The Auditor’s Communication With Those Charged With …

1 Auditor s Communication with Those Charged with Governance215AU-C Section 260 The Auditor s Communication with ThoseCharged with GovernanceSource: SAS No. 122; SAS No. 123; SAS No. 125; SAS No. for audits of financial statements for periods ending on orafter December 15, May 2019, the Auditing Standards Board (ASB) issued SAS No. 134,Au-ditor Reporting and Amendments, Including Amendments Addressing Disclo-sures in the Audit of Financial Statements, and SAS No. 135,Omnibus State-ment on Auditing Standards 2019, both of which contain amendments tothis section. In July 2019, the ASB issued SAS No. 137,The Auditor's Respon-sibilities Relating to Other Information Included in Annual Reports,whichalso contains amendments to this section. The amendments in SAS No. 134 are effective for audits of financialstatements for periods ending on or after December 15, 2020, andcan be viewed in appendix A of section 700 until the effective date,when they will be applied to this section.

2 The amendments in SAS No. 135 are effective for audits of financialstatements for periods ending on or after December 15, 2020, andcan be viewed in appendix B of section 700 until the effective date,when they will be applied to this section. The amendments in SAS No. 137 are effective for audits of financialstatements for periods ending on or after December 15, 2020, andcan be viewed in the appendix of section 720 until the effective date,when they will be applied to this of This section addresses the auditor's responsibility to communicatewith Those Charged with governance in an audit of financial statements. Al-though this section applies regardless of an entity's governance structure orsize, particular considerations apply when all of Those Charged with governanceare involved in managing an entity.

3 This section does not establish require-ments regarding the auditor's Communication with an entity's management orowners unless they are also Charged with a governance section is written in the context of an audit of financial statementsbut may also be applied, adapted as necessary in the circumstances, to auditsof other historical financial information when Those Charged with governancehave a responsibility to oversee the preparation and fair presentation of theother historical financial information. 2019, AICPAAU-C Principles and the importance of effective two-way Communication in anaudit of financial statements, this section provides an overarching frameworkfor the auditor's Communication with Those Charged with governance and iden-tifies some specific matters to be communicated.

4 Additional matters to be com-municated are identified in other AU-C sections (see the exhibit, "Require-ments to Communicate with Those Charged with Governance in Other AU-CSections"). In addition, section 265,Communicating Internal Control RelatedMatters Identified in an Audit, establishes specific requirements regarding thecommunication of significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in internalcontrol the auditor has identified during the audit to Those Charged with gover-nance. Further matters not required by generally accepted auditing standards(GAAS) may be required to be communicated by agreement with Those chargedwith governance or management or in accordance with external in this section precludes the auditor from communicating any othermatters to Those Charged with section is effective for audits of financial statements for periodsending on or after December 15.

5 Objectives of the auditor are clearly with Those Charged with governance the re-sponsibilities of the auditor regarding the financial statementaudit and an overview of the planned scope and timing of from Those Charged with governance information relevantto the Those Charged with governance with timely observationsarising from the audit that are significant and relevant to theirresponsibility to oversee the financial reporting effective two-way Communication between the auditorand Those Charged with governance. (Ref: par..A1 .A5) purposes of GAAS, the following terms have the meanings at-tributed as person(s) with executive responsibility for theconduct of the entity's operations. For some entities, managementincludes some or all of Those Charged with governance; for ex-ample, executive members of a governance board or an Charged with person(s) or organization(s)(for example, a corporate trustee) with responsibility for oversee-ing the strategic direction of the entity and the obligations relatedto the accountability of the entity.

6 This includes overseeing the fi-nancial reporting process. Those Charged with governance mayinclude management personnel; for example, executive membersof a governance board or an 2019, AICPAA uditor s Communication with Those Charged with Governance217 RequirementsThose Charged with auditor should determine the appropriate person(s) within the en-tity's governance structure with whom to communicate. (Ref: par..A6 .A9) Communication with the Audit Committee or Other Subgroup of ThoseCharged with the auditor communicates with a subgroup of Those Charged withgovernance, such as the audit committee or an individual, the auditor shoulddetermine whether the auditor also needs to communicate with the governingbody. (Ref: par..A10 .A12)When All of Those Charged with Governance Are Involved in Managingthe some cases, all of Those Charged with governance are involved inmanaging the entity; for example, a small business in which a single ownermanages the entity and no one else has a governance role.

7 In these cases, if mat-ters required by this section are communicated with a person(s) with manage-ment responsibilities and that person(s) also has governance responsibilities,the matters need not be communicated again with the same person(s) inthat person's governance role. These matters are noted in paragraph .14. Theauditor should, nonetheless, be satisfied that Communication with person(s) with management responsibilities adequately informs all of Those with whomthe auditor would otherwise communicate in their governance to Be CommunicatedThe Auditor s Responsibilities with Regard to the Financial Statement auditor should communicate with Those Charged with governancethe auditor's responsibilities with regard to the financial statement audit, in-cluding that (Ref: par..A13 .A17) auditor is responsible for forming and expressing an opinionabout whether the financial statements that have been preparedby management, with the oversight of Those Charged with gover-nance, are prepared, in all material respects, in accordance withthe applicable financial reporting audit of the financial statements does not relieve managementor Those Charged with governance of their Scope and Timing of the auditor should communicate with Those Charged with governancean overview of the planned scope and timing of the audit.

8 (Ref: par..A18 .A22)Significant Findings or Issues From the auditor should communicate with Those Charged with governance(Ref: par..A23) auditor's views about qualitative aspects of the entity's signif-icant accounting practices, including accounting policies, account-ing estimates, and financial statement disclosures. When applica-ble, the auditor should (Ref: par..A24 .A25) 2019, AICPAAU-C Principles and Responsibilitiesi. explain to Those Charged with governance why the auditorconsiders a significant accounting practice that is accept-able under the applicable financial reporting frameworknot to be most appropriate to the particular circumstancesof the entity andii. determine that Those Charged with governance are in-formed about the process used by management informulating particularly sensitive accounting estimates,including fair value estimates, and about the basis for theauditor's conclusions regarding the reasonableness ofthose difficulties, if any, encountered during the audit.

9 (Ref:par..A26) with management, if any. (Ref: par..A28) findings or issues, if any, arising from the audit that are, inthe auditor's professional judgment, significant and relevant tothose Charged with governance regarding their responsibility tooversee the financial reporting process. (Ref: par..A27)Uncorrected auditor should communicate with Those Charged with governance(Ref: par..A29 .A30) misstatements accumulated by the auditor and theeffect that they, individually or in the aggregate, may have onthe opinion in the auditor's report. The auditor's communicationshould identify material uncorrected misstatements auditor should request that uncorrected misstatements effect of uncorrected misstatements related to prior periodson the relevant classes of transactions, account balances or dis-closures, and the financial statements as a Not All of Those Charged with Governance Are Involved in all of Those Charged with governance are involved in managingthe entity, the auditor also should , corrected misstatements that were brought to the at-tention of management as a result of audit procedures.

10 (Ref: ) findings or issues, if any, arising from the audit thatwere discussed, or the subject of correspondence, with manage-ment. (Ref: par..A32) auditor's views about significant matters that were the sub-ject of management's consultations with other accountants on ac-counting or auditing matters when the auditor is aware that suchconsultation has representations the auditor is requesting. (Ref: par..A33)The Communication ProcessEstablishing the Communication auditor should communicate with Those Charged with governancethe form, timing, and expected general content of communications. (Ref: .A38)AU-C 2019, AICPAA uditor s Communication with Those Charged with Governance219 Forms of auditor should communicate in writing with Those Charged withgovernance significant findings or issues from the audit (see paragraphs.)