New Auditor Reporting - AASOC

Date recorded:

At the AASOC meeting on July 7-8, 2016, the AASB noted that it has reached certain key conclusions, including: (i) the AASB should move forward to adopt the revised auditor reporting standards in Canada; (ii) consistent with the International Standards on Auditing, reporting on key audit matters should apply to listed entities; (iii) the effective date should be deferred by one year from that proposed in the Invitation to Comment (i.e., 2018 versus 2017); (iv) there should be a one-year staging of key audit matter requirements, the same as that proposed in the Invitation to Comment (i.e., TSX companies in 2018 and all others in 2019); and (v) earlier application of the standards should be allowed starting in 2017. AASOC noted that awareness of the proposed revisions is very low. Mr. Jensen stated that the AASB is aware of this. Among other elements of a detailed implementation plan involving the AASB and other stakeholders, the AASB plans to issue a message from the chair to update stakeholders on developments. Further, the AASB believes that the deferral in effective date provides opportunities for more communication to raise awareness. AASOC questioned whether it is clear that the benefits of requiring key audit matters reporting by auditors of non-TSX listed entities exceed the related costs. Mr. Jensen noted that this is a complex issue that the AASB considered carefully during its deliberations.

Review the minutes on the AASOC's Web site.

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