Audit Documentation - AICPA

1 Audit Documentation143AU-C Section 230 Audit DocumentationSource: SAS No. 122; SAS No. 123; SAS No. 128; SAS No. 134; SASNo. section 9230 for interpretations of this for audits of financial statements for periods ending on orafter December 15, 2012, unless otherwise July 2020, the Auditing Standards Board issued Statement on AuditingStandards (SAS) Nos. 142, Audit Evidence, and 143,Auditing Accounting Es-timates and Related Disclosures, which contain amendments to this section. The amendments in SAS No. 142 are effective for audits of fi-nancial statements for periods ending on or after December 15,2022, and can be viewed in appendix B of section 500 until theeffective date, when they will be applied to this section. The amendments in SAS No. 143 are effective for audits of fi-nancial statements for periods ending on or after December 15,2023, and can be viewed in appendix C of section 540 until theeffective date, when they will be applied to this of This section addresses the auditor's responsibility to prepare Audit doc-umentation for an Audit of financial statements.

2 The exhibit, " Audit Documen-tation Requirements in Other AU-C Sections," lists other AU-C sections thatcontain specific Documentation requirements and guidance. The specific doc-umentation requirements of other AU-C sections do not limit the applicationof this section. Law, regulation, or other standards may establish additionaldocumentation and Purposes of Audit Documentation that meets the requirements of this section andthe specific Documentation requirements of other relevant AU-C sections of the auditor's basis for a conclusion about the achieve-ment of the overall objectives of the auditor; that the Audit was planned and performed in accordancewith generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) and applica-ble legal and regulatory .12 of section 200,Overall Objectives of the Independent Auditor and the Conduct ofan Audit in Accordance With Generally Accepted Auditing Standards.

3 2021, AICPAAU-C principles and Documentation serves a number of additional purposes, includ-ing the following: Assisting the engagement team to plan and perform the Audit Assisting members of the engagement team responsible for su-pervision to direct and supervise the Audit work and to dischargetheir review responsibilities in accordance with section 220,Qual-ity Control for an Engagement Conducted in Accordance With Gen-erally Accepted Auditing Standards2 Enabling the engagement team to demonstrate that it is account-able for its work by documenting the procedures performed, theaudit evidence examined, and the conclusions reached Retaining a record of matters of continuing significance to futureaudits of the same entity Enabling the conduct of quality control reviews and inspections inaccordance with QC section 10.

4 A Firm's System of Quality Control Enabling the conduct of external inspections or peer reviews in ac-cordance with applicable legal, regulatory, or other requirements Assisting an auditor who reviews a predecessor auditor's auditdocumentation Assisting auditors to understand the work performed in the prioryear as an aid in planning and performing the current engagementEffective section is effective for audits of financial statements for periodsending on or after December 15, objective of the auditor is to prepare Documentation that sufficient and appropriate record of the basis for the auditor'sreport; that the Audit was planned and performed in accordancewith GAAS and applicable legal and regulatory purposes of GAAS, the following terms have the meanings at-tributed as follows: Audit record of Audit procedures performed,relevant Audit evidence obtained, and conclusions the auditorreached (terms such asworking papersorworkpapersare alsosometimes used).

5 Audit or more folders or other storage media, in physical orelectronic form, containing the records that constitute the auditdocumentation for a specific .17 .19 of section 220,Quality Control for an Engagement Conducted in AccordanceWith Generally Accepted Auditing 2021, AICPAA udit Documentation145 Documentation completion date, no later than 60 daysfollowing the report release date, on which the auditor has assem-bled for retention a complete and final set of Documentation in anaudit individual (whether internal or externalto the firm) who has practical Audit experience, and a reasonableunderstanding of (Ref: par..A1) processes; and applicable legal and regulatory requirements; business environment in which the entity operates; and financial reporting issues relevant to the en-tity's release date the auditor grants the entity permis-sion to use the auditor's report in connection with the financialstatements.

6 (Ref: par..A2)RequirementsTimely Preparation of Audit auditor should prepare Audit Documentation on a timely basis.(Ref: par..A3) Documentation of the Audit Procedures Performed and AuditEvidence ObtainedForm, Content, and Extent of Audit auditor should prepare Audit Documentation that is sufficient toenable an experienced auditor, having no previous connection with the Audit ,to understand (Ref: par..A4 .A7 and .A19 .A20) nature, timing, and extent of the Audit procedures performedto comply with GAAS and applicable legal and regulatory require-ments; (Ref: par..A8 .A9) results of the Audit procedures performed, and the Audit evi-dence obtained; findings or issues arising during the Audit , the con-clusions reached thereon, and significant professional judgmentsmade in reaching those conclusions.

7 (Ref: par..A10 .A13).09In documenting the nature, timing, and extent of Audit procedures per-formed, the auditor should identifying characteristics of the specific items or matterstested; (Ref: par..A14) performed the Audit work and the date such work was com-pleted; reviewed the Audit work performed and the date and extentof such review. (Ref: par..A15).10 For Audit procedures related to the inspection of significant contractsor agreements, the auditor should include abstracts or copies of those contractsor agreements in the Audit Documentation . 2021, AICPAAU-C principles and auditor should document discussions of significant findings or is-sues with management, those charged with governance, and others, includingthe nature of the significant findings or issues discussed, and when and withwhom the discussions took place.

8 (Ref: par..A16).12If the auditor identified information that is inconsistent with the audi-tor's final conclusion regarding a significant finding or issue, the auditor shoulddocument how the auditor addressed the inconsistency. (Ref: par..A17 .A18)Departure From a Relevant , in rare circumstances, the auditor judges it necessary to depart froma relevant presumptively mandatory requirement,3the auditor must documentthe justification for the departure and how the alternative Audit proceduresperformed in the circumstances were sufficient to achieve the intent of thatrequirement. (Ref: par..A21 .A22)Matters Arising After the Date of the Auditor s , in rare circumstances, the auditor performs new or additional auditprocedures or draws new conclusions after the date of the auditor's report, theauditor should document (Ref: par.)

9 A23) circumstances encountered; new or additional Audit procedures performed, Audit evidenceobtained, and conclusions reached, and their effect on the audi-tor's report; and by whom the resulting changes to Audit documentationwere made and and Retention of the Final Audit auditor should document the report release date in the Audit auditor should assemble the Audit Documentation in an Audit fileand complete the administrative process of assembling the final Audit file on atimely basis, no later than 60 days following the report release date. (Ref: .A26).17 After the Documentation completion date, the auditor should not deleteor discard Audit Documentation of any nature before the end of the specifiedretention period. Such retention period, however, should not be shorter thanfive years from the report release date.

10 (Ref: par..A27 .A29).18In circumstances other than those addressed in paragraph .14 in whichthe auditor finds it necessary to modify existing Audit Documentation or addnew Audit Documentation after the Documentation completion date, the auditorshould, regardless of the nature of the modifications or additions, document(Ref: par..A28) specific reasons for making the changes; and by whom they were made and auditor should adopt reasonable procedures to maintain the con-fidentiality of client .26 of section 2021, AICPAA udit Documentation147 Application and Other Explanatory MaterialDefinitions (Ref: par..06)Experienced practical Audit experience means possessing the competenciesand skills that would have enabled the auditor to perform the Audit but doesnot mean that the auditor is required to have performed comparable Release many cases, the report release date will be the date the auditordelivers the Audit report to the entity.