For assurance engagements to be worth its salt, the auditor who prepared it must be seen to be, and actually be, truly ethical and independent and free of any undue influence.
So, what is independence and why is it at the cornerstone of every assurance engagement that is conducted?
The ethical and independence requirements applying to auditors are legally enforceable and are located within the following legislation and standards:
• ISQC 1: Quality Control for Firms that Perform Audits and Reviews of Financial Reports and Other
Financial Information, and Other Assurance Engagements
• Auditing Standard ISA 220: Quality Control for an Audit of a Financial Report and Other Historical
Financial Information
• Section 90 of the Companies Act applicable to an auditor engaged to perform a statutory audit of a
company or a close corporation (CC)
• The IRBA’s Code of Professional Conduct for Registered Auditors (the Code)
• International Standard on Review Engagements 2400 (Revised)
To help members better understand the independence requirements and fully digest this information, this webinar will provide practical, case-based scenarios to help practitioners assess issues of ethics and independence that they may encounter during the performance of assurance engagements.
The following issues regarding ethics and independence will be discussed and explained:
• The 5 fundamental ethical principles
• Threats to independence and safeguards
• The conceptual framework and ethical dilemmas
• Who is “RIP”
• The 7 ethical and independence declarations that must be signed by engagement partners and
team members on all assurance engagements
• Independence requirements for statutory audits
• Rotation requirements for partners of statutory audits
• Independence requirements for Public Interest Entity Audits
• Rotation requirements for partners of Public Interest Entity Audits
• Independence requirements for voluntary audits (self-review threats)
• Independence requirements for Independent Reviewers
• Prohibited relationships applicable to all assurance engagements
• Disclosure of audit tenure
The seminar will be of interest to professional accountants in public practice who are responsible for the performance of any assurance engagements.
