Group Audits – ISA 600
What the Project Aims to Achieve
The project to revise ISA 600, Special Considerations—Audits of Group Financial Statements (Including the Work of Component Auditors) aimed to:
- Clarify the scope of the standard, including explaining whether ISA 600 (Revised) applies to shared service centers, non-controlled entities and entities with branches or division;
- Clarify the interaction of ISA 600 (Revised) with other ISAs, including ISA 220 (Revised), ISA 315 (Revised 2019) and ISA 330;
- Clarify how to address restrictions on access to people and information in a group audit, including restrictions on access to component management, those charged with governance of the component, component auditors, or information at the components;
- Clarify how the concepts of materiality and aggregation risk apply in a group audit;
- Strengthen the auditor’s approach to planning and performance of a group audit by closer aligning the standard to the principles in ISA 315 (Revised 2019);
- Enhance the documentation requirements by clarifying what the group auditor may need to document in different situations;
- Emphasize the importance of professional skepticism in a group audit; and
- Reinforcing the need for robust communication and interactions during the audit.
The IAASB was mindful that the standard needs to be scalable and adaptable to a variety of circumstances.
Project Stages
Board Papers
December 2020 March 2021 June 2021 September 2021 December 2021
Board Minutes
December 2020 March 2021 June 2021 September 2021 December 2021
CAG Papers
CAG Minutes
Issued Document
Final Pronouncement Basis for Conclusion Fact Sheet: Audits of group financial statements