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Audit committees

Practical information and guidance for Corporate Governance professionals working on audit committees.

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Need to know

A practical guide for audit committees on improving financial reporting

A joint publication with the Financial Reporting Council, this guide offers practical suggestions for audit committees and boards of smaller listed and AIM quoted companies seeking to deliver high quality financial and risk reporting.
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Articles & features

Business should embrace the audit and assurance policy
  • Apr 2024
  • ICAEW Insights
Despite the UK government dropping corporate governance reforms, many audit committee chairs are likely to continue following the principles behind the Audit and Assurance Policy even if they don’t publish a statement.
Net zero is a chance to say yes
  • Apr 2024
  • Andy Boteler, Director of Finance at Riverford Organic Farmers
Andy Boteler is Director of Finance at Riverford Organic Farmers, is Senior Independent Director and Chair of Audit and Remuneration Committee at LungLife AI and is Chair of Audit Committee at Octopus AIM VCT PLC. Here, he shares his perspective on what it means to be an FD in a purpose-led, employee-owned organisation.
Exclusive Corporate Governance Conference 2024
  • Mar 2024
  • ICAEW Corporate Governance Community
On 5 March 2024, ICAEW delivered its inaugural Corporate Governance Conference, exploring themes around restoring trust in corporate governance, avoiding a US style SOX regime, preventing disorderly collapses, and the evolving role of audit committees.
PIE audit market dynamics under the spotlight
  • Aug 2023
  • ICAEW Insights
Amid policymaker concerns about the resilience of the market, lowering existing barriers to entry is key, alongside audit committees and shareholders being more open to PIEs using a broader field of players.
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Guidance

AUDIT AND ASSURANCE FACULTY Audit committees on improving financial reporting
  • Helpsheets and support
  • May 2019
  • PDF (492kb)
  • ICAEW in association with the Financial Reporting Council
A practical guide for audit committees on improving financial reporting.
AUDIT AND ASSURANCE FACULTY Assurance mapping
  • Helpsheets and support
  • Sep 2018
  • Audit and Assurance Faculty
Assurance maps can be a powerful tool providing great insights for boards, senior management and audit committees. Here the Audit and Assurance Faculty explores the concept of assurance maps and the benefits to various stakeholders.
FINANCIAL SERVICES FACULTY Enhancing audit-audit committee dialogue
  • Helpsheets and support
  • Nov 2013
  • Financial Services Faculty
ICAEW’s Financial Services Faculty has issued guidance to enhance the dialogue between bank auditors and their audit committees.
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CPD Training courses

Stay on top of the rapidly evolving corporate governance landscape and discover how to be a high-performing board director.
Corporate governance courses
Octopus

Reports

AUDIT AND ASSURANCE FACULTY Sharpening the focus on corporate fraud: an audit committee perspective
  • Thought leadership report
  • May 2023
  • Audit and Assurance Faculty
This report from ICAEW's Audit and Assurance Faculty considers audit committee perspectives on the nature and extent of corporate fraud and what the corporate sector is doing to improve the chances of preventing and detecting it.
AUDIT AND ASSURANCE FACULTY Audit quality: how to raise the bar
  • Thought leadership report
  • Mar 2021
  • Audit and Assurance Faculty
What steps can and should audit committees, audit regulators, investors and auditors in the UK take to improve audit quality? This essay from the Audit and Assurance Faculty examines audit quality in terms of ownership, behavioural aspects, and structural drivers.
INTERNATIONAL Audit committees in Europe
  • Report
  • Nov 2019
  • PDF (1,368kb)
  • European Affairs
This report expands our examination to audit committees in a further six EU countries, spread across the centre and south, with various corporate governance traditions and different sized capital markets – namely Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, The Netherlands and Portugal.
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Webinars and other recordings

AUDIT AND ASSURANCE FACULTY Developing an audit and assurance policy
  • Webinar
  • Apr 2021
  • Audit and Assurance Faculty
This webinar will provide attendees with an overview of ICAEWs recommendations for developing an audit and assurance policy, based on proposals included in Brydon’s report on the quality and effectiveness of audit.
Audit and risk committee effectiveness in financial services
  • Webinar
  • Sep 2018
  • Financial Services Faculty
In this webinar we will cover three challenges for committees, and practical suggestions for how to work more effectively and efficiently.
Exclusive CORPORATE GOVERNANCE COMMUNITY Leading an effective audit committee
  • Webinar
  • Mar 2018
  • Corporate Governance Community
Angela Crawford-Ingle, Chair of Audit & Risk Committees at Beazley plc, Swinton Insurance and River and Mercantile Group, and Tim Copnell, Founding Chairman of KPMG’s UK Audit Committee Institute share best practice in leading an effective Audit Committee.

Bloomsbury Accounting and Tax Service

Eligible firms have free access to Bloomsbury Professional's comprehensive online library, comprising around 80 titles from some of the country's leading tax and accounting subject matter experts. Find out who is eligible and how you can access the Accounting and Tax Service.
Exclusive Corporate governance
  • eBook
  • 01 Jan 2024
  • Financial Reporting Council
  • Bloomsbury Professional
  • Corporate Governance
The full text of the Combined Code and related documents issued by the Financial Reporting Council.
Exclusive Board committees
  • eBook chapter
  • 01 Jan 2020
  • Andrew Chambers
  • Bloomsbury Professional
  • Corporate Governance Handbook
Practical guidance on the effectiveness of audit, risk, remuneration and nomination board committees.
Exclusive The risk conversation at board level
  • eBook chapter
  • 01 Jan 2020
  • Andrew Chambers
  • Bloomsbury Professional
  • Corporate Governance Handbook
A chapter exploring how the oversight of risk should be dealt with at the level of the board of directors.
Terms of use:

You are permitted to access, download, copy, or print out content from eBooks for your own research or study only, subject to the Acceptable usage terms.

eBooks

The Library & Information Service provides a collection of eBooks as a benefit of membership. Please note that ICSA publications are only available to ICAEW members and ACA students.  Please log in to access these titles. If you are unable to access an eBook, please see our Help and support or contact library@icaew.com
Exclusive The board structure and its committees
  • eBook chapter
  • 2017
  • ICSA Publishing
  • ICSA Publishing
  • The ICSA Corporate Governance Handbook
Chapter 3 deals with the structure of the board, its governance role and responsibilities. It also gives brief overviews of the different types of board committees, including: audit; nomination; remuneration; and risk committees. These are dealt with in more detail in later chapters.
Exclusive Audits, accounts and financial statements
  • eBook chapter
  • 2017
  • ICSA Publishing
  • ICSA Publishing
  • The ICSA Corporate Governance Handbook
Chapter 7 gives details of the purpose of audit and the auditor's duty of care. The role of the audit committee is dealt with in detail, including audit tendering and internal control and risk management.
Exclusive Audit
  • eBook chapter
  • 2016
  • Douglas Armour
  • ICSA Publishing
  • Company Secretarys Handbook
An authoritative guide to company secretarial practice. Detailed commentary is accompanied by over 80 precedents. Chapter 11 of the handbook looks at audit, including choice of auditor, audit rotation, audit committees and reports to the audit committee.
Terms of use:

You are permitted to access, download, copy, or print out content from eBooks for your own research or study only, subject to the terms of use set by our suppliers and any restrictions imposed by individual publishers. Please see individual supplier pages for full terms of use.

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Industry press

The Library & Information Service provides a collection of articles as a benefit of membership. Please log in to view these articles. If you are unable to access the articles, please see our Help and support page or contact library@icaew.com.
Exclusive Navigating AI: a pragmatic guide for corporate boards
  • Oct 2023
  • Chris Smith
  • National Association of Corporate Directors
The article focuses on how the exponential growth of artificial intelligence (AI) across various sectors is compelling boards to redefine their roles in providing oversight and guidance on AI strategy and risk management. It emphasizes the importance of a human-centred approach to AI, aligning strategic decisions with an organization's mission and values, addressing ethical dilemmas, intellectual property concerns, and privacy challenges.
Exclusive COSO issues guidance on internal control over sustainability reporting
  • Jun 2023
  • Dan Goelzer
  • Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory
An update on the publication of guidance by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) on applying its internal control framework to sustainability reporting. It explains how the 17 principles in COSO's framework can be applied to sustainability reporting, emphasizing the importance of effective internal control over sustainability-related matters and the need for audit committees to ensure appropriate controls are in place.
Exclusive AI ethics committee - a new necessity?
  • Jul 2022
  • Reid Blackman
  • Harvard Business Publications
Article explains why having expert oversight over your organisation's use of AI can safeguard your data and your brand. An AI ethics committee can identify and mitigate the ethical risks of AI products that are developed in-house or procured from third-party vendors.
Exclusive 7 pressing cybersecurity questions
  • Apr 2022
  • Keri Pearlson, Nelson Novaes Neto
  • Harvard Business Publications
This article offers 7 questions to ask to make sure your board understands how cybersecurity is being managed by your organisation. Asking these questions will also raise awareness of the importance of cybersecurity, and the need to prioritize action.
Terms of use:

You are permitted to access articles subject to the terms of use set by our suppliers and any restrictions imposed by individual publishers. Please see individual supplier pages for full terms of use.

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Useful links

UK Corporate Governance Code
  • Financial Reporting Council
Section 4 – Audit, risk and internal control - from the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024 (for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2025)
Section 4 - Audit, risk and internal control - from the UK Corporate Governance Code 2018.
Audit Committees and the External Audit: Minimum Standard
  • Financial Reporting Council
The primary objective of this standard is to enhance performance and ensure a consistent approach across audit committees within the FTSE350. By setting out clear expectations and guidelines, the FRC aims to support the delivery of high-quality audits and reinforce public trust in the financial reporting process. The standard will apply to FTSE350 companies.
Auditing Practices Committee Archives
  • University of Manchester
Information on the special collection of Auditing Practices Committee (APC) papers from 1971 to 1991 held by John Rylands University Library.
Corporate Governance Review
  • Grant Thornton
Grant Thornton's review of the annual reports of 252 of the UK’s FTSE 350 companies. The section on audit committees looks at how successfully the reports cover significant financial statement issues, auditor tenure and independence, audit fees and risk and internal control disclosures.
Disclaimer

ICAEW accepts no responsibility for the content on any site to which a hypertext link from this site exists. The links are provided ‘as is’ with no warranty, express or implied, for the information provided within them. Please see the full copyright and disclaimer notice.

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