The audit area has information and guidance on completing all stages of an audit as well as making the decision around whether or not an audit is required. There are links to technical help, webinars, publications and events as well as audit representations.
The Audit and Assurance Faculty have produced this two part guide for auditors, covering COVID-19 considerations for auditing going concern, and how to report when a material uncertainty relating to going concern exists.
While COVID-19 will affect businesses in different ways and to different degrees, it is likely to have a significant impact on audit reports on company financial statements for the foreseeable future.
ICAEW’s Audit and Assurance Faculty answers members' common practical questions about how to audit inventory given the mandatory closure of many businesses and restrictions of movement across the world.
This ICAEW Know-How article was created by the Audit and Assurance Faculty. It offers practical considerations in relation to the work of component auditors in light of coronavirus (COVID-19) to address the requirements in ISAs (UK). It may also be relevant for group auditors in other jurisdictions.
ICAEW’s Audit and Assurance Faculty shares a recording of its recent webcast on the challenges faced when auditing going concern in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
ICAEW’s Audit and Assurance Faculty shares a recording of its recent webcast looking at the challenges in accounting for and auditing revenue as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Learn whether your organisation qualified for audit exemption for reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2016, under the Companies Act 2006 as amended by SI 2015/980. ICAEW's Technical Advisory Service provides guidance covering: group eligibility; eligibility of UK subsidiaries; and audit exemption conditions.
Read about preparing financial statements for audit-exempt organisations, including filing requirements
Learn more about other services and forms of assurance that may be of benefit to audit-exempt organisations.
ICAEW has developed guidance for practice firms on what to include in engagement letters. This page provides a series of sample wordings to help you draft your own engagement letters.
ISA 210 sets out the requirements for agreeing audit engagement terms. This guide looks at the requirements and highlights potential implementation challenges for auditors.
ISA 200 highlights the importance of objectives in auditing standards. Understanding ISA 200 is fundamental to understanding the challenge of implementing ISAs. This guide seeks to help auditors understand the overall objectives of the auditor and how they relate to the individual objectives and requirements in ISAs, and the role of professional judgement and scepticism.
Auditor independence refers to the independence of the external auditor. It is characterised by integrity and an objective approach to the audit process. The concept requires the auditor to carry out his or her work freely and in an objective manner.
Auditors can learn a lot from each other’s experiences of first year audits. Geoff Swales canvasses opinion.
14 January 2020: the IAASB has issued ISA 315 (Revised 2019) Identifying and Assessing the Risks of Material Misstatement.
An overview of the relevant requirements, challenges and developments in risk assessment.
Applying the materiality requirements in International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) can be challenging. As highlighted in inspection findings, reviews and from experience in practice, it’s an area where improvement could be made.
ICAEW’s Audit and Assurance Faculty answers members' common practical questions about how to audit inventory given the mandatory closure of many businesses and restrictions of movement across the world.
Don’t step any closer to audit data analytics without reading these tips and insights from Lisa Leighton of BHP Chartered Accountants.
With external audits under unprecedented levels of scrutiny, root cause analysis (RCA) can be a useful tool for those tasked with improving audit quality. The Audit and Assurance Faculty has published this practical paper for its members outlining what RCA is and what auditors need to consider to make the most of this useful tool.
In the light of increasing public interest in the quality of audits, the faculty considers that the audit of related parties is an area where further improvements in audit quality and efficiency can be achieved.
Despite concerns about process and reliability, external confirmations can often provide persuasive audit evidence. This guide for auditors looks at the requirements in ISA 505, External confirmations, highlighting circumstances where external confirmations can add value and common questions asked by auditors.
Auditors are required to obtain written representations from management. Written representations are primarily dealt with in ISA 580. This guide addresses auditors’ questions about what written representations are required and the complications that might arise.
The Audit and Assurance Faculty have produced this two part guide for auditors, covering COVID-19 considerations for auditing going concern, and how to report when a material uncertainty relating to going concern exists.
Professional scepticism is central to the work of auditors and yet audit regulators and others continue to express concerns that auditors are not sufficiently sceptical. This report explores what auditors and other stakeholders think about how it can be enhanced and who is responsible for it.
This webinar looks at the consequences of an auditor lacking scepticism in terms of bad monitoring visits or claims against the firm.
For small and medium-sized entities, there are three key areas that need to be considered. Here, seasoned file reviewer Jeremy Williams offers practical pointers on displaying these key audit skills and judgements.
It’s not enough to be sceptical, you have to demonstrate it in practice. Simon Kettlewell offers some advice.
There are many documentation requirements in International Standards on Auditing but the extent of documentation of judgement is a particularly critical area for auditors. This guide helps auditors understand why professional judgement is important and the extent to which they need to document it.
ISA 540 (Revised) Auditing accounting estimates and related disclosures is effective for audits of financial statements for periods beginning on or after 15 December 2019.
In this 20 minute webcast, Louise Sharp, Manager, International Standards covers the key enhancements in, and potential challenges introduced by, ISA 540 (Revised) Auditing accounting estimates and related disclosures. The revised standard is effective for audits of financial statements for periods beginning on or after 15 December 2019.
The IAASB has issued ISA 540 (Revised) Auditing accounting estimates and related disclosures. There are some changes and new requirements in ISA 540 (Revised) that are likely to prove more challenging for auditors to implement.
Documenting the audit of accounting estimates is important because it provides evidence that the audit complies with ISAs. ISA 540 (Revised) Auditing accounting estimates and related disclosures introduces enhanced documentation requirements and this Audit and Assurance guide provides information and guidance on what needs to be documented, and when, in your audit of accounting estimates.
ISA 540 (Revised) Auditing accounting estimates and related disclosures introduces the concept of inherent risk factors and requires the auditor to consider the degree to which accounting estimates are affected by these factors in identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement.
Accounting estimates are increasingly common in financial statements and, by their very nature, can be challenging for auditors to audit. This guide looks at the key requirements in ISA 540 (Revised) Auditing accounting estimates and related disclosures and deals with some of the potential challenges.
When performing an audit of accounting estimates under ISA 540 (Revised) Auditing accounting estimates and related disclosures, an auditor will need to use their own judgement to determine whether any risks of material misstatement identified or assessed in relation to accounting estimates give rise to a significant risk.
IAASB issued a suite of revised and new auditor reporting standards (ISAs) addressing the audits of complete sets of general purpose financial statements in 2015. The changes mainly focus on increasing transparency about the audit performed. This guide outlines the key requirements for auditors.
Guidance for auditors on the audit report. Updated in May 2018, it assists auditors in managing the risk of inadvertently assuming a duty of care to third parties in relation to their audit reports.
Audit and Assurance Faculty Guides and Technical Advisory Services helpsheets prepared by ICAEW technical specialists to assist you in your day-to-day work. We offer practical advice, respond to frequently asked questions and highlight the issues you may need to consider. Audit and Assurance Faculty Guides were formerly known as 'Helpsheets'.
This ICAEW Know-How article was created by the Audit and Assurance Faculty. It offers practical considerations in relation to the work of component auditors in light of coronavirus (COVID-19) to address the requirements in ISAs (UK). It may also be relevant for group auditors in other jurisdictions.
All group audits will be affected by recent Financial Reporting Council guidance on review of component auditors’ work. Geoff Swales of PwC explains the requirements of ISA (UK) 600 and outlines the work of the group engagement team.
International standards on auditing (ISAs) apply to the audits of groups of companies and ISA 600 specifically deals with special considerations that apply to group audits.
This guide is designed to explain the main changes that are needed to the audit report of a group compared to that of a company only.
This guide is designed to explain the main changes that are needed to the separate audit reports of a group and parent company compared to that of a company only.