Enhanced Audit Reporting: Communicating Key Audit Matters in the Independent Auditor’s Report

This audit assignment discusses the importance of presenting key audit matters in the audit report and how it can enhance the quality of the audit. It analyzes the changes in the audit report and the advantages and loopholes of the new idea. The report concludes with recommendations for companies to follow such steps that can help them in improving their position in front of their stakeholders.

Audit Assignment

1
By student name
Professor
University
Date: 20th Sep 2018.
Executive Summary
1 | Page

2
Enhanced audit reporting refers to the concept where different rules and regulations that are
framed by the authorities has helped in improving the overall transparency of the audit reports
and those that are prepared by the auditors. Auditors are the professionals who analyses the
financial statements of the company and based on that they comment whether the company is
showing true and fair view or not. With respect to enhancing the quality of audit reports and
applying these features for Companies in Australia, the authorities have now highlighted the
importance of highlighting key audit matters in the audit reports. A brief analysis on the same is
given below.
2 | Page

3
Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................4
Analysis........................................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................10
Recommendations.....................................................................................................................................11
References.................................................................................................................................................12
3 | Page

4
Introduction
ASA701 “Communicating Key Audit Matters in the Independent Auditor’s Report” is an
auditing standard that states the importance of presenting the key audit matters in the audit
report. It is stated if the auditors follow this they will help in improving the overall quality of the
report and will enhance the quality of the audit (Segal, 2017). Auditing is an important aspect for
any organisation as it helps the auditor in taking important decisions on the financial state of the
company and present the accurate audit report that would be helpful to the investors who can
decide whether they want to invest in the company or not (Sirois, et al., 2018). It is important
that audit report presented should be as accurate as possible and these additions would help in
improving and enhancing the overall audit report. There is code of ethics that the auditor needs
to follow. In case of Key audit matters, any such event of transaction which the auditor feels has
some material importance to the company in some way or other, or the one in which there are
risk involved, should be analysed separately and should be presented in a different section in the
audit report. This will help the investors in understanding these matters better, they will
understand that they need to focus on these areas more, and will be able to make a judgement
whether the company is correct in its overall approach or not. In case they feel that the company
is not correct then they can decide to not invest in the company (Mock, et al., 2018). Thus, it
helps in drawing the attention of the users of the financial statements to some important areas
and matters that are detrimental to the company in some way or the other. Now it also requires
them for the auditors to state the various audit procedures that they have adopted in analysing
these key audit matters, so in a way it also highlights the overall credibility of the auditors and if
they are applying proper steps or not in its checking. Thus, we see that key audit matters plays an
4 | Page

5
important part of the audit report and same is highlighted in this audit assignment (Mubako &
O'Donnell, 2018). All the listed companies must mandatory state these key audit matters in their
audit report and how these companies have adopted the same around Australia is highlighted in
the audit matter (Lessambo, 2018).
Analysis
These features of enhanced audit report have been taken in a different manner around the
country and the same has been stated below:
In the coming years it has been stated that the audit report will look a bit different from what is
used to look in the prior years. It will be a cosmetic change that will help in improving the
overall quality of the audit report and new enhanced audit report will contain a lot of information
on what the auditors thinks about the company. It is better than the current pass/fail view for the
companies. It will offer great clarity to the investors and the business people. It will benefit the
shareholders if they are able to understand what the changes are and how they can apply the
same for their betterment. It will also help the investors in understanding how the auditors are
doing their work and whether they are adopting proper audit procedures (Kangarluie &
Aalizadeh, 2017).
Few of the changes between the enhanced audit report has been stated below:
Currently, the audit report is a one-page report that is presented by the external auditors of the
company and will state whether the auditors have passed or failed the audit report based on the
financial statements of the company (Kachelmeier, et al., 2018).
5 | Page

6
But now new changes have been initiated that would help in enhancing the audit report. The
changes include-
 Firstly, the auditors will have to highlight the Key audit matters and must inform the
same to the stakeholders of the company. All the areas that have greater significance of
any risk being involved should be highlighted, any areas that may have any material
misstatement should be stated clearly in the audit report of the company. In case there are
certain matters that involves huge amount of judgement on part of the management and it
includes key auditing efforts also and analyzing the investment elements and those that
are including estimation on part of the management needs to be highlighted in the audit
report. All key audit matters should be presented under specific headings and should be
highlighted differently as it will help in drawing the attention of the stakeholders of the
company (Heminway, 2017). The auditor need to state the steps that they have adopted in
analyzing the KAM, and these KAMs and their presenting in the audit report will be in
confined to the discussion that is made between the auditor and the management of the
company. They can have an opinion on which matters they want to highlight and which
not.
 The second change is that the auditors need to highlight whether the company is
following the going concern condition or not and in case there are any such activity on
part of the management that can hamper their going concern ability should be highlighted
separately in the audit report of the company. In case there are any flags that hampers the
position of the company to continue as a going concern should be stated separately and
the auditors should inform the management regarding the same, so that they can change
6 | Page

7
that and in case the risk still prevails they need to highlight the same in their audit report
(Garon, 2018).
The major advantages that have been associated with these changes includes:
 It will help in improving the overall transparency and viability of the audit report for both
the management and the stakeholders.
 It will help the management in becoming more transparent with respect to their
engagement with other stakeholders of the company.
 It will help the stakeholders to focus better on key risk areas and it will also help them in
having better relationship with the management of the company. It will help them to get
better answers for the overall queries that have been raised by them on aspects of the
company and its position (Fukukawa & Mock, 2011).
 It is a big step in the areas of enhanced auditing and will help the authorities in future.
 It is also helpful for the public who do not have great knowledge about auditing but even
they can go through these highlighted matters and take decisions as per their own
discretion, as now they have a different section that they can take help from to understand
where the company is standing on a financial front and if there are any changes required.
Reason for the change
These changes have been a result of the strong call of the investors and the stakeholders of the
company, for more in-depth information to be included in the auditor’s report that would help in
supporting their decision making of the company. Many authorities around the globe have stated
that this is a significant milestone in the profession of auditing and many have already embraced
it to reap in the benefits sooner (Bumgarner & Vasarhelyi, 2018).
7 | Page

8
But there are certain loopholes in this new idea that has been presented and the same is stated
below with respect to certain important points that includes.
 Transparency – It has been stated clearly that if the auditor applies these auditing
standards it will help in improving the overall transparency of the audit report, but it
depends a lot on the users on how they are making use of this tool. It also depends on the
kind of issues that the auditor identifies and whether the same shall be useful or not, shall
be told only after it is used in day to day basis. There are various ways in which the tool
can be used, it can be used to communicate meaningful information that can help the
company in functioning and can also obstruct ate or frustrate such communication based
on what the management wants. It is not possible to follow a standard language form of
language and it depends on the personal discretion of the auditor so they may or may not
make effective use of the same. Only if the disclosures are meaningful the audit report
would be more transparent. Also given the fact that the management has a say in deciding
which matters would be highlighted, there can be an influenced decision and the auditors
can give out such information as Key audit matters which do not hold much significance,
thus we see that the tool is great but the user should know how to put the same in best
possible use for the companies (Bailey, et al., 2017).
 Added Liabilities – It has also been stated that enhanced audit reporting will increase the
overall liability for the auditors of the company. Previously the auditors where to only
analyze the statements and give their opinion accordingly, but now with this change they
need to adapt some different procedures and that will increase their overall work. It
should increase the viability of the audit report but it should not add to their liabilities if
the auditor is performing their work as per the relevant auditing standards and making
8 | Page

9
specific disclosures that are required. Auditors liability is a big thing and in case anything
goes wrong in audit report (Axelsen, et al., 2017). The investors must suffer huge amount
of losses. Investors are ready to take risks but they need to be aware of that, in case the
auditor takes certain steps and the management is not aware about that and in the end,
they suffer because of that then that is not taken in good way. It should reduce the
liability of the auditors if they are used in the right ways. It should provide more
meaningful information making the investors aware that there are certain areas of risk
also that they need to take care off.
 More Work – The preparation of the enhanced audit report will involve more work on
part of the auditors of the company, so in that way the management can be under this
impression, that this work is only of the auditor and they do not need to put any added
contribution in the same. Since the issues are already discussed with the management
there are high chances that the management will only allow those matters to be
highlighted that is feasible for them. So, this is a threat to the overall authenticity of the
audit report that is provided. Thus, the management should be ready to answer all the
questions that are raised on such reports and should also highlight the areas in which they
need to change accordingly. Thus, since the discussion has already happened it should
not increase the work of the company and should only add to the enhancement of the
entire scenario. It should mean that the management will again and again discuss the
same issues, they should have a clear approach and same should be highlighted in the
audit report and the shareholders have access to that to decide whether they want to
invest in the company or not (Appelbaum, et al., 2018).
9 | Page

10
Thus, based on all this it can be said that there are many such areas and loopholes which
companies need to take care of when they are preparing the audit report and most importantly it
is the responsibility of the auditors of the company to comment whether these are showing true
and fair view or not. Many companies have already adopted these changes and many companies
are still in the loophole. Time will only decide how users are making good use of these features
and if there are certain changes that needs to be initiated on both ends (Andiola, et al., 2018).
Conclusion
Based on the overall assignment it can be said that this step that has been taken by the
authorities to highlight the key audit matters in the auditor’s report, is taken in a great manner by
the companies in and around Australia. It is also helpful for the management of the company as
they know now, what are the areas in which there can be certain risk elements, and for the
stakeholders as it brings their attention towards these matters. It is also helpful for the auditors as
it helps them in getting more accurate results for their audit report and enhance the overall
quality of the audit report. The audit report is an important document based on which the
investors decide whether they will invest in the company or not. So, if any such thing that helps
in improving the quality of the audit report should be taken in good sprit and should be
highlighted accordingly. There are many companies that are still left to adopt these policies of
enhanced audit reporting and they should apply the same to the best of their abilities. It is the
responsibility of the auditor to see that they are applying the key audit matter standard to the best
of their ability and state the same in their audit report. Audit report is the mirror for the activities
10 | Page

11
of the company and their financial statements and hence the companies and the auditor should
apply the highest level of diligence in the preparation of the same. And this in turn would help in
improving the quality of the audit report.
Recommendations
Based on the overall analysis it can be said that companies should follow such steps that can help
them in improving their position in front of their stakeholder and enhanced reporting is a form of
that. The auditor and the management both should apply their judgement in analysing these audit
matters so that the stakeholders of the company get the best benefits.
11 | Page

12
References
Andiola, L., Lambert, T. & Lynch, E., 2018. Sprandel, Inc.: Electronic Workpapers, Audit Documentation,
and Closing Review Notes in the Audit of Accounts Receivable. Issues in Accounting Education, 33(2), pp.
43-55.
Appelbaum, D., Kogan, A. & Vasarhelyi, M., 2018. Analytical procedures in external auditing: A
comprehensive literature survey and framework for external audit analytics.. Journal of Accounting
Literature, 40(1), pp. 83-101.
Axelsen, M., Green, P. & Ridley, G., 2017. Explaining the information systems auditor role in the public
sector financial audit. International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, 24(1), pp. 15-31.
Bailey, C., Collins, D. & Abbott, L., 2017. The Impact of Enterprise Risk Management on the Audit
Process: Evidence from Audit Fees and Audit Delay. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, 37(3), pp.
25-46.
Bumgarner, N. & Vasarhelyi, M., 2018. Continuous auditing—a new view.. Continuous Auditing: Theory
and Application, 20(1), pp. 7-51.
Fukukawa, H. & Mock, T., 2011. Audit risk assessments using belief versus probability. Auditing: A
Journal of Practice & Theory, 30(1), pp. 75-99.
Garon, J., 2018. Ownership of University Intellectual Property. Cardozo Arts & Ent. LJ, 36(1), p. 635.
Heminway, J., 2017. Shareholder Wealth Maximization as a Function of Statutes, Decisional Law, and
Organic Documents. SSRN, pp. 1-35.
Kachelmeier, S., Schmidt, J. & Valentine, K., 2018. The disclaimer effect of disclosing critical audit
matters in the auditor’s report. SSRN, 2(1), pp. 1-39.
Kangarluie, S. & Aalizadeh, A., 2017. 'The expectation gap in auditing. Accounting, 3(1), pp. 19-22.
Knechel, W. & Salterio, S., 2016. Auditing:Assurance and Risk. fourth ed. New York: Routledge.
Lessambo, F., 2018. Audit Risks: Identification and Procedures. Auditing, Assurance Services, and
Forensics, 3(1), pp. 183-202.
Mock, T. J., Ragothaman, S. C. & Srivastava, R. P., 2018. Using Evidential Reasoning Technology to
Enhance the Audit Quality Assurance Inspection Process. Journal of Emerging Technologies in
Accounting, 15(1), pp. 29-43.
Mubako, G. & O'Donnell, E., 2018. Effect of fraud risk assessments on auditor skepticism: Unintended
consequences on evidence evaluation. International Journal of Auditing, 22(1), pp. 55-64.
12 | Page

13
Rimmer, M., 2017. The Trans-Pacific Partnership: Intellectual property, public health, and access to
essential medicines.. Intellectual Property Journal, 29(2), p. 277.
Segal, M., 2017. ISA 701: Key Audit Matters-An exploration of the rationale and possible unintended
consequences in a South African. Journal of Economic and Financial Sciences, 10(2), pp. 376-391.
Sirois, L., Bédard, J. & Bera, P., 2018. The informational value of key audit matters in the auditor's report:
evidence from an Eye-tracking study.. Accounting Horizons., 32(2), pp. 141-162.
13 | Page