24 September 2024
The Council has laid down the detailed guidelines on the subject as under:-
1. The requirement for communicating with the previous auditor being a Chartered Accountant in practice would apply to all types of audit viz., statutory audit, tax audit, internal audit, concurrent audit or any other kind of audit.
2. Various doubts have been raised by the members about the terms “audit”, “previous auditor”, “Certificate” and “report”, normally while interpreting the aforesaid Clause (8). These terms need to be clarified.
3. As per para 2 of the Institute’s publication viz. Standard on Auditing (SA) 200, “Basic Principles Governing an Audit”, an “audit” is the independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, and irrespective of its size or legal form, when such an examination is conducted with a view to expressing an opinion thereon.
4. The term “previous auditor” means the immediately preceding auditor who held same or similar assignment comprising same/similar scope of work. For example, a Chartered Accountant in practice appointed for an assignment of physical verification of inventory of raw materials, spares, stores and finished goods, before acceptance of appointment, must communicate with the previous auditor being a Chartered Accountant in practice who was holding the appointment of physical verification of inventory of raw materials, stores, finished goods and fixed assets. The mandatory communication with the previous auditor being a Chartered Accountant is required even in a case where the previous auditor happens to be an auditor for a year other than the immediately preceding year.
5. As explained in para 2.2 of the Institute’s publication viz., ‘Guidance Note on Audit Reports and Certificates for Special Purposes’, a “certificate” is a written confirmation of the accuracy of the facts stated therein and does not involve any estimate or opinion. A “report”, on the other hand, is a formal statement usually made after an enquiry, examination or review of specified matters under report and includes the reporting auditor’s opinion thereon. Thus, when a reporting auditor issues a certificate, he is responsible for the factual accuracy of what is stated therein. On the other hand, when a reporting auditor gives a report, he is responsible for ensuring that the report is based on factual data, that his opinion is in due accordance with facts, and that it is arrived at by the application of due care and skill.
6. A communication is mandatorily required for all types of audit/report where the previous auditor is a Chartered Accountant. For certification, it would be healthy practice to communicate. In case of assignments done by other professionals not being Chartered Accountants, it would also be a healthy practice to communicate.
7. Although the mandatory requirement of communication with previous auditor being Chartered Accountant applies, in uniform manner, to audits of both government and non “audit” is the independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not-government entities, yet in the case of audit of government Companies/banks or their branches, if the appointment is made well in time to enable the obligation cast under this clause to be fulfilled, such obligation must be complied with before accepting the audit. However, in case the time schedule given for the assignment is such that there is no time to wait for the reply from the outgoing auditor, the incoming auditor may give a conditional acceptance of the appointment and commence the work which needs to be attended to immediately after he has sent the communication to the previous auditor in accordance with this clause. In his acceptance letter, he should make clear to the client that his acceptance of appointment is subject to professional objections, if any, from the previous auditors and that he will decide about his final acceptance after taking into account the information received from the previous auditor.
24 September 2024
Q. Whether communication by the Incoming auditor is mandatory with the previous auditor in respect of various audit assignments, like the concurrent audit, revenue audit, tax audit and special audits etc.?
A. Yes, the requirement for communicating with the previous auditor would apply to all types of audits viz., statutory audit, tax audit, internal audit, concurrent audit or any other kind of audit. The Council has laid down detailed guidelines in this regard and the same are appearing at pages 166-168 of Code of Ethics, 2009 .
CAclubindia
