NZAuASB Update 15/2020

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Applies to: AuditingProfessional & EthicalOther Assurance

NZAuASB Upcoming Meeting

The next meeting will be held on 21 October 2020.

Matters to be discussed include:

• Consideration of the Board’s response to the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) on the auditor reporting post implementation review;
• Approval of an Agreed-upon Procedures Engagement Standard;
• Approval of amendments to Professional and Ethical Standard 1 to address the role and mindset of the assurance practitioner;
• Consideration of the draft consultation plan on the IAASB’s fraud and going concern discussion paper;
• Meeting with Lyn Provost to hear about recent activities of the IAASB;
• An update on the key revisions made by the IAASB in finalising the quality management standards and consideration of preliminary thoughts on New Zealand specific changes; and
• A briefing on the upcoming national standard setters virtual meeting.

You can register to observe this virtual NZAuASB meeting now. The meeting papers are available on the XRB website now.

Have a look

Fraud and Going Concern in an Audit

Applies to: Auditing

We invite you to participate in this virtual roundtable on Tuesday 24 November, 10:00AM to 12:00PM, where we will:

• Consider the expectation gap with regards to fraud and going concern, which includes (among others) knowledge, performance, and evolutions gaps; and
• Stimulate discussion to better understand expectations on auditors in relation to fraud and going concern in financial statement audits, and explore how this “expectation gap” may be narrowed.

Register here

We also encourage you to read the IAASB’s discussion paper ahead of the event.

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Reminder: Auditor Reporting PIR Survey

Applies to: Auditing

Help us hear from as many voices as possible!  Don’t forget to respond to the IAASB’s post-implementation review survey on the revised auditor reporting standards.

We want to hear from a wide range of stakeholders – from preparers to users of financial statements – to understand whether the standards are consistently understood and implemented and if they are achieving the intended purpose. This will help us determine what possible further actions would be helpful for users.

The closing date for responses to the survey has been extended until 23 November 2020.

Complete the survey

IAASB Staff Alert on Climate-Related Risks

Applies to: Auditing

Climate change is increasingly front of mind for investors and other stakeholders of the IAASB as its effects are increasingly visible.

Given climate change’s potential to impact most, if not all entities, directly or indirectly, the IAASB issued its Staff Audit Practice Alert: The Consideration of Climate-Related Risks in an Audit of Financial Statement

Have a look

This Staff Audit Practice Alert assists auditors in understanding what already exists in the International Standards on Auditing (ISA) today and how it relates to auditors’ considerations of climate-related risks in an audit of financial statements.

Technology FAQs

Applies to: Auditing

The IAASB’s Technology Working Group has released non-authoritative support for using automated tools and techniques when performing audit procedures.

The publication assists auditors in understanding whether a procedure involving automated tools and techniques may be both a risk assessment procedure and a further audit procedure. It also provides specific considerations when using automated tools and techniques in performing substantive analytical procedures in accordance with International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 520, Analytical Procedures.  

This publication does not amend or override the ISAs, the texts of which alone are authoritative. Reading the publication is not a substitute for reading the ISAs.

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IESBA: Role and Mindset Expectations

Applies to: Professional & Ethical

The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) has released revisions to the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards) to better promote the role and mindset expected of all professional accountants.

Among other matters, the revisions:

• Reinforce aspects of the principles of integrity, objectivity and professional behaviour;
• Raise behavioural expectations of all professional accountants through requiring them to have an inquiring mind as they undertake their professional activities;
• Emphasise the importance of accountants being aware of the potential influence of bias in their judgements and decisions; and
• Highlight the supportive role the right organisational culture can play in promoting ethical conduct and business.

Have a look

The NZAuASB is expected to approve amendments to Professional and Ethical Standard 1, International Code of Ethics for Assurance Practitioners (including International Independence Standards) (New Zealand) at its October meeting.

Using specialists in the COVID-19 environment

Applies to: Auditing

The staff of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants and the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board jointly released the publication Using Specialists in the COVID-19 Environment: Including Considerations for Involving Specialists in Audits of Financial Statements.

The publication highlights relevant ethical considerations for accountants when thinking about using a specialist, as well as circumstances that indicate a need for a specialist during an audit of financial statements.

It provides guidance to assist when there might be a need to use the services of a specialist to assist in performing specific tasks and other professional activities within their employing organisation, and in serving their clients in the COVID-19 environment.

Have a look

Have your say... 

We are currently consulting on the matter set out in the table below.

We welcome your comments and feedback, either formal or informal, by the due dates below.

You can submit your comments directly from the Exposure Draft page on our website following the links below.