IAASB Completed Projects
Accounting Estimates - ISA 540
The project objectives are to:
(i) Propose revisions to ISA 540, establishing more robust requirements and appropriately detailed guidance to foster audit quality by driving auditors to perform appropriate procedures in relation to accounting estimates and related disclosures. It is anticipated that these revisions would also seek to emphasize the importance of the appropriate application of professional skepticism when auditing accounting estimates.
(ii) Determine whether non-authoritative guidance and support tools, such as International Auditing Practice Notes, Staff publications, project updates or other materials, should be developed in the future to address special audit considerations relevant to financial institutions to supplement the revisions to ISA 540 and oversee the development of the guidance material considered necessary.
PROJECT CONTACT
NOCLAR
This project considers the implications of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants’ (IESBA’s) project to develop new standards for its Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (IESBA Code) regarding responding to non-compliance with laws and regulations (NOCLAR) on the IAASB’s International Standards.
PROJECT CONTACT
Amendments to ISA 810
The objective of this project is to develop amendments to ISA 810, Engagements to Report on Summary Financial Statements to explain how the enhancements resulting from the new and revised Auditor Reporting standards apply to engagements to report on summary financial statements.
PROJECT CONTACT
Amendments to ISA 800 and 805
The objective of this project is to develop amendments to ISA 800, Special Considerations—Audits of Financial Statements Prepared in Accordance with Special Purpose Frameworks and ISA 805, Special Considerations—Audits of Single Financial Statements and Specific Elements, Accounts or Items of a Financial Statement to explain how the enhancements resulting from the new and revised Auditor Reporting standards apply to engagements to which ISA 800 and ISA 805 apply.
PROJECT CONTACT
Disclosures
The project objectives are to:
- Determine whether revisions (in the form of new or revised requirements, or additional application material) to the ISAs with respect to auditing disclosures are required and, if so, develop such revisions.
- Consider how such revisions should be presented, for example within the relevant ISAs or in a separate ISA.
- Determine whether other types of non-authoritative guidance, such as an International Auditing Practice Note (IAPN) or Staff Questions and Answers (Staff Q&A) publication should be developed and, if so, develop the content of such a publication.
The above objectives are not mutually exclusive, and deliberations on each will inform the overall project.
PROJECT CONTACT
The Auditor’s Responsibilities Relating to Other Information
To revise ISA 720,The Auditor's Responsibilities Relating to Other Information in Documents Containing Audited Financial Statements to ensure that the ISA continues to be capable of enhancing the credibility of financial statements through specifying appropriate responsibilities of the auditor relating to the range of other information in documents containing audited financial information and taking account of how such information is disseminated.
PROJECT CONTACT
Auditor Reporting
The objectives of this project are to:
- Appropriately enhance the communicative value and relevance of the auditor’s report through proposed revisions to International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) requirements that address its structure and content; and
- Determine whether and how the IAASB’s reporting ISAs, in their design, can be modified to accommodate evolving national financial reporting regimes, while at the same time ensuring that common and essential content is being communicated.
Achieving the project objectives is premised on the need to take into account the activities of others, and consider how the IAASB may act to minimize the differences in auditor’s reports that may result from these separate initiatives.
The project will include revision of ISA 700, Forming and Opinion and Reporting on Financial Statements, and as appropriate, the revision of, or conforming amendments to, related communication and reporting requirements relevant to audits (for example, ISA 260, Communication with Those Charged with Governance).
PROJECT CONTACT
Kathleen HealyDiane JulesSara AshtonJasper van den Hout
Audit Quality
To establish in the public interest an international framework that describes audit quality holistically, including:
a) The influences of input, output and context factors;
b) Stakeholders' varying perspectives on audit quality; and
c) The importance of relationships between auditors and other key participants in the financial reporting supply chain (i.e., management, those charged with governance, investors and regulators), which influence audit quality.
PROJECT CONTACT
ISA Implementation Monitoring
The objectives of this project are:
Phase One: Pre-Implementation Monitoring
To obtain pre-implementation information from a number of countries and firms about their experiences in introducing clarified International Standards on Auditing (ISAs).
Phase Two: Post-Implementation Review
• To determine whether the clarified ISAs are being consistently understood and implemented in a manner that achieves the IAASB's goals in revising them; and
• To determine whether any issues arise during the review that will require further consideration by the IAASB.
Using the Work of Internal Auditors
To revise ISA 610, Using the Work of Internal Auditors to reflect developments in the internal auditing environment and changes in practice regarding the interactions between the external and internal auditors.
