The FRC Group on Audit Committees report, commonly referred to as the Smith Guidance or the Smith Report, was published on 20 January 2003 and codified the role of audit committees. It was subsequently revised and is now known as the FRC Guidance on Audit Committees.
The guidance
A revised version of the FRC Guidance on Audit Committees was published by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) in April 2016.
At the same time, the FRC also published a Feedback Statement and Impact Assessment Enhancing Confidence in Audit: Proposed Revisions to the Ethical Standard, Auditing Standards, UK Corporate Governance Code and Guidance on Audit Committees which summarises the main points from the responses, the decisions taken by the FRC and the reasons for those decisions.
In response to requests for guidance on how audit committees evaluate the effectiveness of the external audit process, in May 2015 the FRC issued an Audit Quality Practice Aid to assist audit committees in evaluating audit quality. In July 2013 Audit tenders: Notes on best practice was published by the FRC to assist Audit committees looking to put their external audit out to tender - this was revised in February 2017.
Background
The establishment of the FRC Group on Audit Committees was announced in the FRC press release 'FRC Group on Audit Committees starts work' on 12 September 2002. The terms of reference for the group were attached to the initial press release.
The original version of the guidance was entitled Audit Committees: Combined Code Guidance and was announced in the press release 'Sir Robert Smith launches report on audit committees' (PN70) on 20 January 2003.
The guidance has subsequently been revised and the latest version is available from the FRC website
Useful links
FRC consultation on the implementation of the EU Audit Regulation and Directive
Information from the Audit Committee Institute (KPMG) on the FRC's consultation published in September 2015, summarising the points covered by the consultation. The ACI website includes a selection of specimen checklists, documents and reports.
ICSA guidance on terms of reference audit committee
This guidance note, updated in 2020 by ICSA (now the Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland) reflects the then UK Corporate Governance Code and the FRC Guidance on Audit Committees.
Archive
2015
The FRC opened a consultation on revisions to the Guidance on Audit Committees on 29 September 2015.
2012
In April 2012 the FRC launched a review of the UK Corporate Governance Code and the Guidance on Audit Committees. The full text of the consultation paper, Revisions to the UK Corporate Governance Code and Guidance on Audit Committees, and the Draft revised Guidance on Audit Committees are available to download from the FRC website. The consultation period closed on 13 July 2012.
This revised guidance was published in September 2012
2010
A revised version of the FRC Guidance on Audit Committees was published by the FRC in December 2010.
eBooks
The Library provides full text access to a selection of key business and reference eBooks from leading publishers. eBooks are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users. If you are unable to access an eBook, please see our Help and support advice or contact library@icaew.com.
Articles and books in the ICAEW Library collection
To find out how you can borrow books from the Library please see our guide to borrowing books.
You can obtain copies of articles or extracts of books and reports through our document supply service.
See also
Can't find what you're looking for?
The ICAEW Library can give you the right information from trustworthy, professional sources that aren't freely available online. Contact us for expert help with your enquiries and research.
ICAEW accepts no responsibility for the content on any site to which a hypertext link from this site exists. The links are provided ‘as is’ with no warranty, express or implied, for the information provided within them. Please see the full copyright and disclaimer notice.