ASA 701 | Auditing and Assurance | Report

Running head: AUDITING AND ASSURANCE
Auditing and Assurance
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

1AUDITING AND ASSURANCE
Executive Summary
There has been major increase in the expectation of the investors to gain information on the
crucial aspects of the financial statements of the companies in which they are investing in. The
investors want to gain correct insight about the financial performance and financial position of
the firms for making correct investment decisions. This increased expectation of the investors are
to large extent responsible for the introduction and incorporation of the particular auditing
standard named ASA 701 Communicating Key Audit Matters. ASA 701 intends to disclose the
key audit matters of the audit clients in the independent auditor’s report. This report presents
analysis and evaluation of this new auditing standard. This report also highpoints the annual
reports of the major banks of the Australian banking sector to gain a better view of how the
auditors have revealed the key audit matters of these banks’ financial reports.

2AUDITING AND ASSURANCE
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
New Auditing Standards ASA 701..................................................................................................3
Analysis of the Key Audit Matters in Independent Auditor’s Reports...........................................4
ANZ Banking Group Limited (ANZ)..........................................................................................5
Bank of Queensland (BOQ).........................................................................................................5
Commonwealth Bank..................................................................................................................5
Medibank Private Limited (Medibank).......................................................................................6
National Australia Bank (NAB)..................................................................................................6
Westpac Banking Corp (Westpac)...............................................................................................6
Conclusion and Recommendations..................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8