Latest findings from QAD Audit Monitoring 

ICAEW has published its Audit Monitoring Report 2025, providing a snapshot of results from quality assurance monitoring reviews during 2024. 

Themes from the report include: audit quality in smaller audit firms, common weaknesses, root causes, ethical standards and firms’ implementation of the system of quality management required by the International Standard on Quality Management, ISQM 1. 

To support audit firms to improve and maintain their audit quality, there is a webinar series sharing audit monitoring insights into: 

• smaller audit firms and less complex audits;
• larger audit firms and complex audits; and
• ISQM 1 implementation. 

Common weaknesses, plus other focus areas and themes, from the report will be the subject of future Audit & Beyond articles.

Explore your faculty resources

Are you making the most of your faculty resources? 

Start your journey of exploration at ICAEW’s hub page for Audit and assurance resources. They include:

• your faculty webinar library – with recordings on matters such as:
  • what makes a good audit manager
  • auditor reviews of management spreadsheets
  • sampling and substantive analytical review; and
  • forensics in audit

• technical releases and guides – with a series from the faculty on preparing audit reports for certain specific situations and links to audit and assurance helpsheets from ICAEW’s Technical Advisory Service; and 
• recent ICAEW Insights articles on audit and assurance.

Next Generation ACA: training the leaders of tomorrow

ICAEW is introducing its Next Generation ACA qualification from September 2025 to ensure it remains best-in-class for the next generation of business, finance and accounting students – and organisations they serve. 

The ACA’s business, finance and accountancy modules and work experience remain core components of the new qualification, with the key themes of ethics, sustainability and technology integrated throughout, but with an additional specialised learning and development programme to offer students a new opportunity to develop specialist skills.

Learn more at Next Generation ACA.

Updates to ICAEW Code of Ethics effective from July 2025

Members, firms and students are reminded that recent changes to ICAEW’s Code of Ethics become effective from 1 July 2025. They include: updates relating to professional behaviour, role and mindset, and technology.

ICAEW has published supporting guidance and recorded a webinar to help practitioners understand the changes and what they mean in practice. ICAEW’s Ethics CPD Course has also been updated to provide an overview of the changes.

For more information, including an overview of the changes, visit ICAEW Insights.

Technical updates

The Audit and Assurance Faculty provides news from regulators and standard setters in Technical news in brief, which can also be accessed from the Audit & Beyond hub page.