manufacturing & Supply Chain
Chief Operating Officer, Product Engineering
Appendix III: Comparison of Analyst Estimates vs. Actual RIM
Performance70
Sales (in millions)
Quarter Ending Feb-11
Quarter Ending Nov-10
Quarter Ending Aug-10
Quarter Ending May-10
Earnings Per Share
Quarter Ending Feb-11
Quarter Ending Nov-10
Quarter Ending Aug-10
Quarter Ending May-10
Estimate
Actual
Difference
Surprise %
5,645.85
5,379.54
4,481.29
4,352.25
5,556.00
5,494.50
4,621.33
4,235.39
89.85
114.96
140.04
116.86
(1.59)%
2.14%
3.13%
(2.68)%
1.76
1.65
1.36
1.34
1.78
1.74
1.46
1.38
0.02
0.09
0.10
0.04
1.38%
5.58%
7.72%
2.81%
Page | 21
Appendix IV: RIM(TSX) Stock Price Over Fiscal Year 201171
1
"Fast Facts." Research in Motion. Web. 11 July 2011. <http://www.rim.com/company/index.shtml>.
"RIM's History." Blackberry.com. Research in Motion. Web. 11 July 2011.
<http://www.blackberry.com/select/get_the_facts/pdfs/rim/rim_history.pdf>.
3
"Profile: Research in Motion Ltd." Reuters. Web. 11 July 2011.
<http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?rpc=66&symbol=RIMM.O>.
4
RIM's Executive Team." Research in Motion. Web. 11 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/newsroom/mediaexecutive/>.
5
Ibid
6
Ibid
7
Ibid
8
"RIM's Board of Directors." Research in Motion. Web. 11 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/investors/pdf/Board_of_Directors_Bios_05-2010.pdf>.
9
"Charter of the Audit and Risk Management Committee of the Board of Directors of Research in Motion Limited."
Research in Motion. Web. 11 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/investors/pdf/Audit_Risk_Management_Committee_Charter_2011.pdf>.
10
"Charter of the Compensation, Nomination and Governance Committee of the Board of Directors of Research in
Motion Limited." Research in Motion. Web. 11 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/investors/pdf/Nomination_Governance_Committee_Charter.pdf>.
11
"2011 RIM Annual Report." Research in Motion. Web. 8 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/investors/documents/pdf/annual/2010rim_ar.pdf>. Page 2.
12
Sacco, Al. "BlackBerry App World 2.0 Unveiled: Images, Details." CIO.com. 16 June 2010. Web. 01 July 2011.
<http://www.cio.com/article/596994/BlackBerry_App_World_2.0_Unveiled_Images_Details?page=2>.
13
"RIM's Strategy to Stay on Top in Smartphones | Signal Strength - CNET News."Technology News - CNET News.
12 May 2010. Web. 08 July 2011. <http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-20004753-266.html>.
14
Sacco, Al. "BlackBerry App World: Nine Must-Do Fixes for RIM's App Store." CIO.com. 01 July 2009. Web. 08
July 2011.
<http://www.cio.com/article/496434/BlackBerry_App_World_Nine_Must_Do_Fixes_for_RIM_s_App_Store?page
=3>.
15
"RIM's Strategy to Stay on Top in Smartphones | Signal Strength - CNET News."Technology News - CNET News.
12 May 2010. Web. 08 July 2011. <http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-20004753-266.html>.
16
Ibid
2
Page | 22
17
Ibid
"RIM’s Market Share Plummets as Users Opt for Android over BlackBerry." Financial Post. 6 May 2011. Web.
08 July 2011. <http://business.financialpost.com/2011/05/06/rims-share-plummets-as-users-opt-for-android-overblackberry/>.
19
"Apple Launches IPad." Apple. 27 Jan. 2010. Web. 08 July 2011.
<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/01/27ipad.html>.
20
Yin, Sara. "Top 10 Rumors About IPad 2." PC Magazine. 29 Dec. 2010. Web. 08 July 2011.
<http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2374846,00.asp>.
21
"2011 RIM Annual Report." Research in Motion. Web. 8 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/investors/documents/pdf/annual/2010rim_ar.pdf>. Page 9.
22
Miller, Hugo. "RIM Tablet Expectations May Be Too Optimistic, Analyst Says."Businessweek. 30 Nov. 2010.
Web. 08 July 2011. <http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-11-30/rim-tablet-expectations-may-be-toooptimistic-analyst-says.html>.
23
"2011 RIM Annual Report." Research in Motion. Web. 8 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/investors/documents/pdf/annual/2010rim_ar.pdf>. Page 2.
24
Ibid
25
"Can International Markets Compensate for RIM's North American Market Share Losses?"NASDAQ Community
Home. 12 Jan. 2011. Web. 08 July 2011. <http://community.nasdaq.com/News/2011-01/can-international-marketscompensate-for-rims-north-american-market-share-losses.aspx?storyid=52879>.
26
Gokhale, Ketaki, and Santosh Kumar. "RIM Averts BlackBerry Ban in India With 60-Day Security
Test." Bloomberg - Business & Financial News, Breaking News Headlines. 30 Aug. 2010. Web. 08 July 2011.
<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-30/rim-averts-india-blackberry-ban-as-government-tests-securitymodification.html>.
27
Whitney, Lance. "Apple, Android Surge in 2010; Nokia, RIM Slip | Apple." CNET News. 7 Feb. 2011. Web. 08
July 2011. <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20030831-37.html>.
28
"2011 RIM Annual Report." Research in Motion. Web. 8 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/investors/documents/pdf/annual/2010rim_ar.pdf>. Page 2.
29
"Research In Motion Ltd (RIM.TO) Analysts." Reuters.com. Web. 08 July 2011.
<http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/analyst?symbol=RIM.TO>.
30
“Research In Motion Ltd (RIM.TO) Financials.” Reuter.com. Web. 08 July 2011.
<http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/financialHighlights?symbol=RIM.TO>
31
"Research In Motion Ltd (RIM.TO) Analysts." Reuters.com. Web. 08 July 2011.
<http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/analyst?symbol=RIM.TO>.
32
Ibid
33
"Research In Motion Limited (USA): NASDAQ:RIMM Quotes & News - Google Finance."Google. Web. 08 July
2011. <http://www.google.ca/finance?q=rimm>.
34
Miller, Hugo. "RIM Gains After Sales Forecast Tops Analyst Estimates." Businessweek - Business News, Stock
Market & Financial Advice. 17 Sept. 2010. Web. 08 July 2011. <http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-0917/rim-gains-after-sales-forecast-tops-analyst-estimates.html>.
35
Miller, Hugo. "RIM Climbs as Analysts Forecast Growing Demand for PlayBook."Bloomberg - Business &
Financial News, Breaking News Headlines. 30 Nov. 2010. Web. 08 July 2011.
<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-30/rim-climbs-as-analysts-forecast-growing-demand-forplaybook.html>.
36
"Research In Motion Limited (USA): NASDAQ:RIMM Quotes & News - Google Finance."Google. Web. 08 July
2011. <http://www.google.ca/finance?q=rimm>.
37
"Annual Information Form." Research In Motion Limited. 26 Feb. 2011. Web. 9 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/investors/documents/pdf/AIF/AIF_Fiscal_2011.pdf>. Page 15.
38
Ibid
39
"Annual Information Form." Research In Motion Limited. 26 Feb. 2011. Web. 9 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/investors/documents/pdf/AIF/AIF_Fiscal_2011.pdf>. Page 16.
40
"Annual Information Form." Research In Motion Limited. 26 Feb. 2011. Web. 9 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/investors/documents/pdf/AIF/AIF_Fiscal_2011.pdf>. Page 15.
18
Page | 23
41
"Annual Information Form." Research In Motion Limited. 26 Feb. 2011. Web. 9 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/investors/documents/pdf/AIF/AIF_Fiscal_2011.pdf>.
42
"RIM Major Holders | Research In Motion Limited Stock." Yahoo! Finance. Web. 08 July 2011.
<http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=RIMM>.
43
"Annual Information Form." Research In Motion Limited. 26 Feb. 2011. Web. 9 July 2011.
44
Ibid
45
Stothard, Michael. “Kodak shares jump after positive development in patent dispute” Financial Times. London
(UK): Mar 29, 2011. pg. 24
46
"2011 RIM Annual Report." Research in Motion. Web. 8 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/investors/documents/pdf/annual/2010rim_ar.pdf>.
47
Ibid
48
"TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIPS CANADA." Industrial Technologies Office. 1 Apr. 2001. Web. 8 July 2011.
<http://ito.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/ito-oti.nsf/eng/h_00186.html>.
49
"2011 RIM Annual Report." Research in Motion. Web. 8 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/investors/documents/pdf/annual/2010rim_ar.pdf>. Page 59
50
"Annual Information Form." Research In Motion Limited. 26 Feb. 2011. Web. 9 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/investors/documents/pdf/AIF/AIF_Fiscal_2011.pdf>. Page 70
51
"James Balsillie Profile." Corporate Executives & Directors Search Directory. Web. 08 July 2011.
<http://people.forbes.com/profile/james-balsillie/26031>.
52
"Michael Lazaridis Profile." Corporate Executives & Directors Search Directory. Web. 08 July 2011.
<http://people.forbes.com/profile/michael-lazaridis/68045>
53
CAS 320, CICA Handbook
54
Ibid
55
"Annual Information Form." Research In Motion Limited. 26 Feb. 2011. Web. 9 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/investors/documents/pdf/AIF/AIF_Fiscal_2011.pdf>. Page 24.
56
"2011 RIM Annual Report." Research in Motion. Web. 8 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/investors/documents/pdf/annual/2010rim_ar.pdf>. Page 57.
57
Whitney, Lance. "Apple, Android Surge in 2010; Nokia, RIM Slip | Apple." CNET News. 7 Feb. 2011. Web. 08
July 2011. <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20030831-37.html>.
58
"Accounting in the Technology Industry." Deloitte, 24 Jan. 2010. Web. 8 July 2011.
<http://www.iasplus.com/uk/1010uktechindustry.pdf>.
59
Rooney, Ben. "RIM Settles Option Backdating Case." CNNMoney. 17 Feb. 2009. Web. 08 July 2011.
<http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/17/technology/RIM_backdating/index.htm>.
60
"Governance Review of Research In Motion Limited." Protiviti, 30 June 2009. Web. 8 July 2011.
<http://www.osc.gov.on.ca/documents/en/Proceedings-OTH/gov_rev_20090630_rim.pdf>.
61
"2011 RIM Annual Report." Research in Motion. Web. 8 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/investors/documents/pdf/annual/2010rim_ar.pdf>. Page 24.
62
"2011 RIM Annual Report." Research in Motion. Web. 8 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/investors/documents/pdf/annual/2010rim_ar.pdf>. Page 64. Note 7.
63
"2011 RIM Annual Report." Research in Motion. Web. 8 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/investors/documents/pdf/annual/2010rim_ar.pdf>. Page 64. Note 6.
64
Savov, Vlad. "RIM Announces BlackBerry 7 OS with Better Browser and BlackBerry Balance, but No Legacy
Support." Engadget. 2 May 2011. Web. 08 July 2011. <http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/02/rim-announcesblackberry-os-7/>.
65
Akkad, Omar El. "RIM, Motorola Resolve Patent Case." The Globe and Mail. 11 June 2010. Web. 08 July 2011.
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rim-motorola-resolve-patent-case/article1600440/>.
66
"2011 RIM Annual Report." Research in Motion. Web. 8 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/investors/documents/pdf/annual/2010rim_ar.pdf>. Page 28.
67
"RIM's History." Blackberry.com. Research in Motion. Web. 11 July 2011.
<http://www.blackberry.com/select/get_the_facts/pdfs/rim/rim_history.pdf>.
68
"Blackberry Playbook Launch." BlackBerry - Press Releases. Research in Motion. Web. 11 July 2011.
<http://press.rim.com/>.
Page | 24
69
"RIM's Executive Team." Research in Motion. Web. 11 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/newsroom/mediaexecutive/>.
70
"Research In Motion Ltd (RIM.TO) Analysts." Reuters.com. Web. 08 July 2011.
<http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/analyst?symbol=RIM.TO>.
71
"Research In Motion Limited (USA): NASDAQ:RIMM Quotes & News - Google Finance."Google. Web. 08 July
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Page | 25
CAS 320, CICA Handbook
"Fast Facts." Research in Motion. Web. 11 July 2011.
<http://www.rim.com/company/index.shtml>.
Gokhale, Ketaki, and Santosh Kumar. "RIM Averts BlackBerry Ban in India With 60-Day
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Page | 26
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Page | 27
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"TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIPS CANADA." Industrial Technologies Office. 1 Apr. 2001.
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Page | 28
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