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Оглавление15 AU-C 500 Audit Evidence
General Guides to the Reliability of Evidence
Using a Management’s Specialist’s Information
Inconsistency or Doubts about Reliability of Evidence
General Guides to Sufficiency of Evidence
Audit Procedures for Obtaining Audit Evidence
The Effect of an Inability to Obtain Evidential Matter Relating to Income Tax Accruals
Auditor of Participating Employer in a Governmental Cost-Sharing Multiple-Employer Pension Plan
Auditor of Participating Employer in a Governmental Agent Multiple-Employer Pension Plan
SCOPE
AU-C 500 provides auditors with the basic guidance on what constitutes audit evidence and the procedures to obtain it. The other topics in the 500 section of the clarified auditing standards give in-depth information on specific areas, sampling, opening balances, accounting estimates, related parties, subsequent events, and analytical procedures.
DEFINITIONS OF TERMS
Source: AU-C 500.05. For definitions related to this standard, see Appendix A, “Definitions of Terms”: Accounting records, Appropriateness (of audit evidence), Audit evidence, Management’s specialist, Sufficiency (of audit evidence)
OBJECTIVE OF AU-C SECTION 500
The objective of the auditor is to design and perform audit procedures that enable the auditor to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to be able to draw reasonable conclusions on which to base the auditor’s opinion.
(AU-C Section 500.04)
REQUIREMENTS
General Guides to the Reliability of Evidence
The auditor should consider the relevance and reliability of the audit evidence. (AU-C 500.07) Appropriateness of evidence depends on the circumstances, so there are important exceptions to the following presumptions. They are, however, useful general guides.
Evidential matter from independent sources outside an entity is more reliable than that secured solely within the entity.
Accounting data are more reliable when developed under effective internal control.
Direct personal knowledge obtained from the auditor’s own physical examination, inspection, observation, or computation is more reliable than information obtained indirectly.
Audit evidence is more reliable when it exists in documentary form.
Audit evidence provided by original documents is more reliable than audit evidence provided by photocopies or facsimiles.
(AU-C 500.A32)
When information produced by the entity is used by the auditor to perform further audit procedures (for example, analytical procedures), the auditor should obtain audit evidence about the accuracy and completeness of the information. See the chapter on AU-C 520 for additional guidance. (AU-C 500.A33)
Using a Management’s Specialist’s Information
If audit evidence is created using the work of a management’s specialist, the auditor should be careful to evaluate the competence and objectivity of the specialist, get an understanding of the work, and evaluate the appropriateness of the work relevant to the related assertion. (AU-C 500.08) The auditor should ensure the information produced by the entity is accurate, complete, sufficiently precise, and detailed. (AU-C 500.09)
Inconsistency or Doubts about Reliability of Evidence
When audit evidence is contradictory or doubts arise as to its reliability, the auditor resolves the situation by modifying or adding procedures. The auditor should also consider the effect on other aspects of the audit. (AU-C 500.10)
General Guides to Sufficiency of Evidence
The amount of competent evidential matter necessary to provide a reasonable basis for an opinion depends largely on the exercise of professional judgment. Usually the auditor must rely on evidence that is persuasive rather than convincing; an auditor is seldom convinced beyond all doubt about all aspects of the statements being audited. There should be a rational relationship between the cost and the usefulness of evidence, but the difficulty and expense of a test are not valid reasons for omitting it.
Audit Procedures for Obtaining Audit Evidence
The auditor should obtain audit evidence to draw reasonable conclusions on which to base the audit opinion by performing audit procedures to:
Obtain an understanding of the entity and its environment, including its internal control, to assess the risks of material misstatement. These procedures are referred to as risk assessment procedures.
When necessary, or when the auditor has determined to do so, test the operating effectiveness of controls.
Detect material misstatements by performing substantive procedures, which are substantive analytical procedures, tests of details, or a combination of both.
The auditor should use one or more types of the following audit procedures:
Inspection of records or documents such as checks, invoices, contracts, and minutes of meetings.
Inspection of tangible assets, such as inventory.
Observation of a process or procedure being performed by entity personnel.
Inquiry of knowledgeable persons inside or outside the entity.
Obtaining confirmation and other written representation from knowledgeable people within and outside the entity.
Recalculation by checking the mathematical accuracy of documents or records.
Reperformance of the entity’s procedures or controls.
Analytical procedures, as described in Section 520.
Scanning accounting data for unusual individual items
(AU-C 500.A14–.A23)
INTERPRETATIONS
The Effect of an Inability to Obtain Evidential Matter Relating to Income Tax Accruals
Occasionally, the client may not (a) prepare or maintain appropriate documentation of the calculation or contents of the income tax accrual, or (b) permit the auditor access to the documentation or necessary information, or to entity personnel with information about the income tax accrual.
In these circumstances, the client has imposed a scope limitation on the audit, and the auditor should determine the effect of the limitation on his or her ability to express an opinion on the financial statements. (AU-C 9500.04–.05) The auditor may express an unqualified opinion or a qualified opinion, or may disclaim an opinion.
The auditor should document all relevant information that he or she obtains about the income tax accrual. The documentation should include results of auditing procedures and should include significant elements of the client’s analysis of the tax contingencies or reserves. The documentation should be sufficient for an experienced auditor to understand the extent and results of auditing procedures performed. It should include the client’s analysis of tax contingencies and reserves, support for related disclosures, and support for assessing deferred tax assets. (AU-C 9500.12 and .13)
The opinion of the client’s legal counsel about the appropriateness of the income tax accrual is not sufficient competent evidential matter for the accrual. (AU-C 9500.16)
If a client is basing its position on a material tax accrual on an outside advisor’s opinion, the auditor should obtain the opinion, or the client’s summarization of that opinion. (AU-C 9500.19)
Similarly, an auditor cannot rely solely on the conclusions of a third-party tax advisor without careful consideration by the auditor. The auditor should have access to the tax advisor’s opinions and supporting evidence. (AU-C 9500.20)
If the auditor cannot obtain sufficient competent evidence, the auditor has a scope limitation. (AU-C 9500.22)
Auditor of Participating Employer in a Governmental Cost-Sharing Multiple-Employer Pension Plan
In June 2012, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) issued statements No. 67 and No. 68 that change the reporting of public employee pension plans and the state and local governments that participate in those plans. In response, the Auditing Standards Board (ASB) issued three interpretations to assist plan and employer auditors in implementing those standards. Auditors of entities that have implemented the standards should reference AU-C Sections 9500, 9600, and 9805 for more information.
Auditor of Participating Employer in a Governmental Agent Multiple-Employer Pension Plan
In April 2014, the ASB issued this interpretation related to GASB No. 68. The Interpretation provides guidance on unaudited information provided by the plan’s management, the use of the plan auditor’s report as evidence by the employer auditor, and the evaluation of that information by the employer auditor.
