ACCA-ISCA Report on Enhanced Auditor Reporting: All Aboard the Transparency Express!

This report, jointly produced by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and ISCA, draws on a roundtable held in Singapore in November 2015.  The roundtable involved directors from Singapore and Malaysia who chair and sit on various audit committees, and representatives from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, as well as ISCA Auditing and Assurance Standards Committee.

The report provides the background and reasons for the changes to the auditor’s report, and highlights the directors’ reflection of the changes and the factors they consider to be critical to successful implementation of the enhanced auditor reporting regime. Permeating the directors’ discussions is the importance of having a tri-partite approach where directors and audit committees, management, and auditors all work together to ensure that the enhanced auditor’s report achieves its objective of improving its communicative value to users.

This report provides a useful reference for directors. Many of the views summarised in the report will help them consider how the enhanced auditor’s report will support their governance and financial reporting responsibilities, and how they should recalibrate their involvement in the audit reporting process.