There are two major changes to audit work that will apply to jobs for balances dates from 31 December 2022.
One is because of the quality management standards and one relates to the new ISA 315 (revised 2019) requirements. Both are fairly major, so we have made the decision to issue 2023 versions of our audit templates, rather than just tweak the existing templates. The pages affected are as follows:
- Independence Checklist - There is now the option to cross-reference to the firm quality management system, which includes a 'New Assurance Client Tool' for independence testing and an annual independence confirmation for each staff member within the 'Audit Quality Management Tool'. Any issues regarding independence should be mentioned in the audit file. There is still the option to complete independence checklists within the file if required.
- Audit Team Planning Meeting - There are some additional questions and referencing changes as required by ISA 315 (revised 2019) and the updated ISA 220.
- Internal Controls - There are some fairly major changes here in how the control system is to be documented and assessed to comply with ISA 315 (revised 2019).
- Entity and its Environment - Includes some extra requirements and referencing updates to comply with ISA 315 (revised 2019).
- Risk Analysis, Strategy and Plan - Includes changes as required by ISA 315 (revised 2019) as to how risks are to be assessed and analysed.
- Quality Control - Updated for the changes to ISA 220.
- Quality Control Reviewer Checklist - changed from referencing ISA 220 to PES 4 - the new standard that specifically addresses the Engagement Quality Reviewer.
- In addition, there are some additional partner sign-offs on other pages as required by the updated standards, and a few referencing updates.
We have updated all our audit templates, including the Schools template for firms contracted to the Office of the Auditor General (NZ Schools (OAG) Audit (2023)) including a few other improvements suggested by users. We suggest you finish your current jobs in the existing templates and upgrade after rollover. You will be prompted to upgrade to the new template.
NOTE: Some pages may show as 'orphaned' after roll-over, as they have been replaced with a different page - the old Staffing page for instance. This has been replaced with a page called Team Meeting. Rather than just removing the old pages, we leave them there in case you wish to copy any data across before deleting them. But they should be deleted - follow the instruction in the warning header.