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Audit News: Issue 68 June 2021

Welcome to Audit News 68, your regulatory update containing the latest technical guidance and best practice advice.

Audit Monitoring Report: Your thoughts

Every year our quality assurance team looks back at the results of the last 12 months of audit monitoring reviews and identifies areas for improvement and examples of good practice in order to produce the annual Audit Monitoring Report. The next Audit Monitoring Report will be published in Autumn 2021.

To help us produce the next Audit Monitoring Report, please complete this short survey to help us understand the value of the report for your firm and how we can maximise its usefulness.

Return to onsite Quality Assurance reviews

From 1 September 2021, we will return to our pre-COVID-19 review practices, including onsite reviews. When our scheduling team contacts you to confirm the review date, they will tell you whether the review will be onsite or desk-based. If an onsite visit is not possible because you have not yet returned to your office, our scheduling team will discuss whether we can carry out a remote visit instead.

Until 1 September, it might be possible to have an onsite review. You can discuss that with our scheduling team or the reviewer when they call you before the review.

Oversight of our monitoring work: Our monitoring work is supervised by oversight regulators; the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) for audit; the Insolvency Service for insolvency; the Legal Services Board (LSB) for probate; and the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) for AML.

We agree the number of monitoring reviews and the types of firms we need review annually with each oversight regulator.

If you have any questions about your review, please contact QADvisits@icaew.com

Reporting breaches of the FRC Ethical Standard

ICAEW-registered firms that do not audit PIEs need to make biannual notifications of any breaches of the Ethical Standard via the Breaches of the FRC Ethical Standard form.

Regulatory applications update

Please ensure you are using the correct and most up-to-date version of the regulatory application forms and that you are allowing for a processing time of 8-12 weeks.

Regulation and conduct through difficult times

The 2020 ICAEW Regulatory Board (IRB) Annual Report highlighted the hard work and efforts to maintain minimal disruption to ICAEW’s regulatory and disciplinary work, despite the most unusual of years. In this article, we talk to Michael Caplan QC, Chair of the IRB, about its latest annual report and the role of the IRB.

The ARC: what are the issues and how can they be avoided?

ICAEW’s Audit Registration Committee (ARC) undertakes ICAEW’s responsibilities as a recognised supervisory body for audit under the Companies Act 2006. In this article, Rama Krishnan, Chair of the ARC, explores the issues that are coming before the ARC, largely as a consequence of Quality Assurance monitoring visits.

Social media: the hidden risk of professional misconduct

As the pandemic further blurs the lines between our work and personal lives, how can firms and individuals reap the benefits of social media while ensuring the highest standards of professional conduct?

Keeping the Chartered Accountant’s badge shiny

If you or your firm are the subject of a complaint, what should you do? Importantly – don’t panic. Professional Conduct’s Investigation Team takes us through what you should – and should not – do.

Follow our new LinkedIn page

Follow our new Regulation and Conduct LinkedIn page to read the very latest regulatory updates.

Complete your feedback survey

Firms and IPs are asked to complete an anonymous survey after each monitoring review. They are asked to provide feedback on the review process; the quality of interaction and the support provided.

Please ensure you complete the feedback survey as they help to support the continuous improvement of our monitoring processes and procedures.