Audit Evidence
What the Project Aims to Achieve
The IAASB is currently working on a project to revise ISA 500, Audit Evidence. In revising this standard, the IAASB aims to:
- Clarify the purpose of ISA 500 and how it relates to the other ISAs.
- Modernize how the standard deals with variety of information available to an auditor, and the various sources of such information.
- Recognize the use of technology, both in the context of:
- An entity’s use of technology in preparing the financial statements and technology used to generate other underlying information; and
- The auditor’s use of technology in performing audit procedures.
- Clarify the concept of sufficient appropriate audit evidence.
- Emphasize the auditor’s responsibility to exercise professional skepticism.
Project Timeline
The following table sets out the project timeline. Please note that these are current targeted milestones and may change as the work in this area progresses.
Current Status of the Project
At its March 2021 meeting, the Board provided direction on the initial proposals of the Audit Evidence Task Force on the definition of audit evidence and the meaning of audit procedures. The Board also discussed the meaning of sufficient appropriate audit evidence, including the factors the auditor would think about when considering whether sufficient appropriate audit evidence has been obtained. The Board considered the Audit Evidence Task Force’s further proposals to incorporate a principles-based approach in considering the relevance and reliability of information intended to be used as audit evidence.
The Audit Evidence Task Force will present further proposals on these issues and other issues related to this project at the June 2021 IAASB meeting.
Task Force Information
IAASB Staff Contact
Task Force Members
- Sue Almond (Chair)
- Sachiko Kai
- Kai-Uwe Marten
- Eric Turner
- Jamie Shannon
- Susan Jones
- Barb Vanich (PCAOB Observer)
