International Framework for Assurance Engagements

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) published the International Framework for Assurance Engagements in 2004 and updated it in 2013.

The Amended International Framework for Assurance (the Framework) sets out the high-level principles applicable to all assurance engagements as shown in the structure below including:

• Audits of financial statements
• Reviews of financial statements
• Assurance as conducted: ISAE 3000 Assurance Engagements other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information (Revised) and its related subject specific standards.

The Framework is worth reading because it sets out the high-level principles that lead to the guidance developed in more detail in ISAE 3000 (Revised).

It should be noted that the Framework itself sits below ISQC1-99 The International Standards on Quality Control; and the IESBA Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants, which therefore apply to all assurance engagements performed using ISAE 3000 (Revised), see image below.

 

Further reading

• Access pronouncements of the IAASB
• ISQC1
• The IESBA Code
• ISAE 3402 Assurance Reports on Controls at a Service Organization
• ISAE 3410 Assurance Engagements on Greenhouse Gas Statements
• ISAE 3420 Assurance Engagements Assurance Engagements to Report on the Compilation of Pro Forma Financial Information in a Prospectus
• ISRE 2400 Engagements to Review Financial Statements
• ISRE 2410 Review of Interim Financial Information Performed by the Independent Auditor of the Entity
• ISRS 4400 Engagements to Perform Agreed-Upon Procedures Regarding Financial Information
• ISRS 4410 Engagements to Compile Financial Information

In articles for Audit and Beyond, the Audit and Assurance Faculty's member magazine, John Ward, consultant and chairman of the ICAEW Audit & Assurance Innovation Panel (TAAIP), offers insights into:

• The differences between reasonable and limited assurance, in light of the International Framework for Assurance.
• The variety of topics that can be assured using attestation and direct reporting, the two underlying bases ISAE 3000 offers for providing assurance.