Sole practice auditor? Appointed an alternate?

If you are a sole practice auditor, you have until 1 December 2025 to appoint your alternate (if you do not have one in place already). This is required following a change to UK Audit Regulations on 1 June (see regulation 2.02A).

Learn more about why, what is required and complete the necessary forms.

Practical group audit guidance updated

Auditing in a group context – Practical considerations for auditors (August 2025) offers updated guidance from ICAEW for group and component auditors, reflecting significant changes that were introduced when the auditing standard ISA (UK) 600 was revised for audits of financial statements for periods commencing on or after 15 December 2023.

This updated guidance supersedes the Audit and Assurance Faculty’s previous publication, Auditing Groups: A Practical Guide, and should be read alongside ISA (UK) 600 and firms’ updated audit methodologies. 

Drawing on the experience of UK auditors who have acted in group and component roles, the updated ICAEW guidance offers practical insights into the real-world challenges of auditing under the revised ISA (UK) 600, and reflects the updated definitions, principles and expectations it introduced.

Removal of the significant versus non-significant component classification is one of the most fundamental changes to ISA 600 since its creation and the section in the guide on how to scope component entities may be particularly useful for firms that are new to performing fully risk-based component-based scoping. 

A hub page on Auditing groups of companies includes links to the new guide, the main sections (on planning, logistics, execution, documentation, completion and reporting, specific challenges and illustrative reports to the group auditor), plus other related resources. 

Safeguard the quality of your audits

Some audit firms have not found it easy to interpret the requirements of the International Standard on Quality Management (ISQM) (UK) 1 and scale them to fit their firm. Three practical articles from ICAEW’s Professional Standards Department may help firms to more easily navigate the changes.

The first article in the series considers how and what to monitor, the second covers what to do with your monitoring findings (and getting to the root cause), and the third article looks at types of remedial action, ways to assess its effectiveness and finishes with a look at the annual evaluation process.

Sustainability assurance resources

ICAEW is offering practical support on how to plan and execute a sustainability assurance engagement, with the addition of a single, specific course on sustainability assurance, as the fifth unit in ICAEW’s Sustainability Accelerator Programme (a free resource for ICAEW members and students).

The sustainability assurance unit includes the following modules:

1. Introduction and overview of sustainability information and reporting
2. Sustainability assurance standards and requirements 
3. Planning a sustainability assurance engagement 
4. Conducting and reporting on a sustainability assurance engagement 

Explore key insights on the emerging global sustainability assurance framework in Engaging with sustainability assurance, a recent Audit and Beyond article, sharing practical pointers from audit and assurance professionals in practice and standard setting, and links to the latest resources from standard setters.

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.