There is a small technical detail that we have been made aware of for first-year reporting of service performance information in terms of NZ AS1 The Audit of Service Performance Information. In New Zealand, financial statements prepared under GAAP include “corresponding figures” (not “comparative financial statements”). (see ISA (NZ) 710 (A7))
The auditor’s opinion refers to “financial statements for the current period” and generally does not refer to the “corresponding figures” (except in certain circumstances). So, the service performance information for the previous period does not need to be audited. Consequently, in the first year, the auditor must include an 'Other Matter' paragraph in the auditor’s report that says the corresponding figures are unaudited.(see ISA (NZ) 710 (14))
This statement does not, of course, relieve the auditor of the requirement to test any opening balances to ensure that they do not materially affect the current period’s service performance information. This will probably be rare, however.
Note: NZ AS1 sets out the new requirements for auditors involved in public benefit entities. Many larger (Tier 1 and 2) PBEs will be preparing Service Performance Information for the first time. Although NZ AS1 has been deferred for another year (until periods beginning on or after 1 Jan 2023) early adoption is permitted, and our templates assume that if Service Performance Information has been prepared in terms of PBE FRS 48 it should be audited using NZ AS1 as there is a natural fit between the two standards.
The note we have added is as follows:
To insert this note we have added a question at 5.2 on the Z6 Audit Report page as follows:
Selecting 'yes' will add this to the audit report. Note that if the job has been rolled over from the prior year it will be necessary to delete the existing audit report and recreate using the appropriate 2023 audit report.