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During the lunch debate were discussed the following key discussion themes:
Auditor Reporting
The IAASB’s new and revised Auditor Reporting standards are intended to revamp and promote the auditor’s report, not solely as a means to an end, but rather as an informative, valuable and meaningful product of the audit of the financial statements. The new auditor’s report aims to enhance the value of the audit, and contribute to the continued relevance of the profession.
For many, the most interesting and significant outcome of the IAASB’s auditor reporting project is the requirement for auditors of listed entities to include a new section in their auditor’s reports to describe key audit matters (KAMs), i.e. matters that were of most significance during the audit.
Auditor Reporting on KAMs
KAMs are intended to provide transparency to the users of the auditor’s report. Participants posed a number of questions about what constitutes a KAM, the basis of assessment thereof, and who should be determining what has to be included in the auditor’s report as a KAM.
It was explained that the natural starting point for KAMs should be from the matters communicated to the audit committee as they are typically the matters that required the most of the auditor’s attention. Then, depending on the nature of the issues and other factors (such as the extent of discussion with the audit committee), the auditor assesses which of these issues merit being included in the auditor’s report as KAMs. The auditor bears sole responsibility for what is to be reported as a KAM; however, participants noted that advance discussion with management is to be foreseen.
Participants engaged in a discussion about the understandability of the auditor’s reports and whether the language used could be simplified to cater for a wider audience. It was recognized that the requirements in the new revised Auditor Reporting standards pose an excellent opportunity for the profession to review the language used in order to add to the transparency and usefulness of the auditor’s report.
Auditor Reporting on Other Information
A number of participants raised the issue of annual reports being too long, and a focus potentially being placed on the wrong set of disclosures. Those participants indicated that, from their experience, annual reports are hardly ever read in their entirety by investors or other stakeholders and that users typically focus on the sections which they view as being relevant to them.
Audit Quality
The IAASB publication; A Framework for Audit Quality: Key Elements that create an Environment for Audit Quality (AQ Framework)was used as a reference for the discussion on this topic. Participants agreed that internal audit should be referenced more prominently in the AQ Framework as one of the key players in ensuring audit quality.
Participants acknowledged the difficulty of defining audit quality, and in general of measuring quality of a service provider. From their experience, participants could easily identify a badly conducted audit; however, determining what constitutes a quality audit is not as easy.