Volunteer during 2024

If volunteering your time and expertise during 2024 is one of your New Year’s resolutions, ICAEW’s volunteering hub highlights various opportunities and includes a search tool to help you find roles. 

Possibilities include:

• joining the Support Members Scheme (to assist other ICAEW members in difficulty);
• registering for the Student Mentoring Programme;
• working pro bono as an ‘independent examiner’ or using your professional skills to support a charity or not-for-profit organisation in other ways; and 
• representing your profession on one of the Audit & Assurance Faculty committees.

Improve audit quality

Findings in ICAEW’s Audit Monitoring Report 2022/23 offer opportunities to enhance audit quality. Key areas where the Quality Assurance Department (QAD) has identified the need for improvement or significant improvement relate to: 

• group accounts and related audit work;
• stock and long-term contracts;
• valuation; and 
• revenue.

“If you look back over previous monitoring reports, you’ll see similar sorts of issues coming up year after year because they’re the most challenging areas to audit,” says Trevor Smith, QAD Director at ICAEW. 

The 2022/23 monitoring report discusses the key issues identified in each of these areas and offers tips on things to consider and how to avoid the pitfalls. It also provides a list of questions firms should be asking themselves.

More broadly, and to drive improvement across all areas of audit, Smith urges firms to build on their implementation of the International Standard on Quality Management 1 (ISQM 1). “Firms now have a great opportunity to use all the work they’ve done to move forward.”

FRC focus areas during 2024/25

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has announced the areas of focus for its supervisory work during 2024/25. Its programme of audit quality inspections and corporate reporting reviews will pay particular attention to:

• risks related to the current economic environment (such as going concern and impairment);
• cash flow statements;
• implementation of IFRS 17 – Insurance Contracts; and 
• climate-related risks, including TCFD disclosures.

Stay up to date on regulatory developments from the FRC, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board and other standard setters with Technical news in brief from the Audit & Assurance Faculty.

In case you missed it

Recent additions to the faculty library of webinar recordings cover topics and tips for coming audits and offer reminders and pointers on ISA 315. You will also find webinar recordings on: what’s changing in group audits during 2024, what makes a good audit manager, and other topical matters.

New regulations for continuing professional development (CPD) from November 2023 and resources to assist with the transition, including a guide to CPD, and CPD learning resources, from technical helpsheets and articles to webinars and courses, on areas including audit and assurance.

A reminder from QAD on why good quality auditor cessation statements are so important, backed up with some QAD insights into good practices for auditor resignations based on what it has seen during recent monitoring activity, calls and visits to audit firms.