Audit planning and risk assessment

Support materials on achieving audit objectives and audit materiality.

• Materiality in the audit of financial statements
• Bank reports for audit purposes: Points to remember

Articles written by practitioners and ICAEW staff in the area of Group audits.

• Know your limit

  Professional risks cannot be eliminated, but they can be managed. Christopher Arnull introduces new ICAEW guidance that can help.

• John Selwood's Q&As

  Given all the upcoming changes to the Companies Act 2006, it is easy to forget the changes that took place for auditors when the Act came in. The following questions may remind some auditors of these legal opportunities and requirements, and related issues.

• Leaping into action

  Audit teams don’t always identify, assess and respond to risk appropriately. Stacey Hillyard shows us the hoops to be jumped through.

• Learning from Goliath

  Smaller firms can learn from the challenges faced by the world’s largest networks

• Small firm big challenge

  Auditor competencies can be a huge topic even for smaller audit firms. Gill Spaul takes a look at recruitment, development and support.

• Judgement calls

  One of the subjects most frequently raised by regulators and other file reviewers is the work fulfilled by auditors to comply with ISA 315 Identifying and Assessing the Risks of Material Misstatement Through Understanding the Entity and its Environment.

• Focus on relevance

  Audit quality and efficiency are not mutually exclusive on smaller entity audits, as Christiana Diola and John Selwood explain

• New horizons

  The world is changing, society’s requirements are changing and the profession needs to change too. Martin Martinoff explains how AuditFutures is leading the way

• All change please

  The IAASB’s new and revised auditor reporting standards are an opportunity for audit firms to show innovation, respond to investors’ needs and demonstrate the value of audit, says Chris Cantwell

• Behind the scenes

  This article looks at how auditors of small entities need to understand the design and implementation of internal controls, even when they take a fully substantive approach to risk assessment.

• Interact; It's good to talk

  Identifying who is charged with governance, ensuring appropriate communication takes place and demonstrating this on the audit file are vital to the success of smaller entity audits, as Adrian Gibbons outlines.

• The use of specialists and experts

  This article looks at the practical implications of using specialists and experts in the course of the audit.

• Shine a light

  ISA 200 requires the auditor to plan and perform an audit with professional scepticism. This article looks at the guidance available on the application of professional scepticism.

• A rose by any other name

  How expert is an expert? And how does an expert differ from a specialist? Can you rely on their objectivity? This article addressed these and other difficult questions.

• Red flags and fraud triangles

  Professional scepticism and the proper application of ISAs are essential to planning an audit that will take account of fraud risk and identify fraud. This article looks at guidance from international standards on the auditor's approach to fraud along with practical considerations for the auditor to bear in mind.

• Devil in the detail

  ISA 200 overall objectives of the independent auditor and the conduct of an audit in accordance with international standards on auditing includes an explicit requirement for an auditor to plan and perform an audit with professional scepticism. Demonstrating professional scepticism that has been applied in the audit can provide challenges such as fraud, related parties and accounting estimates.

• Big questions small audits

  These Q&As discuss some of the issues associated with the idea of proportionality as it is applied to audits that are conducted using International Standards on Auditing (ISA).

• FRS 102 and the new UK GAAP

  The transition to the new UK GAAP and FRS 102 prompted an interesting question during the recent roadshows of the Audit & Assurance and Financial Reporting Faculties. John Selwood focuses solely on the role auditors might play during this change.

• Acts of compliance

  Voluntary compliance with the UK Corporate Governance Code varies widely. David Isherwood, Hugh Morgan and Geoff Swales consider when and whether the extended auditor reporting requirements apply.

• Engagement letters 
• Fit and proper declaration 
• New client information 
• Subcontracting - employing a subcontractor 
• Subcontracting - acting as a subcontractor 
• What if you have not issued an engagement letter?

These webinars cover the top 10 issues affecting auditors during clarified ISA implementation.

• Right First Time with the Clarified ISAs - webinars
• Interaction with management on smaller entity audits
• Faculty Roadshow 2012: efficient and effective auditing of smaller entities   
• Faculty roadshow follow up Problems auditing the new UK GAAP
• Auditor competencies and challenges for firms
• Key issues for auditors arising from audit inspections
• The thinking audtior
• Accounting estimates in SMEs

Guidance and support from the IAASB in the area of audit planning.

• ISA Module: ISA 620 Using the work of an expert
• ISA Module: Materiality, Misstatements..Pt 1
• Staff Questions & Answers - Applying ISAs Proportionately with the Size and Complexity of an Entity
• IAASB Staff Issues Q&As to Guide Auditors' Effective Implementation of Clarified ISAs; Addresses SME Issues

• Q&As - New appointments and new UK GAAP
• Q&As - documentation and materiality considerations
• Q&As - demonstrating and documenting professional scepticism