What is the auditor's responsibility regarding internal control relevant to the audit of Coffee News?

According to Coffee News's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the auditor's responsibility regarding internal control is to gain an understanding of it as it relates to the audit. This understanding is used to design audit procedures that are appropriate for the circumstances. However, the auditor's role does not extend to expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of Coffee News's internal control, and the document explicitly states that no such opinion is provided.

In simpler terms, the auditor reviews Coffee News's internal controls to plan the audit effectively, but they don't evaluate or certify how well those controls work. This is a standard practice in financial auditing, where the focus is on the accuracy and reliability of the financial statements, not on the internal control systems themselves.

For a prospective Coffee News franchisee, this means that the financial statements have been audited by an independent firm, but the FDD does not provide any guarantee about the strength or effectiveness of Coffee News's internal controls. If a franchisee is concerned about the internal controls, they may want to ask Coffee News directly about their internal control practices.